The Shropshire Star Newport Nocturne is Britain's first flood lit

road bicycle race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

and is biennially held in

Newport, Shropshire Newport is a constituent market town in Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies north of Telford, west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 census recorded 10,814 people living in the town's parish ...

. The race was first run in 1970 at a distance of . The race was first run as a night race under flood lights in 1989 and returned in 1990 and 1991 in this format. The economic recession of the early 1990s forced the event to be cancelled in 1992. Shropshire Star Newport Nocturne on High Street

Shropshire Star Newport Nocturne on High Street

The race was brought back in 2001 at the request of the town council. Following the 2001 race, the

Shropshire Star The ''Shropshire Star'' is reputedly the twelfth biggest-selling regional newspaper in the UK. It is based at Grosvenor House, Telford where it covers the whole of Shropshire plus parts of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Cheshire a ...

newspaper became title sponsor of the race. The 2003 edition attracted Sean Kelly as a guest and 14,000 spectators. The event was developed in 2005 with the addition of the "One Lap Challenge", specifically designed for

track cyclist Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

s. In 2007, the event was made up of three races: the British Cycling Elite Circuit race, a past masters race and a showcase event involving British

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

riders Bradley Wiggins,

Mark Cavendish Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Isle of Man, Manx professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a Track cycling, track cyclist he specialises in the Madison (cycling), madison, po ...

and

Geraint Thomas Geraint Howell Thomas, (; born 25 May 1986) is a Welsh professional racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam , Wales and Great Britain. He is one of the few riders in the modern era to achieve significant elite success as both a tra ...

, along with

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

medalist

Rob Hayles Robert John Hayles (born 21 January 1973) is a former track and road racing cyclist, who rode for Great Britain and England on the track and several professional teams on the road. Hayles competed in the team pursuit and Madison events, until h ...

The track

The track follows the same route every year and starts off in the

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

, heading north towards St Nicolas' Church and around the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

onto the

cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...

s of St Mary's Street and around the other side of the church, coming back onto the other side of the High Street, heading up the other side of the High Street. The racers then turn left onto Avenue Road - a quiet, predominantly residential area. The racers then turn at the bowling club and head down Granville Avenue before going back on the High Street to the finishing line.

Recent Events

The 2010 Nocturne was held on 4 September 2010, with British cycling’s leading female stars including

Victoria Pendleton Victoria Louise Pendleton, (born 24 September 1980) is a British jockey and former track cyclist who specialised in the sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines. She is a former Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion. With two ...

and

Nicole Cooke Nicole Denise Cooke, MBE (born 13 April 1983) is a Welsh former professional road bicycle racer and Commonwealth, Olympic and World road race champion. At Beijing in 2008 she became the first British woman to win a Gold Olympic medal in an ...

turning up to compete. The 2014 event was held on 30 August so as to not conflict with other cycling events such as the

Tour de Yorkshire The Tour de Yorkshire is a road cycling race in the historic county of Yorkshire, England which first took place in May 2015. It is promoted by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and is rated as a 2.HC event as part of the UCI Europe Tour. ...

. This would enable some of the top names in cycling to attend.

References

Cycle races in England Newport, Shropshire Recurring sporting events established in 1970 Road bicycle races Sport in Shropshire 1970 establishments in England {{England-sport-stub