Trott wins 2015 Milk Race by three thousandths of a second
Laura Trott and Kristian House win The Milk Race
Laura Trott today (Sunday 24 May) claimed victory in this year’s elite women’s Milk Race whilst Kristian Houseclaimed the 1st prize in the elite men’s race.
Riding around the city centre course in Nottingham for team Matrix Fitness, Laura beat last year’s champion Katie Archibald of Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International by three thousandths of a second. In third place was Pearl Izumi’s Katie Curtis. Meanwhile, in the men’s race Kristian House of JLT Condor was victorious over team Wiggins’ Andy Tennant and JLT’s Ed Clancy, who came in second and third respectively.
The women’s top five finishers were as follows:
Laura Trott, Matrix Fitness
Katie Archibald, Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International
Katie Curtis, Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International
Dani King, Wiggle Honda
Jessie Walker, RST Racing
Speaking after her triumphant win, Laura said: “It’s great to win such a prestigious event especially with an exciting sprint finish. I’m really pleased to return to Nottingham and be in front of such amazing crowds. Here’s hoping The Milk Race returns again next year!”
The men’s top five finishers were as follows:
Kristian House, JLT Condor
Andy Tennant, Wiggins
Ed Clancy, JLT Condor
Christopher Lawless, Wiggins
Sam Lowe, Raleigh GAC
Following his victory, Kristian said: “It’s great to be part of an event like The Milk Race. The atmosphere and amount of support from the crowd make it one of the best events in England to be part of.”
The Milk Race, which initially ran between 1958 and 1993 as the UK’s leading multistage cycling race, was resurrected in 2013 as a city centre event. In 2015, the majority of the event is being funded by The Dairy Council and DairyCo, meaning that all corners of the dairy industry are working together to put on Britain’s leading one-day cycling extravaganza. More than 100,000 people came out to see The Milk Race across the weekend.
This year, the elite races formed part of a festival of cycling in Nottingham city centre, which included a Schools Ride, a Family Ride, a ride for advanced cyclists and a special ride for the British dairy industry.
Once again, Nottingham’s Old Market Square was transformed into The Milk Race Village, where thousands of spectators took advantage of milk-based products and giveaways from some of the country’s leading dairy companies.
In an elite field containing numerous world, Olympic and British champions, the women’s Milk Race has become a key event in the annual cycling calendar, and offers a first prize of £1,000 – the same value as the men’s event.
Sandy Wilkie, Chairman of The Dairy Council, said: “Last year’s Milk Race was a great occasion but today’s event has surpassed it. It was a fantastic spectacle and a great celebration of cycling and dairy. Our congratulations go toLaura and Kristian, and here’s hoping that, if further funding can be secured, The Milk Race can be a permanent fixture in the British sporting calendar for many years to come.”
Gwyn Jones, DairyCo Board Chairman, said: “The Milk Race is an iconic cycling event and represents a fabulous platform to promote to the public the benefits of milk and dairy in the context of sport. Sport requires commitment, enthusiasm and huge energy from competitors which is something dairy farmers know and appreciate as they go about their work in producing nutritious milk and the other dairy products millions of us enjoy every day. We’re delighted to be supporting The Milk Race in Nottingham.”
Councillor Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture at Nottingham City Council, said: “Today was a fantastic day out for residents and visitors. Nottingham is delighted to host such an important cycling event – one of many this summer as we gear up to welcome more world class sporting events. Congratulations to both winners.”
Further information about the 2015 Milk Race can be found at www.themilkrace.com or follow @themilkraceuk on Twitter.
Christian Prudhomme (ASO) and Gary Verity (Welcome to Yorkshire) popped in for a chat with the media teams after the final stage of the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire.
It All Comes Down To A Bunch Sprint Along The Knavesmire In The Inaugural Women’s Tour De Yorkshire!
York 80Km Closed Circuit Road Race.
The inaugural Women’s Tour De Yorkshire cycling road race took place on a closed four lap, 20 kilometre circuit. Open to Elite, First, Second and Third cat ladies, gave opportunity, for the girls to ride safely through the streets of York. Looping out beyond the A64 to the East, before returning, the race completed the circuit on the Knavesmire near the Race Course entrance.
Likened to a Belgium Kermesse by the girls, rather than a City Centre Criterium. The technical at times course, twisted & turned through the streets of York, passing several well known landmarks, through ancient City Walls, and over cobbled roads, before entering the more exposed windier sections outside of town.
