Start

The UCI Road World Championships are based in Harrogate, and in Yorkshire, for the next week. The modest journey up was smooth, particularly as an Azuma shuttle train service is running directly between Leeds and Harrogate for the duration of the championships.

After yesterday's paracycling events, today saw a new format in the series - the Team Time Trial Mixed Relay. This sees national teams of six, with three men completing one time trial lap together before handing over to three women to complete a further lap to the finish.

I staked out the start for about half an hour; here are the three men of the British team getting underway. They're a young squad and did well to podium with a bronze medal behind the Germans and gold medalists The Netherlands.

As you can see, the conditions were very wet, although it did brighten a little as the afternoon went on, perhaps favouring the later teams. In extras you'll find some enthusiastic fans of the Oranje, and the French team warming up outside their team bus. There is plenty going on around the town, where you can walk pretty freely among the team buses, and in the Fan Zone where there are lots of merchandise and food outlets as well as big screens to follow the action in the races. I'm not sure if I'll get up to Harrogate again during the championships, but the Women's Elite Race starts next Saturday from Bradford, and runs past just down the hill from us so I expect we'll pop out to see that at least.

Later, I headed over to Harrogate Town's Wetherby Road ground where Harrogate Town Ladies were hosting Fleetwood Town Wrens in a Women's FA Cup First Round Qualifying fixture. The game initially looked like it would be fairly even, but Harrogate ran out deserved 5-0 winners and it could have been more.