PEEL Park, which staged its first ever Yorkshire Points Series race earlier this month, has been pencilled in to stage the National Cyclo-Cross Championships again - this time in the winter of 2021-22.

Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross Association secretary Fred Rothwell said of the Bradford venue: "We had the North of England Championships there last winter, the winter before that was a round of the National Trophy and the winter before that the National Championships."

The iconic Peel Park course has a lot of pulling power, with several notable riders describing it as the best in the country, but it does face competition from within the Broad Acres.

Rothwell explained: "York (York Cycle Sport) is becoming a better venue because the parking and the facilities there are just slightly better than at Peel Park - for that reason the National Trophy next winter will be over at York again, although the course is not better than here.

"I would not be part of putting on a National Championships at York but I think a National Championships will materialise at Peel Park not next winter but the winter after that (2021-22).

"We were looking at the Yorkshire Showground (Harrogate) and trying to develop that as a venue, especially because it is a fully fenced and turnstiled venue and lends itself to even bigger things than the National Championships, such as World Cups, but that door is closed for the moment, or should I say slightly ajar as we cannot get our foot in it."

As for Peel Park staging its first Yorkshire Points Series races, Rothwell confessed: "It is always great to visit Peel Park.

"It is always a great venue but this time they were absolutely superb conditions and better than most - no mud, no ice, no desperate cold.

"It was different - it wasn't a National Trophy or a National Championships or North of England Championships but a Yorkshire Points Series, and you can put up a different course at Peel Park every time that you come.

"It was clockwise this time - we usually do it anti-clockwise and it worked exceptionally well - and running a separate under-12 course has done us a favour as well as riders could practice there while the other races were going on.

"Every box has been properly ticked."

As for the entry, Rothwell said: "It was a good turnout of 304, including the junior races, whereas the previous week (the Nova Cross at Conyngham Hall, Knaresborough) we had a poor to average entry and we had only had 202 riders in action.

"We had never staged a Yorkshire Points race here before.

"We should never say that we have come down because all these events have their own standing, their own hierarchy and they still pull in the best riders that wish to try this environment out, this venue out."