Flagged off by British Cycling President, Bob Howden, the Race got underway at 10.30am by an eighty strong field of riders.
Crowds had already built-up around the City streets, and the race got off to an aggressive start. There were many attacks on the back-end of the circuit, but each and every one were brought back on the run into the City Centre. At times the peloton were very strung-out, that showed the pace indeed was quite high averaging nearly 40kmph. Wiggle Honda’s Eileen Roe had several goes escaping the clutches of a strong Pearl Izumi – Sports Tours Int’l Team and the Team USN squads. They all had goes of firing riders off the front. But as the final lap approached, it became clear that it would end with a bunch sprint.
Approaching the final kilometres, last minute efforts were made to escape, but lead-out trains were formed for the Sprinters, and it was a case of “surfing the wheels” (Louise Mahѐ), and picking the best line or wheel to come off!
In the end, IKON Mazda’s Louise Mahѐ lunged across the line firstly, followed very closely by Wiggle Honda’s Eileen Roe and Pearl Izumi Sports Tours Int’l’s Katie Curtis in a big bunch sprint. Fifty-seven girls completed the race.
Louise Mahe speaks to CyclingShorts.cc writer Chris Maher after her win at the inaugural Women’s Tour de Yorkshire 2015.
I spoke to Louise Mahѐ after the race: “It was a fast race from the off” “At times when you look back, the whole bunch were strung-out, so you knew the pace was high”, “I left it quite late, found a gap, and went for it”. Louise said that she liked the circuit. It was flat, so you race hard. She enjoyed the closed circuit, and said the crowds were awesome!
On Twitter Louise posted: “Blimey, I won a bike race! Thanks for the support everyone”
I spoke to Eileen Row after the race: “It was a really good race”, “It was a really aggressive actually, the race!”, “Unfortunately it did come down to a bunch sprint”, “I was in several breaks that went up the road, that never really came to much up the back-end of the circuit”.
With prize funding to rival international women’s events, a full field of eighty girls assembled at the Grange School Sports Pavilion, Northwich, for the 9.30am roll-out down onto the Bypass road and the start of the twelve laps, ninety-two kilometre circuit race.
Back with the support of Delamere Dairies, Taylor Wimpy and new sponsor Advanced Medical Solutions amongst others, the race soon began to take form, with the first two riders Ellie Campbell (Fusion RT Gearclub Bike Science) and Katie Curtis (Pearl Izumi Sports Tours Int’l) making a break over the Cliff and back down to the Bypass. Bridging the gap Josephine Gilbert (Velosure Starley Primal) swiftly joined them with a thirteen second gap to the Peloton and completion of the first lap.
The Trio stayed out in front gaining ten or more seconds for the second lap, with Pearl Izumi Sports Tours Int’l’s Dame Sarah Storey controlling the head of the main group, before all dropping back into the fold.
The Peloton had splintered after the second ascent of the Cliff and this saw Dame Sarah Storey dropping back around twenty seconds to gather her flock, mainly Joanna Rowsell & Gaby Shaw who had dropped from the main group.
Back at the front of the race, a new four girl group had formed including 2014 Series Champion Nicola Juniper (Team Giordana-Triton), last year winner Katie Archibald (Pearl Izumi), Manon Lloyd (Team USN) and Penny Rowson (Matrix Fitness). They soon gained over fifteen seconds.
Taking over the reigns, once again was Pearl Izumi’s Ciara Horne and National Road Race Champion Laura Trott (Matrix Fitness) donning her red and blue stripped jersey, riding her first Road Series Event for 2015.
Joining the party on lap four were Rebecca Rimmington (Ikon – Mazda), Bethany Crumpton (North West MTB Race Team) and Joanna Rowsell. The group had swollen to seven with a thirty-eight second lead. With two away in the break from Pearl Izumi, it was time for another team to take over the chase. Ellie Coster (Team USN), then Anna Christian (Wiggle Honda) took their turns, but didn’t quite reel the leaders back-in for the Intermediate Sprint.
The Delemare Dairy Intermediate Sprint on lap six saw Joanna Rowsell clip off the front on the Cliff and collect the £200 prize. The bridge had almost been made and it wasn’t long before the main group had reformed once again.
