The 2 day stage race for women will again be held in the Bedford area (junction 13 of the M1) with 3 stages that cover all the specialities that makes stage racing so exciting, the road race will attract all the top riders in this country plus a team from Holland and Malta.
Jenny Dereham forcing the pace at Keysoe on stage 2 in 2006
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The event starts at 11.00am on Sunday 6th May at the top of Sunderlands Hill on the B660 - 200 metres pass Ravensden crossroads, 3 miles north of Bedford, with a team time trial; this is the first time a team time trial has been held in this event. The riders will race the 9.7 kilometres on the smooth but winding B660 and finish at the top of Mill hill, Keysoe.
At 1.30pm the same day the riders line up for 80 kilometres on the Keysoe-Bolnhurst-Little Staughton circuit with the main feature being the gentle kilometre climb of Mill Hill where the favourites will be showing themselves; it was on this course that Jenny Dereham, Twickenham CC showed that she was the rider to beat .
Monday 7th May will see the race move to the south of Bedford where Millbrook Vehicle Testing Facility will be the venue; this is the place where television programs such as "Top Gear" and "Vroom, Vroom" are filmed and allows for a variety of terrains.
The course chosen will cover 85 kilometres and includes the speed oval, the 7% hill and the 14% hill.
It is this stage that really shakes up the General Classification, Jenny Dereham again proved what a class rider she is when she won the stage with an all alone sprint but adding all the times together it was Jo Rowsell who came out with the leaders Yellow Jersey, taking the title by just 3 seconds after 4 hours 40 minutes of racing over the weekend. The seasons top team, Team Luciano, took home the important team prize.
National Junior Road Race Champion Louise Mahe leading the race at Millbrook
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Other competitions included in the race was the Hill Competition and the Sprint Competition.
Millbrook, which is usually a closed and security conscious facility will be open to spectators on 7th May so come along and see top class international cycle racing.
News from the organizers
The men's supporting race due to be held on Monday 7 May 2007 at the Millbrook Vehicle Testing facility (Bedford) that was a supporting race to the 2 Days of Bedford International Women's Stage Race has had to be cancelled.
Vehicles arriving at the entrance to the circuit for the men's race would do so when the women's stage race was already in progress and it was not possible to find a route that would safely allow them to do this so regretfully, the men's race has had to be cancelled. The organiser apologises for this 'but there is no real option; the women's stage race remains unaffected of course and will be the final stage in this popular event.'
We'll be reporting from the race action too so check back in soon if you can't make it.
Race action from Bedford 2 day 2006
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