Races Will Provide Chance for Scientific Research
Sports scientists from the University of Greenwich at Medway are hoping that physical data obtained from elite level athletes competing in two handcycling events later this summer will provide important research information and raise the profile of disability sport.
The arrival of the Tour de France will focus the sporting spotlight firmly on Kent but the riders competing for the famous yellow jersey will not be the only world-class international athletes making their way to the county accompanied by their bikes.
In addition to the Tour, other cycling events will form part of the festivities planned for the weekend of July 7 and 8 in Kent and London as two international handcycling events will be contested by (predominantly) physically disabled athletes. One race will take the form of an individual 35-km time trial to be hosted at the brand new Betteshanger race circuit. This venue is billed as the best, purpose-built cycling race track in the UK and forms part of a reclaimed nature reserve located near Deal in Kent. The second event will be a one-hour road race and will take place in Hyde Park on July 8.
Both events are being organised by a committee comprising UK Handcycling Association (UKHCA) members, the Kent Sports Development Unit (KSDU), regional British Cycling and the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), the organisation largely responsible for the regeneration project of the spent colliery site at Betteshanger.
Paul Smith, of the University of Greenwich at Medway’s Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, is one of the United Kingdom’s Handcycling Association’s (UKHCA) committee members responsible for organising the events.
Mr Smith said: “We are extremely excited at the prospect of attracting some of the leading Handcyclists from all corners of the World. The races will form part of a European and World Cup series and will be fiercely contested. Spectators will be able to get-up-close and they will gain an intimate insight into this relatively new and exciting sport which competitors to power themselves with their arms at speeds exceeding 20 mph.”
Mr Smith plans to use the two races to research what skills and attributes make a top performer.
He added: “We are all hopeful that the elite riders will experience a fantastic festival atmosphere in July and will be provided with the hospitality to match. We also plan to work a research study into the proceedings in order to determine what physiological characteristics distinguish the top riders from the rest of the field.
“With colleagues from the Disability Sport section of KSDU, we are hoping to establish a legacy which will raise people’s awareness of disability sport and increase participation at the grass-roots level of handcycling as we head towards the London Paralympics in 2012.”
ENDS
For further media information, broadcast, photographic and interview opportunities, please contact:
- University of Greenwich Public Relations, tel: 020 8331 9420
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