There is once again a strong domestic and national entry for this weekend’s Isle of Man Youth and Junior Tour.

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company was last week announced as the headline sponsor for what is the Manx round of British Cycling’s National Youth and Junior Road Race Series

The event has taken place each spring since the mid-2000s and can boast many riders who have gone on to become leading professional riders, not least our own Peter Kennaugh MBE.

The 2023 event will see three stages being held round the island over the next three days in six age-band categories, running from under-eight youths to under-18 juniors.

The tour begins with a short individual prologue time trial on Loch Promenade in Douglas on Friday evening for all riders, followed by road racing in Marown on Saturday and finishing with more racing in the area Jurby on Sunday.

The popular event will close with a celebratory prize presentation at the Villa Marina on Sunday evening.

More than 250 of the best young cyclists in Britain are set to take part, accompanied by families, team personnel, race officials and journalists.

Local talent will be well represented in all the categories, with teams from each age group in the local RL360 series and the Utmost Isle of Man Junior squad. The leading rider in each category will wear the coveted IoM Steam Packet Company leader’s jersey.

The Steam Packet is also the travel partner for the event which will see an influx of more than 700 visitors in total.

Brian Thomson, IoM Steam Packet Co managing director, said it was a pleasure to support the long-running event, adding that: ‘We see this as a great way to introduce the island and all it has to offer to a young age-group and their families, who will have a great time whilst here and hopefully then make return visits in the future.’

Richard Fletcher, of the organising team, welcomed the introduction of the Steam Packet as the new headline sponsor and said: ‘Aside from attracting in excess of 700 visitors, the continued hosting of the National Road Race Series is great publicity for the Isle of Man and is critical to maintaining the high standards being achieved by our local riders.

‘As organisers, we’d like to put on record our sincere gratitude to our previous sponsor, the Sleepwell Hotel Group, for its support over the past 17 years and look forward to hopefully building a similar long-term relationship with the Steam Packet.’

Event registration takes place this evening (Thursday) between 5 and 7pm Noa Bakehouse, Peveril Buildings, Peveril Square, Douglas and on Friday afternoon between midday and 4.30.

Stage one will commence with the Youth E riders getting underway at 6pm over a distance of 1.2 kilometres on Douglas promenade walkway, with riders setting off at 30 second intervals. They be immediately followed by Youth D, Youth C, Youth B, Youth A and Juniors.

On Saturday, roads will close at Ellerslie in advance of the Youth E Boys, Youth D Boys and girls 0.9km hill climb from 9.30am.

Next, from 10am, will be the Youth C boys and girls over two full laps of the Ellerslie, Garth, Glen Vine course, a distance of 14.4km.

Youth B boys start at 11am over four laps (28.8km) and girls one minute later over a shorter three-lap distance (21.6km).

Youth A boys will commence a five-lap 36km race at 12.25pm, again with the girls one minute later over a shorter four laps (28.8km).

The junior boys race will begin at 3.15 over 10 laps of the same testing course, a distance of 72km (44.7 miles).

Sunday will be split, with the youths confined to the Jurby Motordrome (airfield) area in the morning and the older youths and juniors on closed public roads nearby from 12.30pm.

Youth D boys will set off at 9am sharp for two laps of the of the airfield course (6km), followed one minute later by the girls. Another 60 seconds behind them on the circuit will be the Youth E boys and girls at 9.02am, also over two laps.

Youth C girls commence at 9.40 over four laps (12km), followed at 10.20 by the Youth C boys over the same distance.

Switching to the road course, the Youth B boys will commence at midday over three laps of a six-mile course (30km), with the girls one minute astern.

Youth A boys and girls will be next away at 1.20 and 1.21pm respectively over four laps (40km).

The finale to the weekend will be a 90km race for the junior boys beginning at 3pm and concluding with the tough Tholt-y-Will climb and a hill top finish not far short of the Bungalow. They will also ride seven-and-three-quarter laps of the Jurby road course before heading off into the Sulby valley.