Sky TV to air British road races

British Cycling and satellite broadcaster Sky have announced that the Premier Calendar, Elite Circuit Series and National Circuit Race Championships will all be aired on Sky Sports in a regular Tuesday evening slot from this month.

"It's great to be working with Sky Sports on the broadcast of our national series racing for the first time," said British Cycling's cycle sport and membership director Jonny Clay.

"For fans of the sport, knowing that they'll be able to see cycling throughout the summer on a Tuesday night is a real positive. We'll be working to build the audience over the course of this year and show that British bike racing can stand on its own two feet as sporting entertainment."

The full list of events to be shown is:

Premier Calendar

Round 1, Saturday 23 April - Tour Doon Hame

Round 2, Sunday 8 May - Lincoln Grand Prix

Round 3, 5 June - Ryedale Grand Prix, North Yorkshire

Round 4, 19 June - Tour of the Reservoir, Northumberland

Round 5, 31 July - East Yorkshire Classic, Beverly

Round 6, 28 August - Twinnings Pro-Am Tour, Salisbury

Round 7, 4 September - Richmond Grand Prix

Elite Circuit Series

Round 1, 22 June - Otley Grand Prix

Round 2, 29 June - Stafford Grand Prix

Round 3, 8 July - Abergavenny Grand Prix

Round 4, 13 July - Colne Grand Prix

Round 5, 20 July - Blackburn Grand Prix

Fri 29 July - National Circuit Race Championships, Beverly

Round 6, 7 August - Preston Grand Prix

This weekend's Lincoln Grand Prix will be shown on Sky Sports 2 on Tuesday May 17 at 9.30pm.

Sky's commitment to showing domestic road racing is a continuation of its support of cycling in Britain, having already been heavily involved in a British track team, Worldtour squad and created the Sky Ride mass participation events.

Sky's coverage of the UK scene joins ITV4's coverage of the 2011 Halfords Tour Series, which starts later this month, producing a bumper crop of viewing for armchair race fans.