Can I? How do I?

We’ve had a fair few messages over the last few days asking some very similar questions so it seemed like a good idea to answer a couple of them here. Let’s start with:

  1. I can’t find any club- or team-mates who’d like to enter the race. Can I still enter? Will I get a ride? Answer: Yes, the BC Junior Road Series (and the race) regulations permit individual entries so if you want to enter on your own, you are more than welcome. We’ll evaluate your entry on the same basis as the riders in a team, and if, according to the criteria set down in the BC selection regs, you deserve to be in the race, you will be. If three or more riders from the same club/team enter, that’s when you become eligible for the team competition.
  2. Two of my dead-keen friends entered three months ago and the other two of us entered today. Will we still be considered as a team? Answer: Yes. If there are three or more riders from the same club/team entered when entries close, you will be regarded as a team even if you didn’t all enter at the same time
  3. Six of us from the same club want to ride, can we? Answer: Unfortunately, for the moment, no. We currently limit the race to four rider teams (though this may change in future). There are a couple of ways this can be dealt with though. Firstly, although the ‘spare’ riders can’t ‘guest ride’ for another team, provided they legitimately change their first-claim club registration with BC, it is possible for them to enter the race under the auspices of another team (see the question below). The other way that works for some teams is to declare the ‘extra’ riders as dedicated team reserves. That way, if one of the original selection of four riders is forced to withdraw, we will offer the place to another rider from the same club. Only if he is unable to take the place do we then fill it from the general reserve list. This allows teams who have lost a rider to maintain their full strength rather than drop down to three entrants.
  4. I’ve entered the race on my own (or for another team), but my friends would like me to guest-ride as part of their team. Can I? Answer: Guest riding (aka composite teams) are not permitted in Junior Road Series races (the only exceptions are regional and national teams). We have to take the identity of your club/team from the British Cycling data download. However, if you would like to ride for an alternative club at the JTW, you can do it – but in order to do so you will need to contact BC in Manchester and formally change your First Claim club/team registration to that of the squad you would like to ride for. BC may in turn require you to maintain your registration for a period of time – maybe to the end of the season – as they wish (rightly) to prevent riders chopping and changing teams just as ‘flags of convenience’.If you do change your first claim team registration *after* entering the JTW, you are advised to enter the race again once the change has gone through in order to ensure that we see your new club on the entry data. You won’t be charged a second entry fee, just the £1 BC processing fee. Also, drop us an email letting us know, to make sure it’s covered.

    Stage 4 2017, Tom Pidcock goes on the attack (pic courtesy of and © Phil Wright)

  5. I’m the team manager of a British Cycling region. How do I go about entering my squad in the race? Answer: Either you enter them, or they enter individually via the BC online system in the normal way. Then, crucial, you must send an email to the race organiser (richh (at) juniortourofwales (dot) org) – saying that you are the team manager of whichever region, and that you have nominated riders A, B, C and D (and reserves E, F…) as your squad for the race. This email is all-important because there is no other way for me to know riders on the entry list are yours.
  6. I’m a team manager and five of my riders are entered. How do you choose which four of them start? Answer: We’ll rank the riders according to the BC Junior Road Series selection criteria. If we don’t hear any different, we’ll select the first four. If the fifth (etc) rider has entered with the option of being considered as a reserve we will contact either him, or you as team manager (if we know who you are) and ask if you want him as your team reserve. If he or you doesn’t want that option then we can cancel his entry, leaving him free to race elswhere that weekend.Also, if you, as a team manager, have a preference of which four riders you would like to start the race – say one of them is carrying an injury, or another is on good form, simply send the race organiser an email (richh (at) juniortourofwales (dot) org) and tell us which riders you would like to be selected. You need to make sure we have emails of that nature by midnight on Saturday 21st July, latest!
  7. I’m injured and unfortunately need to pull out of the race. Can I have a refund on my entry fee? Answer: That’s a shame – and we hope you’re recovered and back on the bike soon. As for the refund, a lot depends on when you withdraw. If you do so prior to the selection of the start and reserve lists, we don’t actually have your money yet – because BC don’t actually process the fee until we formally accept your entry (which happens after the field selection). So if you have to pull out at this stage, we simply cancel the entry this end – and the money never leaves your account.If you are forced to withdraw after the publication of the entry lists, then we should still be able to refund at least a large part of the fee – but the exact percentage depends how close to the race you pull out. Again, contact the organiser as soon as you know your situation.

    We’ll add some more questions here when enough people ask them!

    2017 KoM Fred Wright leads Oscar Mingay and the bunch round Parc Bryn Bach.
    (Pic courtesy and © Phil Wright)

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