50th Lincoln International Grand Prix

Taking place on Sunday, May 8 in Lincoln, Great Britain, is the 50th edition of the Lincoln International Grand Prix. This year's race will form part of the UCI's European Continental Tour, and is ranked as a 1.2 event. It will be raced over 13 laps of a 21 km circuit for a total of 163 km.

Several foreign teams have already been finalised for the race, including Canada's Jet Fuel team, which will include five Canadian riders and one Norwegian. The team took part in the 2002 race and two members of that team, Buck Miller and Andrew Randell (19th that year), return to Lincoln in 2005. Also making the journey back to Lincoln from The Netherlands will be the Marco Polo and the BRC Kennemerland Racing Teams. These teams have been regular visitors to Lincoln since the race became international in 1999 and always provide strong riders. Marco Polo placed four riders in the top 20 last year and Kennemerland finished with four riders on the result sheet.

Team Rochelle has also registered its presence with foreign riders from Ireland, Canada and Latvia, and confirmation is expected shortly from at least two more foreign teams.

The Lincoln International Grand Prix will see Portuguese UCI commissaire Isabel Maria Franco Fernandes present at the 2005 race. A commissaire since 1988, 35 year-old Isabel lives near Lisbon, is fluent in English and French and is studying Spanish and Italian to back up her native tongue. She is qualified in Portugal as a commissaire, a coach, a teacher and a masseur. She will be backed up by British International Commissaires, Richard Robotham, Chris Naylor and Steve Parsons in the race.

The organisers say that sponsorship has now covered 85% of the race budget of £30,000, and any interested companies wishing to sponsor the Lincoln should contact Ian Emmerson at ian.emmerson@ntlworld.com for details.