There will be a series of road closures in Aberaeron and Aberystwyth later this week as Ceredigion prepares to welcome the Lloyds National Road Racing Championships.

Events will take place from Thursday until Sunday in the two towns.

Schools in Aberaeron will be closed for an INSET day on Thursday as the cycle festival begins there with a time trial.

The challenging time-trial route starts in Ffos- y-ffin and the route extends along the fast-rolling roads to Ciliau Aeron before heading back to Aberaeron, including a short, sharp ascent of the Rhiw Goch climb.

The elite women, under-23 women and under-23 men will complete one and three-quarter laps to give a race distance of 27km, and the elite men’s field will be tested over two and three-quarter laps for a total distance of 41km.

Event start times:

Estimate end time: 17:00

More information can be found here

Resident access and egress will be affected between 08:50 hrs and 17:00 hrs. A signed diversion route will be in place for A482 traffic. There will be a period betwen 12:45 & 13:40 where roads will open to allow access to local premises. Red race route - During the closure times stated vehicles are not permitted to be parked on the highway including in designated parking bays. Vehicles will be towed away

The racing then moves on to Aberystwyth on Friday, with several road closures and vehicle clear aways in place across the town centre.

Schools in the Aberystwyth area will also be closed on Friday for an INSET day.

Vehicles will have to be removed from Marine Terrace (Pier Street to Terrace Road) from 11am on Friday, 27 June until 10pm on Sunday, 29 June.

Vehicles will also need to be removed from Albert Place, Marine Terrace (from Terrace Road to Albert Place), Queen’s Avenue and Queen’s Road from 11am on Friday until 8pm on Sunday.

Vehicles will need to be moved from Baker Street, Great Darkgate Street, Pier Street, Portland Street and Upper Portland Street from 11am Friday until 7pm Saturday.

From 5pm Saturday until 8pm Sunday, vehicles will need to be removed from Harbour Road, Mill Street, New Promenade, Northgate Street, Police Station Road, Riverside Terrace, South Marine Terrace, Tan-y-Cae and Victoria Terrace.

Roads outside Aberystwyth will also need to be cleared of parked vehicles between 5pm Saturday and 8pm Sunday.

These are A4120, A44, A485, A487, B4340, B4575, C1028 and U1102 in the areas of Abermad, Abermagwr, Glanyrafon Industrial Estate, Llanbadarn Fawr, Rhydyfelin, Southgate, Trefechan and Trawscoed.

A number of town centre roads pictured in the image below will also be closed to moving traffic on Friday between 11am and 10pm and Saturday between 7am and 7pm.

Sunday will also see different road closures in Aberystwyth town centre between 8am and 8pm.

Details provided by Ceredigion County Council say: “All pavements will remain open at all times and so pedestrian access is maintained and welcomed. Any vehicles left on the highway on the race route (green/yellow on the map) including those in the designated parking bays will be towed away.. Crossing points are signified on the map (Aberystwyth route only).”

Ceredigion County Council adds: “Thank you for your understanding in helping us bring another major British event to Ceredigion.”

On the evening of Friday 27 June, the circuit championships will take centre stage in the picturesque town of Aberystwyth.

The new course starts and finishes on the iconic seafront before taking to the town centre streets in an anticlockwise direction to complete an exciting 1.6km lap. 50 minutes and five laps of racing will decide both the elite women and open championships, and it will also provide numerous opportunities for spectators to cheer on the riders as they pass by.

Passing the Bandstand on each lap, the race will take a left turn into Pier Street and travel along Portland Street, before heading into Queens Road before re-joining Victoria Terrace, where the races will reach their thrilling conclusions.

Event start times:

Estimate end time: 21:00

More details can be found here

On Saturday 28 June, the Welsh Circuit Race Championships will take centre stage in the picturesque town of Aberystwyth, offering a full programme of races for local schools, right up to E/1/2 categories (male and female).

