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