Newport Nocturne organisers call for entries for women's crit next month (+ video)

Organisers of next month’s Newport Nocturne have appealed for more female cyclists to enter the women’s race at the event on the evening of Saturday 1 September. The programme is expected to attract a crowd of 10,000 to the Shropshire town, and the prize fund for the women’s race alone stands at £1,000.

Promoter Nick Jeggo explained: “We really want to support women’s racing.  We also have two new sponsors who are really keen. We’ve only got 16 entries at the moment and we need around 25 to make the event work. It’s surprising given that people have been asking for more and higher profile events for women.”

The women’s race replaces the former ex-Pros event which appears at the start of the YouTube video of the 2010 event below, and entries can be made via the British Cycling website. The closing date is this Saturday, 18 August.

Further information can be obtained by contacting Nick Jeggo via email or on 07967 452688, and he points out that there is a criterium earlier in the day at Stourport, organised by Wolverhampton Wheelers, making it feasible to ride both events.

In March this year, organisers of the IG Markets London Nocturne reinstated the women's race to the programme of that event after an outcry on social media channels following their original decision to drop it from this year's programme due to a combination of a clash with a Women's National Road Series race taking place the following day as well as low numbers of entries in previous years.