It was after the mid way point that Dame Sarah Storey made her winning move. Seeing an opportunity on the by-pass road, used her time trialling skills to ride away and up the Cliff once more, putting eleven seconds into the chasing Peloton.
As the final few laps went by, Storey stayed away in front and gained additional time, as the other riders all looked at each other. Climbing the Cliff for the final ascend, Storey rode to a thirty-four second lead, making it her second victory of the Cheshire Classic, collecting the Vale Royal Trophy and a second successive win for the Team. Archibald won last year.
There was a large bunch sprint for second place, and Laura Trott took that place. Third over the line was Alice Barnes (Betch.NL-Superior-Brentjens MTB Racing Team) , followed by Emily Kay (Team USN) and Katie Curtis.
The Advance Medical Solutions Team Prize went to Pearl Izumi Sports Tours Int’l.
The Your Sports Therapist most Aggressive Rider went to Dame Sarah Storey.
“Frustrating”, said Nicola Juniper, “The group should of stayed away”.
“It was a superb Team effort. We were told to sit in and cover things in the early days. That’s why Katie (Katie Curtis) went up the road. We then mopped up the prime with Joanne. It was just a case of reading the race, and see who was doing what. I realised it, was my turn really” Dame Sarah Storey.
Sarah had told the girls (Gaby & Katie Archibald) if it comes back, counter move, it doesn’t matter whether some of us don’t finish, we just need to get the win. And it was the move that took the race. She knew that most of the moves were going to happen on the climb, and she would rather climb at her own pace. So making her move on the bypass, had been something that she had thought about.
“I can’t believe it, I’ve always of dreamt of winning it solo… And I’ve done it finally”. Dame Sarah Storey
So we come to the end of another thrilling Revolution Series and what a treat it’s been, some of the worlds best sprinters and endurance riders mixing it up with top British Junior riders.
The finale of the season was held at it’s home track in Manchester at the National Cycling Centre where team Maloja Pushbikers stormed to victory in the Revolution Championship, Eleanor Dickinson and Rhys Britton took the young riders podiums in the HOY Future Stars Championships with consistent and tactical racing skills through this long season. The Championship crown didn’t go without a challenge, ORICA GreenEDGE were determined to upset the results with their bullish gutsy attacks and wins throughout the evening, Maloja Pushbikers had to work hard to remain on top. The nearest rivals to the HOY Future Stars top spot put in a fight too, Sophie Capewell and Fred Wright were in every attack with their teams.
The afternoon got underway much to the disappointment of the crowd with the absence of headline sprinting star Jason Kenny who adorned the cover of the race programme. Jason pulled out of the meet after feeling unwell earlier in the morning. There was still a cracking line up for the sprint competitions with the likes of John Paul (Scotland), Lewis Olivia (GB) and Charlie Conord of France in the mix, all of which made it through the afternoons qualifying races to proceeding to the evenings action.
Elite Championship Flying Lap Men
Alex Edmondson of Orica GreenEDGE posted the best time, winning in a time of 13.487, 2nd was Achim Berkart of JLT Condor in a time of 13.858, and the rest of the riders posted above the 14 second mark with Leif Lampater (Maloja Pushbikers) posting a time of 14.014 in 3rd place.
Elite Championship Points Race (30km) Men
Alex Edmondson @ORICA_GreenEDGE storms to a win in the with a lead of 7 points with one laps to go, 2nd is @Maloja Pushbikes Leif Lampater starting the day off strongly, 3rd Achim Burkart.
Before the evenings Championship events got underway we saw Gustav Larsson take on the Hour Record. He was running a 58:14 schedule for his hour attempt. With 10km raced he was 13.03 seconds down and 1min 18 secs adrift at the halfway point. Unfortunately the clock worked against him and he saw the UCI Hour Record slip away from him. 50.160km gave him a new Swedish Hour Record. You can view Gustav’s times by clicking here.
Hour Record Holders under the new Unified rules set in 2014. Starting the renewed interest in the hour record, recently retired German Pro Cycling Jens Voigt set the benchmark of 51.110, the oldest holder of the record on 18th Sept 2014. He was followed by:
Matthias Brandle (Swi) managed a time of 51.852 30 in Oct 2014
Jack Bobridge (Aus), attempted the record on 31st Jan 2015 in Melbourne but fell short.
