Following last year’s successful running of the first road race to be run in Furness for several years, The Lakes Road Club are making the event bigger and better when it is run again next month.

The club have teamed up with leading Barrow bike shop Topmark Cycles for the 2019 edition of the Topmark Cycles Summer Classic.

Last year’s event was a great success, with a great race and hundreds of spectators around the course, which passes through Ulverston while starting and finishing at Birkrigg.

Event organiser and club member Richard Dixon said: “It was great to see so many riders and spectators turn out for last year’s event, and so we had to put it on again this year.

It’s great that Topmark Cycles wanted to get involved, which will really help us improve the event further and really get it on the map.”

The race will take place on at 10:30am on Sunday, July 14 and is likely to last until 12:30pm, as a number of riders look to succeed Adam Hartley as its winner.

Bill Nickson, founder of Topmark Cycles, remarked: “We are really excited to be involved with this event – it is great to support local cycling events like this and help create racing opportunities for local talent.”

The event is being run under British Cycling regulations and the 60 riders taking part will take in six laps of the same nine-mile circuit that was laid out last year, based around the start and finish on Birkrigg.

The circuit then heads to Scales, down to the Coast Road at Aldingham and along to Ulverston, up Oakwood Drive and finally back up to Birkrigg.

Dixon said: “Last year we tried to create a ‘Fan Zone’ at the start/finish area, where people could watch the race and this worked well.

“We’ll be giving away clapper sticks and cow bells again this year so that spectators can cheer the riders as they go through, and there will be prizes throughout the race for the first across the line on different laps, so hopefully there’s plenty of action to see.”

Poulton-le-Fylde’s Hartley, last year’s winner, has since gone on to ride for the SEG Racing Academy in Belgium, and this year has taken part in major European races, including the Under 23s Liege-Bastogne-Liege, one of the most prestigious races in international cycling.