World Road Race Champion Lizzie Armitstead of the Boels Dolmans team and multiple World and Olympic Champion Marianne Vos of the Rabo Liv team head the 96-rider provisional line-up for the Aviva Women’s Tour.  Stage three of the tour will finish in Chesterfield on Friday 17th June.

The duo join the likes of defending champion Lisa Brennauer of the CANYON//SRAM team, world number one Emma Johansson of Wiggle HIGH5 and top sprinter Kirsten Wild, with 15 of the world’s top 20 riders in the UCI rankings down to start.

Armitstead is due to be joined in the Boels Dolmans line-up by former stage winner Christine Majerus and compatriot Nikki Harris, for whom Stage Four goes through her home village of Draycott in Derbyshire.

Vos’ Rabo Liv line-up is currently scheduled to include Dutch National Champion Lucinda Brand and Anna van der Breggen, who was the Silver medallist behind Armitstead in last year’s World Road Race Championships.

The provisional rider list includes 14 current National Road Race Champions from around the world, including the champions of Australia (Amanda Spratt), Italy (Elena Cecchini) and Belgium (Jolien D’Hoore).

Riders from 22 different countries make up the provisional start list, with Great Britain and the Netherlands being the most dominant nations, with 19 and 18 riders respectively.

The list includes both former winners of the Aviva Women’s Tour in Brennauer (2015) and Vos (2014) and six riders who have won stages in the race.

The youngest rider is due to be Great Britain’s Grace Garner, who makes her debut in the race and will turn 19 on the final day of the Aviva Women’s Tour in Northamptonshire.  Garner was due to be joined in the race by her elder sister Lucy, although the Wiggle HIGH5 rider is now expected to miss the Aviva Women’s Tour with broken ribs sustained at the weekend.

One other pair of sisters are scheduled to ride, with 2015’s Best Young Rider and final stage winner Hannah Barnes of the CANYON//SRAM team being joined by younger sister Alice, who makes her debut in the race with the Drops Cycling Team.

The final line-up of riders will be confirmed on the afternoon of Tuesday 14 June ahead of Stage One the following day from Southwold to Norwich.

Highlights of the Aviva Women’s Tour will be shown each evening on ITV4 with a repeat the following morning on the same channel.  The highlights will also be available on demand for 30-days via the ITV Hub catch-up service.

Find out more about the Women’s Tour Stage 3 finish in Chesterfield where there will be a full day of entertainment and activities.

Images courtesy of Sweetspot.

The IWA National Trailboat Festival 2016 has been hailed a terrific success after it returned to Chesterfield for the first time in over ten years.

Hosted at Staveley Town Basin over the spring bank holiday weekend, the event featured lots of family entertainment from boat trips to fire eaters, as well as the official opening of the new Staveley Town Lock.

A major project, the new lock was completed just in time for the event by volunteers from Chesterfield Canal Trust, along with support from volunteers from the Waterway Recovery Group.

Cllr Anne Western, Leader of Derbyshire County Council, attended the festival on the Saturday to cut the ribbon aboard John Varley II – Chesterfield Canal Trust’s brand new tripboat, which was featured alongside a score of small boats brought in on trailers to use the new slipway at the basin.

Rod Auton, Publicity Officer at Chesterfield Canal Trust said:-

“The boats made a wonderful, colourful spectacle when moored along the canal. They created great interest from the many walkers and cyclists using the towpath, as did Chesterfield Canal Trust’s 87 year-old ex-working boat Python, which was sponsored by Brook Garden Centre.

“Members of the public could also take a cruise on one of the trust’s five trip boats which were in operation. They went through the new lock, which had only been flooded two days earlier, and then up the canal past the moored boats and under three bridges.

“On the Saturday night, there was a parade of illuminated boats. All the trailboats and the trust’s trip boats were decked out in lights; many playing music. They cruised up and down the canal to the delight of large crowds; many of whom said that it was the best thing about the whole event.