The current Record Holder is Rohan Dennis (Aus), who set his time on 8th Feb 2015 in Switzerland, WR 52.491
Alex Dowsett, was meant to ride the hour on 29th Feb 2015, but it was postponed with a possible April date rumoured. Alex is on the mend since his collarbone break and is back in training to tackle the record. Suggestions estimate a 17.1s lap average to beat Rohan Dennis’s time, around 53Kmph.
Elimination womens race Brit Tate was first out. The race continued to drop riders off the back with 5 riders left in the womens elimination race Laura Trott appeared to be comfortable in her favoured style of riding (dangling off the back until she’s required to move to save her skin). After dropping some of the big names (Kay, Rowsell, Curtis & Barker) the final sprint for the line was between Laura Trott & Leire Olaberria of Spain, Laura won comfortably, it seems sitting on the devils tail suits Laura just fine.
Elite Championship Scratch Race (15km)Men
22 riders lined up for the mens Scratch race with vital Championship point up for grabs it was a two team race with Orica and Maloja fighting over the last few scraps of the championships spoils, Maloja Pushbikes lead the competition with 243 points. The Orica boys really needed Christian and Leif to struggle but there was no sign of that, there appeared to be tactics at play from Maloja, only making an effort when required and often sitting near the back and moving forward when there was a danger of Orica getting away. A change of tactics with 25 laps to go 11 riders broke off the front and gained half a lap. 4 riders break free from this lead group with Christian Grasmann leading them. At the 20 lap to go mark Joel Partington retires. Christian’s team mate Leif Lampater takes control on the front for a period with every move being watched by the Orica GreenEDGE boys who appear to have blistering speed to react to manoeuvres. At the 9 lap mark Trodden & De Ketele breakaway but to no avail.
The menace of Orica GreenEDGE’s Alex Edmondson & Miles Scotson force riders to react, along with Maloja’s Christian Grasmann they force all the riders to the top of the track as they get ready for the final sprint.
The form of Alex Edmondson is apparent as he looks like a pure sprinter as he attacks, Leif Lampater responds but has to settle for 2nd in what was a thrilling finish to the Scratch Race, unfortunately Orica didn’t really want to take Leif to the finish line with them as they just offset the valuable Orica points for the Championship, this was going to be a hard fought night of cycling and the Aussies meant business!
HOY Future Stars Scratch Race (5km) Boys
Going into the boys competition Rhys Britton was leading the championship with 400 points with 2nd placed rider Fred Wright on 354 points so it was all to play for. It was a high octane race, with 6 laps to go Anthony Anderson went off the front followed by Jamie Ridehalgh in a bid to win from the front, unfortunately the tactic didn’t work and the pack came back together with Fred Wright winning ahead of Matthew Draper and 3rd place was mopped up by Tom Piddock.
HOY Future Stars Scratch Race (5km) Girls
It appeared it was going to be an attacking evening of racing in all competition levels, but with 14 laps to go Sophie Capewell was striking out the peloton but the pack were carefully watching each other. It was a twitchy race. At 9 laps to go Monica Dew Hope took to the front for team Ignitr. In the closing laps of the race Esme Niblett for Madison Genesis held the front with the most active riders of the race sat on her wheel. When it came to the sprint for the line Sophie Capewell crossed the line first with Anna Docherty and Jess Roberts on her wheel taking 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Revolution Longest Lap (24 riders) Men
Joel Partington of Madison Genesis decided he wanted to hug the start line at the top of the track and take the risk of being close to it until the gun went, it was a tactic that paid off, he managed to use his position and height to comfortably sprint to the finish with 2nd and 3rd placed riders breaking away with him. Joe Holt 2nd for Team USN and 3rd pace was Alex Edmondson of Orica GreenEDGE who was fast becoming the elite rider of the evening, he made sure he was in the mix in every one of his races.
UCI Scratch Race (10km) Women
The 40 lap race was all set to be a zinger, Jo Rowsell attacked 10 laps in and with a small group following her broke away. Jo managed to shake of the riders with her and went on to gain half to three quarters of a lap but she couldn’t break the elastic between her and the chasing pack. Laura Trott was sat in the wheels for the majority of the race as the crowd waited for her to attack, unfortunately for Jo she was drawn back into the peloton and the attack was left late by the riders and the race was taken by Ellie Coster, Laura only managed 3rd place with Katie Curtis taking 2nd, certainly not what the crowd expected but it was a brilliant tactical ride by Ellie Coster.
