ABERGAVENNY is right up there among the best cycling venues in the UK, believes British road ace Dean Downing.

The Rotherham man is giving up being with his daughter Lily on her third birthday to travel hundreds of miles down to the Gwent town and back in order to compete in the Get Connected Welsh Open Criteriums.

The 2012 July race is also part of the British Cycling Elite Circuit Series and will be recorded by Sky Sports to be shown within a few days.

ABERGAVENNY'S Festival of Cycling last weekend has been hailed as the most successful yet, the biggest event of its' kind in Wales this year and, probably, across the UK.

From Friday night's Get Connected Welsh Open Criteriums, which included a round of the national Elite Circuit Series for leading professional riders to Sunday's Tour of the Black Mountains Sportif, a massive 1,000 riders graced the roads of the town and Monmouthshire.

Read on ...

What's it like to ride the Iron Mountain Sportive?

A picture says a thousand words, so here some superb photo from legendary photographer Phil O'Conner from Spotive Photo.

They will take your breath away. Experience the heart of cycling in Wales.

Click here to view the photos.

Provisional results are in for the Iron Mountain Sportive and the Tour of the Black Mountains, part of the festival of cycling.

Thank you for riding and supporting our hugely successful event.

Iron Mountain Provisional Results

Tour of the Black Mountains Provisional Results

Official photo's from www.sportivephoto.com

Riding so strong no-one was able to live with him around the streets of Abergavenny, Dean Downing was the winner of the Abergavenny GP.

Downing won the race to celebrate his daughters second birthday and attacked a long way out and while his gap came down to 11 seconds at one point as Endura racing attempted to bring him back, Downing held on and won the race in style, pointing to a tattoo he has under his jersey dedicated to his daughter.