“On the Monday, the festival itself was over, but the boats went in a flotilla all the way up the canal to Tapton in Chesterfield and back. Several actually reached the River Rother at St Helena’s, where the canal starts. This created great excitement amongst towpath users who usually only catch a glimpse of an occasional canoe or tripboat. It was a fitting finale to an unforgettable weekend, because it demonstrated what could happen when the canal is fully restored.

“The Chesterfield Canal Trust is very grateful to the Inland Waterways Association for allowing it to run this year’s National Trailboat Festival.”

Other highlights of the event included Learn to Drive a Digger run by volunteers from the Waterway Recovery Group, Urban Gypsies belly dancers, fire eating from Captain Jackdaw and the Rumbucket, vintage cars, the Armed Forces Bikers, Birds of Prey, canoeing, a face painter, and the chance to stroke a tarantula or cuddle a skunk.

There were also dozens of stalls of every type, plus food and drink including a bar run by Brampton Brewery featuring their specially brewed festival ale called Brindley Bitter.

(Landscape image: Cllr Western cuts the ribbon (photo © John Lower)

Enthusiasts from all over the region are set to visit Renishaw Hall this week to enjoy hundreds of classic cars and bikes at the popular Eckington Classic Car and Bike Show.

Organised each year by the Rotary Club of Chesterfield, the event will once again support Chesterfield’s Ashgate Hospicecare, Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity and Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice.

Main organiser, Stuart Bradley of Stuart Bradley Ltd Jewellers, said: “Renishaw Hall is the perfect venue for this charitable event which we have run successfully for several years and raised over £50,000 for the designated charities.”

There will be a variety of stalls and amusements, plus refreshments and bar will also be available. Admission is £5 a vehicle.

The Eckington Classic Car and Bike Show takes place at Renishaw Hall, Eckington, near Chesterfield (S21 3WB), on Wednesday 8 June 2016, from 3.00pm until 8.00pm. For more information please contact main organiser Stuart Bradley on 01246 222777.

The date has also been released for this summer’s annual charity Ashover Classic Car and Bike Show which will be held once again at Rectory Fields, Ashover on Sunday 24 July from 10.00am.

Defending champion Lisa Brennauer will return to the Aviva Women’s Tour leading the CANYON//SRAM Racing team and donning the number one placard, in the race that starts on Wednesday 15 June and arrives in Chesterfield at the end of stage 3 on Friday 17th June.

Brennauer won a stage and the Chain Reaction Cycles Points Jersey on her way to the overall Aviva Yellow Jersey in last year’s edition of the race.

The multiple World Champion has ridden in both editions of the Aviva Women’s Tour to date, and recently finished on the podium of the Energiewacht Tour in Holland, winning the Points Classification.

Speaking about her return to the Aviva Women’s Tour, Lisa Brennauer said; “I’m looking forward to coming back to the UK for the Aviva Women’s Tour. It’s been thrilling racing in front of big crowds and an amazing atmosphere last year. When I think back of all the fans along the course, at the finish and the award ceremonies I`m still having goose bumps. The Aviva Women’s Tour quickly made her way to one of the biggest events in women`s cycling.”

Joining her in the CANYON/SRAM provisional line-up will be Northamptonshire’s Hannah Barnes, winner of the final stage in 2015 and both the Best British and Best Young Rider jerseys.

Commenting on the race, Hannah Barnes said; “I always love coming back home to race. You get a buzz being on roads you know and having friends and family there watching. I’m particularly excited about the final stage. Starting and finishing so close to home and on roads I know is special.”

Italian National Champion Elena Cecchini will also return, having finished 10th overall in the first edition of the race in 2014, with former Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Tiffany Cromwell the fourth rider in the squad.

Completing the line up will be multiple Belarussian champion Alena Amialiuski and Italian Barbara Guarischi, who finished second on the stage to Kettering in 2015, and won the Prudential RideLondon and Sparkassen Giro events in 2015.

