THE TOUR OF THE ABBERLEYS 3-DAY STAGE RACE
A flagship BMCR event
The race was started under the LVRC in 1998 by cyclist and well-known Midlands comedian Chris Singleton. The first edition of the race was called the Black Country Wheelers 3 Day, but for the second edition the name Tour of the Abberleys was adopted.
As it quickly became established as the longest, and one of the toughest, events on the LVRC calendar, Chris drew on additional support from LVRC Region 6, while Bush Healthcare and Fabricolour were early sponsors. In about 2002 sponsors Real Cost Cars and Reliant Windows provided the huge trophies which are still presented to the winners in each race.
For a year or two when the Milk Race had finished and the BCF was in crisis it was the longest stage race in the UK. Riders from the early days may remember a youngster by the name of Dan Martin wandering around the HQ and riding round the circuit while his dad raced. In 2002 a team from Holland entered and it briefly became an international race.
Ramin Minovi, whose memorial race is now incorporated as the third stage, took over the organisation in 2004 with Colin Willets and Colin Dooley, then Stuart Hall in 2008, before the current organiser Mike Amery took it on in 2011.
In 2006 a Prologue time trial was added to make it a 4-stage race, and in 2015 a King of the Mountains competition. All the road stages use hilly circuits, with the final stage often incorporating some of the toughest local climbs. Since 2018 the road stages have been supported by motorbike marshals. It now attracts Masters riders from all over the country, with entries heavily over-subscribed.
There are 3 main competitions: the over-40s race, the over-50s race, and the over-60s competition which is a ‘race within a race’. It is normally run on the first bank holiday week-end in May.
TOUR OF THE ABBERLEYS – PAST WINNERS
Year A/B Race C+ Race Over 60s
1998 Garnett Smith Mick Ives Jack Watson
1999 Nick Yarworth Dave Hargreaves Ray Minovi
2000 Neil Martin Roger Iddles Ray Minovi
2001 Neil Martin Dave McCullen Ray Minovi
2002 Neil Martin Phil Cooke Tony Woodcock
2003 Paul Stubbs Eddie Adkins Tony Woodcock
2004 Russell Harrington Peter Halliwell Jack Watson
2005 Phil Mason Peter Greenwood Roger Iddles
2006 Phil Mason Joey Williams Roger Iddles
2007 Simon Keeton Phil Axe Roger Iddles
2008 ? Phil Mason ? Dave Rutherford
2009 Andy Donaldson Dave McMullen Alan Kemp
2010 Peter Georgi Alan Kemp Alan Kemp
2011 Tim Carter Paul Stubbs Alan Kemp
2012 Jason Meyer Cs: Roy Holmes D+: Andy Donaldson Alan Kemp
2013 Wayne Coombs Mark Westwood Alan Kemp
2014 Shaun Tyson Mark Westwood Andrew Simpkins
2015 Jeremy Honor Karl Moseley Steve Jolley
2016 Craig Battersby Rich Edwards John French
2017 Craig Battersby Rich Edwards Jim Moffat
2018 Stephen Feeney Andrew Dumbill Rob O’Connor
2019 Dave Griffiths Russell Harrington Richard McKellar
PAST KING OF THE MOUNTAINS WINNERS
Year A/B Race C+ Race Over 60s
2015 Martin Smith Graham Payne –
2016 Martin Smith Rich Edwards Steve Jolley
2017 Craig Battersby Sean Kilroy Malcolm Whitehead
2018 John Russell Andrew Dumbill Andrew Donaldson
2019 Dave Griffiths Russell Harrington Richard McKellar
