The Milk Race Returns
Legendary cycling event The Milk Race, which is being
brought back as a city centre closed circuit race after a 20 year
absence by The Dairy Council and the Milk Marketing Forum, will
race past many of Nottingham's spectacular sites - including The
Exchange, when it comes to the city on Sunday 26th May.
The city centre will be transformed into a racing
track with the start and finish gantry adjacent to the Council
House on the Old Market Square, and home to The Exchange and its
shops and restaurants. This is a unique opportunity to spectate or
get involved in one of the most famous cycle races in the country,
so click this link to find out more and to register:
http://nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=22118
If you're in town to support the racers, The Exchange
offers the perfect vantage point as well as giving you the option
to browse the stores between races or have a spot of lunch or a
coffee and cake under the centre's magnificent domed
ceiling.
Elite cyclists will begin their journey racing up
Long Row, around Beast Market Hill, down Friar Lane and Spaniel
Row, and across Castle Gate past the historic Nottingham Castle.
They will then make their way back to the Old Market Square up
Lister Gate, across St Peter's Gate, along Bridlesmith Gate and
back along Long Row to the finish line. It will be a closed circuit
with a distance of 1.2km.
Background
The event, which initially ran between 1958 and 1993,
will be reborn as a major city centre race.
In its previous incarnation, The Milk Race was the
most prestigious multi-stage event in the UK and the (now
disbanded) Milk Marketing Board's 35-year sponsorship remains the
longest association that the sport of cycling has ever had.
For 2013, The Milk Race will constitute an elite
men's race and an elite women's race to happen on the same day
alongside a full day's festival of cycling for all the family in
Nottingham.
The decision to bring back the event, and to
re-ignite the link between the 'white stuff' and the sport of
cycling, was taken by industry bodies The Dairy Council and the
Milk Marketing Forum.
Numerous world and Olympic champions are expected to
compete in the elite events, with London 2012 Team Pursuit champion
Steven Burke - whose cycling team Node4-Giordana is managed by
former Milk Race winner Malcolm Elliott - the first to sign up.
The elements of The Milk Race involving professional
cyclists will be organised by former world champion Tony Doyle, who
was also a founder of the Tour of Britain in 1994 and was President
of the British Cycling Federation in 1996.
Nottingham was chosen as the location for the 2013
event both because of the city's heritage in cycling - it houses
the headquarters of leading brand Raleigh - and for its outstanding
commitment to community cycling.