Velo Birmingham and Midlands 2019

This will be the second year of the Midlands' only closed road sportive, which has been renamed Vélo Birmingham and Midlands 2019 to reflect the new route. The 100 mile ride takes in the city centres of both Birmingham and Coventry, as well as some beautiful local villages and features 1,500 metres of climbing. 

Pre-registration for the sportive is now open and tickets go on sale on October 4, 2017. You have to pre-register in order to be able to buy a ticket. Tickets sold out in three days for the 2017 Velo Birmingham (as it was then called, there wasn't one in 2018) so you need to get registering soon!

There are three types of entry - General Entry (around £83), Fast Track (around £120) and Business 100 (cost dependent on how many people sign up).

The ride starts and finishes in Birmingham City Centre and heads north east before hitting the cobbled roads next to Coventry Cathedral after approximately 40 miles. The route then heads on a zig zag roughly going west through Dorridge and Rednal before heading back into Birmingham via Quinton.

It should be a challenging day on a bike but is do-able by the averagely fit rider who has put in some sensible pre-season training for this sportive.