Commenting on the provisional roster, Aviva Women’s Tour Race Director Mick Bennett said, “We look forward to welcoming Lisa Brennauer and her team back to the Aviva Women’s Tour in 2016 as a part of what is going to be a fantastic line-up for this year’s race.

“With Lisa, Hannah Barnes and the other riders in the squad, the CANYON//SRAM team have a very strong line-up for the Aviva Women’s Tour who we are sure will take the race to the other teams.”

The Aviva Women’s Tour stage 3 finishes in Chesterfield town centre on Friday 17th June. There will also be a host of activities during the day from fun fair rides to a workplace cycle challenge.

Fans can look forward to highlights of each stage of the race on ITV4 each evening, with repeats the following daytime and all programme’s available on demand via the ITV Player.

Images:
Landscape: Lisa Brennauer in the Aviva Yellow Jersey at the 2015 Aviva Women’s Tour (c) The Tour
Portrait: Hannah Barnes winning the final stage of the 2015 Aviva Women’s Tour (c) The Tour

One of Chesterfield and North Derbyshire’s most prominent running events has been launched with a new look route – which promises to be flatter and faster than previous years.

Organisers of the Chesterfield Half Marathon believe that the runner-friendly route will attract more participants and elite runners from around the world.

The route changes come alongside a suspension of the full marathon for 2016, to enable organisers to focus on creating a much-improved route for the 2017 event.

Runners can now register to take part in the 2016 event, which takes place on Sunday 2 October. It will also include a fun run and a relay race, where four competitors take a share of the course over a distance of either 5km or two people over 10km each.

The charity race, which is sponsored by Chesterfield-based Drainage 2000, will once again be entirely in support of a number of local and national charities and community organisations.

Starting and finishing in Chesterfield’s Queen’s Park, the route has retained popular stretches through areas like Hasland whilst also incorporating Chatsworth Road and more of the town centre. As well as being a faster and more attractive route for runners of all abilities, the new route will allow more residents to get out onto the streets and support the runners. The route is all road-based, so fully wheelchair accessible.

As in previous years, there will also be an all-day ‘Party in the Park’ in Queen’s Park, with food, drink and entertainment for all the family. Along the route organisers are also aiming to create festival zones in areas such as Hasland and Chatsworth Road, where the Chatsworth Road festival will be taking place on the same weekend.

Mike Hyman, from the event organisers, said: “It has always been our intention for the Chesterfield Half Marathon to be a world class event that will attract runners and visitors to our town from across the UK and beyond. So that, as well as the thousands of pounds the event can generate for many charities, the Chesterfield Half Marathon also benefits the local economy, from the influx of visitors to our town who will spend their money in our shops, restaurants, bars and hotels.

“The route we have designed for this year definitely achieves our ambition. We have been working closely with the local authorities and other agencies for many months, as well as listening to runners’ and residents’ feedback to try and design an equally attractive full marathon route, but there is still more work to do to achieve the optimum route.

“In relation to the full marathon, it is a very difficult task to agree a route that is attractive enough to runners to make it commercially viable, while at the same time limits disruption to residents and satisfies all the agencies concerned, including the emergency services and Highways England. Therefore in 2016 we have decided not to hold the full marathon and instead focus on building the half marathon and the 4 X 5K team relay event.”

Drainage 2000 returns as headline sponsor for the second year. The company, which was launched in 2000, maintains drainage systems all across the UK and employs 20 people locally from its office in Old Whittington.

Entry is £30 for the half marathon, £25 per person for the 2 X 10K team relay, £15 per person for the 4 x 5K team relay and £5 for the fun run. Runners will also have the option to have their ‘chipped’ race number posted to them before race day.

To register as for the Half Marathon, team relay, fun run or as a volunteer visit www.chesterfieldmarathon.org.uk/registrations. To find out more about sponsorship opportunities, festival zone packs or getting involved in other ways contact Andrea on 01246 269023 or andrea@chesterfieldmarathon.co.uk.