Busy Weekend For British Cyclists

Last updated : 03 March 2011 By Kev Monks

British Road Race Champion Geraint Thomas as well as Bradley Wiggins, Jeremy Hunt and Daniel Lloyd will compete in the Paris- Nice Classic which starts on Sunday.

Ireland's Nicholas Roche (puctured below) who rides for French team AG2R will also compete in the race which starts on Sunday with a 154km stage starting and finishing in Houdain.

Monday, the race leaves Montfort L'Amaury and makes the 199km trip to Amilly. Tuesday sees a 202km stage from Cosne to Nuits-Saint Georges, followed by a 191km stage from Crêches-sur-Saône to Belleville with Thursday stage being 193km long and going from Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise to Vernoux-en-Vivarais.

Friday sees a change with a 27km individual time trial from Rognes to Aix-en-Provence before the longest stage of the race, some 215km takes the riders from Brignoles to Sophia Antipolis.

After completing this, the riders will finish in Nice with a 124km stage that starts and ends in the French city on March 13th.

___________________________________________________

Some of the less well know British riders will get their chance in the spotlight in a three stage Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia which starts tomorrow. 

Whilst the likes of Carlos Sastre, Denis Menchov, Theo Bos and Alberto Contador will be grabbing the headlines, some of the lesser names of British cycling will be taking part.

They include Charles Weglius (pictured below) who has ridden in the last two Tour De France's for Lotto. The Yorkshire man is now riding for the American team United Healthcare Pro Cycling whilst Team Sky will be fielding Russell Downing, Alex Dowsett and Chris Froome. The final British cyclist is Ian Wilkinson who is riding for Endura Racing whilst Ireland are represented by Team Garmin's Daniel Martin

  

For those of you in the Murcia region who fancy watching a bit of early season cycling, the action starts on Firday morning with a 178.7km stage from San Pedro del Pinatar to Alhama de Murcia.

Saturday's second stage is 183.2km long and from Estrella de Levante to entro de Interpretacion de Sierra Espuna before the race finishes in Murcia on Sunday with an individual time trial which is 12.4km long.

Pictures copyright of Covsupport News Service. Credit CNS/KM