Velothon Wales pro race and sportive routes unveiled

The route has been released for Velothon Wales. The 140km closed road sportive on Sunday June 14 will precede a UCI-sanctioned road race which will take place on the same roads. All general entries have now sold out, but you can still enter via one of the official charities.

There will be a 50km route and a 140km route. The 50km route will leave Cardiff to the east and head towards Newport before returning via Caerphilly.

As well as the additional distance, the 140km adds a couple of hard climbs with total height gain of 1,826m. Riders again leave Cardiff to the east, but continue to Newport and Usk before entering the Brecon Beacons National Park where riders will tackle the Tumble climb which featured on stage three of last year’s Tour of Britain. Here there will be a timed King of the Mountains competition.

The route then heads back to Cardiff city centre via Pontypool and Newbridge, including a climb of Caerphilly Mountain. Further details can be found on the Velothon Wales website.

The sportive will then be followed by a UCI Sanctioned 1.1 professional race on exactly the same route but with added laps of The Tumble and Caerphilly Mountain. Although it’s not yet known who will be taking part, Velothon Berlin has attracted top riders and has previously been won by Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel.

One concern had been whether the sportive would be able to attract enough participants. June is a busy month with Cambridgeshire Gran Fondo looking to attract 26,000 people and another Welsh event, Wiggle Dragon Ride, both taking place the previous weekend.

However, general entries for Velothon Wales have already sold out – although you can still enter the event via one of the official charities. The aim is to have 15,000 riders taking part and Velothon Wales’ Race Director, Roland Hofer, seems confident having previously said: “We know there is a huge appetite for world-class cycling events, particularly in light of Ride London where over 80,000 people entered the ballot for the 2014 event.”