The Mayor and Mayoress of Newport was in the University of Newport in Caerleon to give the prizes for the winners of the annual Ras de Cymru five-day cycle race, which has been dubbed the ‘Welsh Tour de France’ as it takes place over some of the toughest roads in the area. The event was supported by Newport & South East Wales Business Tourism.

 

Councillor Glyn Jarvis was at the Caerleon campus of the University of Wales, Newport which hosted the event, and where most of the riders stay in the ‘Race Village’.

 

Previously the Mayor of Newport waved the Welsh flag to start the third gruelling day of the race.

 

“It’s a great pleasure to start this stage of the race as I’ve a keen interest in cycling and have been a great supporter of the Velodrome in Newport where many of our top cyclists train,” said Councillor Jarvis.

 

The jerseys for the cyclists who had been leading the field were presented by Chris O’Malley The University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (Regional and International Development), who said, “We are proud to host this highly popular cycle race which is getting bigger and better every year.

 

“Cyclists from all over the UK are taking part in the annual event, which this year is being supported by Newport South East Business Tourism. This is the fifth year the event has been promoted and as always it is causing much excitement among the cycling and local sporting fraternity due to its unique format and its modelling on a continental professional stage race. Last year we had riders from all over the UK and from as far away as Germany and New Zealand,” he added.

 

The event is open to 20 teams of four riders who will competed in six stages of the race over five days from 1^st – 5^th July. Stages of the race are based at Abergavenny, Caerleon, Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil and at the end of the five days of racing the overall winner will be the rider who covers the total race distance in the shortest time. A winning team will also be established and a King of the Hills and Sprints from the riders with the highest number of points gained at intermediate points in each stage.