Late change of venue for National Hill Climb Championships

With just a month to go until the British National Hill Climb Championships, the event has been moved from Shelsley Walsh in Worcestershire to Pea Royd Lane in Stocksbridge near Sheffield. A number of hill climbers from the South-West have expressed disappointment at the change.

An explanation for the late change has been hard to find with a statement on the Cycling Time Trials (CTT) website stating only that “it has been necessary to change the venue.”

Shelsley Walsh is a private road and there is currently a somewhat perfunctory note on its website stating that the event has been ‘cancelled’.

Cycling Time Trials has not responded to road.cc’s request for comment, but it has been reported that Pea Royd Lane was chosen as a replacement venue as it is a similar length and profile to Shelsley Walsh.

The date and start time for the Championship remain the same – October 28, commencing at 11am.

The National Hill Climb has been held in the North every year since 2010. A rider from Bristol who had been hoping to compete this year, told us: “We've not had the national champs anywhere near the west or south for many years and having it in Worcester was a chance for some of us in the area to have a go. Now the CTT have put it out of reach again.”

He added: “We could totally understand if it was an emergency and needed to be moved elsewhere within the region, but moving it to the other end of the country is just beyond belief.

“Also, reading the CTT's own regulations, they are not actually allowed to do this. There are to be no changes to National courses after 31st March, so I don't understand how this can be allowed to happen anyway.”