Five British riders line up for Paris-Roubaix

FIVE BRITISH RIDERS FOR ROUBAIX

Five British riders will line-up for this Sunday's (April 11) Queen of the Classics, Paris-Roubaix.

Representing Cervélo will be Roger Hammond and Jeremy Hunt. The former, third in the 2004 Paris-Roubaix, was seventh in Sunday's Tour of Flanders.

Hammond said he was disappointed with his performance in Flanders and will be hoping to build on that in Roubaix.

David Millar meanwhile will ride in Garmin colours. Millar, the winner of the prestigious Three Days of de Panne, was active in Flanders and made a last-ditch effort to try and bridge to Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara but it wasn't to be.

Last but by no means least will be Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard riding for Sky. The two Britons certainly have enough Classics pedigree to make an impression in Roubaix.

Thomas won the junior edition of Roubaix in 2004 while Stannard was third recently in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.

MATT BOTTRILL TO DEVELOP YOUNG RIDERS WITH NEW IRIDE TEAM

Matt Bottrill, winner of the first round of this year's Rudy Project Time Trial Series, heads up the new i-ride.co.uk outfit with the aim of helping young riders into the sport and progressing.

"We've got about 20 members at the moment but the aim is to make it open to everyone really," Bottrill explained.

"As a team we will be doing time trials, road racing and sportives". The team recently rode the Puncheur sportive and Bottrill adds: "it's good to be able to pass on some knowledge to young riders.

"There's a lot of knowledge on the team between myself and Julian Ramsbottom. The thing about a normal team is that you can get caught up in the racing so it's good to be able to give something back".

Bottrill will target the Rudy Project Series and the National Championships this year and the team aims to field between three and five riders at each round of the Series, which Bottrill himself admits is struggling.

"The Series is struggling a bit at the moment so it's good to try and get more young riders coming in and hopefully help them to try and progress".

Matt Bottrill's new i-ride team

TOUR OF BRITAIN ROUTE SET TO BE UNVEILED

The route of the 2010 Tour of Britain is set to be announced on Tuesday April 20.

The details for the seventh edition of the reincarnation of Britain's home tour are so still be announced but the unveiling of a sportive based on a stage of this year's race reveals that the race will return for at least one stage in the south west.

It looks uncertain, however, that there will be another finishing circuit in central London after rumours of a clash with the Pope's visit to the Capital.

DALBY DARE ENTRIES CLOSING SOON

There are just two weeks left to secure a place for the Dalby Dare, a unique opportunity for mountain-bikers to test themselves on the course of the Cross Country World Cup which is heading to Yorkshire for the first time this April.

Places in the inaugural event are limited and filling up fast and riders will need to act quickly to be guaranteed a place.

Participants in the event will get to ride 30km in the forest, a combination of World Cup laps and some of the trails on offer at Dalby.  

Included in the £32 entry fee is a weekend pass to the event and a goody bag.

For more information and to enter the event, simply head to the website - http://bit.ly/a6XQzV  

CYCLING MADNESS FOR CHARITY

TM Racing is organising a 3800-mile 24-hour charity on behalf of the Help for Heroes Charity. Any cyclist can get ride no matter what riding ability: all you need is a bike and a helmet.

Teams of eight will collectively complete 15,200 laps of the Tudor Grange half-mile cycle race circuit in 24 hours.

Each team will have a target of 320 laps to complete within each hour, requiring eight riders to achieve a 20mph average speed to complete, or only 18mph if there are nine team members.

See www.helpforheroes.org to complete a registration form