The new course starts and finishes on the iconic seafront before taking to the town centre streets in an anticlockwise direction to complete an exciting 1.6km lap. 50 minutes and five laps of racing will decide both the elite women and open championships, and it will also provide numerous opportunities for spectators to cheer on the riders as they pass by.

Passing the Bandstand on each lap, the race will take a left turn into Pier Street and onto Great Darkgate Steet, before turning left again onto Baker Street and along Portland Street into Queens Road before re-joining Victoria Terrace, where the races will reach their thrilling conclusions.

To book your place to take part in this race, go to the Beicio Cymru Circuit Race Championships page on the Beicio Cymru website.

Start time: 08:45 until around 14:00-15:00 and 17:00 until around 18:15.

After a presentation start on the seafront, the road races will head out of town towards Y Gors as far as Trawsgoed on a picturesque yet testing 23.4km anti-clockwise loop, heading back towards Aberystwyth passing Abermad.

With a maximum gradient of 9.1% at the beginning of each lap, the peloton will be thinned out as the action moves onto the finishing circuit after three laps for the women's race and five laps in the men’s race.

The finishing circuits of 12.4km - four for the women’s and five for the men’s race - use the start and finish point on the seafront as its central focus, running along almost the entirety of the promenade, past the old college and the castle grounds, before a technical section through the old harbour before looping out over Trefechan bridge.

Such is the testing nature of the course, there is a maximum gradient of 8.7% through Southgate to be tackled each lap. The narrow technical 13.8% descent from Moriah back to the main A44 will be a test of bike handling skills as the riders reach the final few kilometres of each championship.

From there, the race heads back into the town before concluding on the seafront promenade after 128km for the women and 187km for the men.

Event start times:

More details can be found here.

Spectators are welcome to watch on any of the routes, however, they are asked to find a safe location that will not impede cyclists and staff during the races.

In Aberystwyth, spectators and supporters are welcome to visit our ‘Caru Ceredigion’ area on the Promenade on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

There will be various stalls and exhibitions offering information and ways to get involved. Local businesses, organisations and excellent food and beverage providers will be present along the promenade too, as well as a wide variety of food and drink outlets throughout the town.

Some of the stallholders will include Cered: Menter Iaith Ceredigion, Summit Cycles, Beicio Cymru, Aberystwyth Town Council, Ceredigion Actif, Over the Falls Podcast, Ceredigion County Council, Ystwyth Cycling Club, Aber Outdoors, Afan Bikes, Aber Adventures and more.

A large viewing screen provided by British Cycling will be placed on Aberystwyth Promenade which will live stream the Sunday event.

Businesses and home owners across the county can also get involved by decorating their areas to show support for this major event.

British Cycling's production team will be using drones to capture footage of the races for broadcasting, however we ask that any private or recreational drone operators do not impede the cyclists, the organisers or the production team due to safety and security reasons as well as potential privacy violations.

Councillor Clive Davies, Ceredigion's Cabinet Member responsible for Economy and Regeneration said: "It's almost time for us to showcase what a fantastic place Ceredigion is for cyclists, tourism and businesses alike. Ceredigion has a proud record when it comes to producing elite cyclists including Josh Tarling, Stevie Williams and Gruff Lewis and we hope that hosting this event will inspire young cyclists who will be able to see their heroes in action.

“Remember to support the cyclists where you can, whether that be decorating your businesses and homes, cheering them on from near or afar or visiting the local towns."

To support this exciting weekend of racing, we will also see the return of the Summer Series in Aberystwyth for young cyclists in Ceredigion. The 3 rounds of fun bike races will be run by Ystwyth Cycling, Welsh Cycling and Ceredigion Actif, taking place on Friday 13 June in Blaendolau Fields, Saturday 28 June at Aberystwyth Town in a Closed Circuit race and returning to Blaendolau Fields on Friday 11 July. More information can be found at www.facebook.com/ystwythjuniors