A new road racing league has been launched for women in London and the South East, with the inaugural event due to take place this weekend.
The London Women's Cycle Racing League (LWCR) aims to encourage grassroots women’s racing at all levels. The first race takes place on Sunday (28 March) during the Surrey League at Goodwood event in Chichester.
It'll be open to third and fourth category racers as well as novices. Those just starting out in racing will be chaperoned by experienced riders.
Spokeswoman Maria David told BikeRadar: "This weekend's race is going to be the first round of the new women's league. Basically, what we're trying to do is get more of the local girls involved in cycle racing because we weren't getting very good numbers at races. We'd get very strong riders turning up, but people who were fairly new to the sport and had potential didn't want to race. We want to change that."
The LWCR is already affiliated with various clubs, including London Dynamo, Kingston Wheelers and Dulwich Paragon, but all aspiring female racers are welcome. There'll be prize money on offer – and not just for the winners – and the top LWCR rider will be presented with a leader's jersey to wear at the second round, at Hog Hill on 10 April.
In all, the league consists of 12 road race and time trial events between March and August, with prizes up for grabs for both individuals and teams. Racers earn league points for themselves and their team each time they ride, with their best seven results over the season counting towards their final score. For more details about this weekend's race, visit www.surreyleague.co.uk.
