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Location: Otley CC Clubhouse Gay Lane, Otley, West Yorkshire
Event: 3 July 2013
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The Women’s National Road Series completes a quick fire double with Wednesday’s Otley Grand Prix coming just three days after the Curlew Cup.
The event marks the first time in history that a women’s race has been held at the Otley Cycle Races, which will also host the opening round of the British Cycling Elite Circuit Series.
Hannah Barnes continued her resplendent season with another win in Northumberland and the criterium in Yorkshire is an ideal circuit to continue that form given her dominance in the Tour Series.
The 20-year-old MG Maxifuel rider won three of the five rounds and added the IG London Nocturne, a fourth successive win in the competition for the 2011 national criterium champion.
Current standings
1. Anne Ewing 175
2. Eileen Roe 157
3. Hannah Barnes 137
Despite only three appearances from five events in the series so far, Barnes lies in third overall and can close the gap to leader Anne Ewing, who is not listed to start.
Barnes’ teammate Charline Joiner is a further 15 points adrift after finishing 11th in the north east.
Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling Team trio Laura Trott, Elinor Barker and Amy Roberts offer a stern threat. Double Olympic champion Trott, who became under 23 national road champion in Glasgow, has been named in Great Britain’s under 23 European track championship team with Barker while Roberts has a win in the series with overall victory at the CDNW Surf and Turf 2 Day.
Hillingdon Grand Prix winner Emily Kay is absent from Scott Contessa Epic’s squad though Great Britain Olympic Development Programme mountain bike rider Alice Barnes will be present. The 17-year-old junior has reigned supreme in the category in the British Cycling Mountain Bike Cross-Country Series.
Matrix Fitness Racing Academy have been active throughout the series with duo Corrine Hall and Hannah Walker on the periphery of the top 10. Hall was second at the weekend and Walker seventh.
The course in Otley, which hosted the 2012 British Criterium Championships, is a 2.25-kilometre circuit with the race taking in 14 laps. The race, the sixth of nine in the series, starts at 6pm.
