Third season of The Halfords Tour Series ready to race!

Two new venues join the unique team based, city centre cycling series in 2011

The third season of The Halfords Tour Series includes an eight round calendar. Two new venues will join the Series alongside a host of returning cyclists that fans will now be familiar with including Olympic medalists Ed Clancy and Steven Burke.

Aberystwyth will become the first Welsh venue to host The Series, while Oldham will represent Greater Manchester. Returning to the calendar for a third year are Stoke-on-Trent, Peterborough and Woking, while the tough cobbled climbs of Durham make a second appearance. Colchester also returns, having hosted a round of the hugely successful inaugural Series in 2009. The races will come to a conclusion amidst the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, where the champion team will be crowned.

Commenting on the announcement of the 2011 Halfords Tour Series, Andy Brotherton of Halfords said; "As the largest bicycle retailer in Britain we want to help drive the sport of cycling wherever we can. Bringing The Halfords Tour Series to two new towns will further cement this unique style of team racing into The Series' heritage.

"The Halfords Tour Series is more than an elite series. The event showcases some of our finest home-grown athletes and brings the sport to the attention of the wider public. We hope this exposure will inspire more people to get cycling."

Mick Bennett, Technical Director of The Halfords Tour Series said; "We are very happy to be able to announce the eight venues that will hold a round of The Halfords Tour Series this season. The fact that we have two new venues joining the Series, and others like Colchester, returning to the calendar shows the popularity of the exciting, and unique, team based format.

"From Durham to Canary Wharf we can once again expect a thrilling and action packed four weeks of racing from Britain's top professional cycling teams. This year The Halfords Tour Series really is too close to call, so spectators at all eight rounds should expect to see some more of the very close and exciting racing with which the Series has become synonymous."

The full 2011 Halfords Tour Series calendar is as follows:

Round One Tuesday 24^th May Durham

Round Two Thursday 26^th May Aberystwyth

Round Three Tuesday 31^st May Peterborough

Round Four Thursday 2^nd June Colchester

Round Five Tuesday 7^th June Stoke-on-Trent

Round Six Thursday 9^th June Oldham

Round Seven Tuesday 14^th June Woking

Round Eight Thursday 16^th June Canary Wharf

The new-for-2011 Johnson Health Tech Women's Grand Series will take place at half the rounds, bring top-class women's racing to The Series for the first time. Races will be held at Peterborough, Stoke-on-Trent, Oldham and Woking where spectators will see some of Britain's top female cyclists in action.

Full details of each individual round will be announced over the coming weeks as The Halfords Tour Series counts down to a spectacular first race at Durham on Tuesday 24^th May. The first riders to pull on the five iconic Halfords orange leader's jerseys will be crowned winners.

The ten participating teams in the 2011 Halfords Tour Series are CyclePremier.com - Metaltek; Endura Racing; defending champions Motorpoint; Pendragon Le Col Colnago; Rapha Condor Sharp, who include Olympic Gold medallist Ed Clancy in their line-up; Sigma Sport - Specialized; Team Raleigh, Team UK Youth, who include Olympic Bronze medallist Steven Burke and former Tour de France stage winner Magnus Backstedt amongst their roster; Twenty3c - Orbea; and Wilier - GoSelfDrive.com.

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David Millar had a good ride in the Tour Of Romandie but could only finish in 13th place.

The Scot broke with three kilometres of the 178km stage around Romount to go. However with 700 yards to go, he was caught and Danni Cunego went onto win the stage ahead of Cadel Evans.

Chris Froome was the second Brit in the top twenty finishing 11th.

Pawel Broutt leads Cuenego by 38 seconds for the leaders jersey.

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Matteo Rabbotini took the 5th stage of the Tour Of Turkey beating Efimkin and Magazzini.