The Junior Tour of Wales, held in Blaenau Gwent, is a 43-year-old annual cycling race which has been referred to as one of Britain’s most important development races.

However, the prestigious event has been forced to change course last minute due to the default 20mph speed limit policy rolled out by the Welsh Labour Government just last September.

The news broke with Cycling Weekly reporting on the frustration felt by race organiser Richard Hopkins, as even one section of just a few hundred metres of 20mph zones can take an entire course out of action.

Commenting on the situation, Shadow Transport Minister Natasha Asghar MS, said: “It is extremely disappointing to see yet another fixture in Wales impacted by the Welsh Government’s default 20mph speed limit policy.

I understand that the organisers of The Junior Tour of Wales were hoping to have a legal mitigation in place which would have enabled the initial route to stay open as planned, but this hasn’t come through in time.

This exciting event, hosted in Wales for 43 years, has always attracted bright young talent and spectators from all across the UK, and I can only imagine the amount of work that must have gone into route planning and organisation – all for it to be changed at such late notice with seemingly little help and direction from governing bodies, and inconsistencies in guidance from different authorities throughout the entire process.

I am sure the event will prove to be a great success thanks to the organisers, however, I really do hope we see legal mitigation granted for next year’s race.

Sporting events such as these should not have to suffer as a direct result of unintended consequences from the Labour Welsh Government’s policies.”