UCI Sprint
With no Jason Kenny in the line up the competition wasn’t as spicy but the riders present put on a real show for the crowds. the Semi final was a match up of Lewis Oliva vs Jonathan Mitchell, Lewis knocked Jonathan out in two rounds after Mitchell was relegated for not holding his race line, no need for a decider. The face off between Charlie Conord of France and John Paul, went to just two rounds with Charlie being the victor in both to take him through to the race for gold with Lewis Olivia. In the end John Paul beat Jonathan Mitchell to the bronze without too much fuss.
The final ended up with Conord and Olivia taking a race each, it came to a decider. Not to be outdone the sprinters decided to show the crowd their track stand, it led to a frantic finish and the Frenchman won by a slim margin of 9cms on the line, it was confirmed on the velodrome screen to cheers from the crowd.
HOY Future Stars 6 Lap Dash Boys
The boys didn’t hold back with the race living up to it’s name, Rhys Britton and Fred Wright winding up the last few laps to fight for their valuable championship points, Rhys Britton won with Fred Wright 2nd and Matthew Draper 3rd, there seemed to be a group of usual suspects heading the peloton in the boys races for the evening.
HOY Future Stars 6 Lap Dash Girls
The 6 lap Dash was won by the consistently great Sophie Capewell ahead of Eve Jefferies and Megan Chard, Ellie Dickinson came in a close 4th.
Elite Championship Madison Time Trial Men
The mens Madison is always a favourite of mine and it didn’t disappoint. Alex Edmondson actually struck quite an intimidating figure with his very strong riding style throughout the evening, he was like the Terminator on a bike, he and team mate Miles Scotson didn’t disappoint with their unbeatable time in the Madison TT, posting a time of 56.181, Team Maloja Pushbikers came in 2nd place but over one second down (57.862) JLT Condor were a whole second off their place (58.817) with the rest of the teams scattered between 58.896 and 1:00.840.
HOY Future Stars Points Race (5km) Boys
20 laps of the track and Fred Wright managed to get himself into every sprint earning valuable points. Rhys Britton managed to contest some points too stopping Fred from running away with all the goodies. Other riders who put in strong rides were Turnbull, Walls, Longstaff and Stewart, all contesting more than one of the sprints. The final race results where: 10 points to Fred Wright, 8 to Britton and 5 each for Longstaff and Stewart.
HOY Future Stars Points Race (5km) Girls
Another triumphant win for Sophie Capewell, the cherry on her championship cake, she won the first and final sprints of the race giving her an unassailable win of 10 points. Eleanor Dickinson came 2nd with 6 points and 3rd was Rebecca Raybould with 5 points, a close 4th was taken by Emily Tillett who also got 5 points but on count back hadn’t featured in the more than one sprint which was in the middle of the race to earn her points. Raybould.
Elite Championship Team Elimination Men
The elimination came down to the two teams of the evening and series, Maloja Pushbikers and Orica GreenEDGE. Int the final sprint Orica had more fuel left in the tank, no idea how since Alex Edmondson seemed to be over every move in every race of the day. A great win for Orica GreenEDGE who came away with the most points on the evening but sadly not enough for them to topple the consistency high scoring Maloja Pushbikers team of Christian Grasmann and Leif Lampater.
UCI Keirin
The last final of the 2014/15 Revolution Series was the UCI Keirin. It appeared the earlier racing had taken it’s toll on Charlie Conords legs as he came in 6th. The Czech rider Tomas Babek won with GB riders Lewis Olivia and John Paul jostling for position, coming in 2nd & 3rd respectively.
The Revolution returns back to Freeview Television this series. The highlights will be shown the Saturday morning after the event on Channel 4. Then on 4OD catch-up on line.
Catch up with the highlights on Saturday 21st March at 7.00am. Presenting the one hour show will be Matt Barbet, Sian Welby, & Rebecca Charlton with Guest Presenter
The next round of Revolution, Season 13, will be back later in 2015 with Race 52.
It looks like there will be some changes to the Revolution Series for the 2015/16 season as it continues to evolve and dominate the track season in the UK, so watch this space for more information as it’s released!
NEXT SEASON TICKETS
A reminder that tickets for next season will go on sale on Monday 13th April exclusively to past customers – these will be available at a special discounted price to say thank you for your support again this season. Tickets will then go on sale a week later to British Cycling members and customers who pre-register for tickets here . Tickets will be on general release on 1st May.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Subscribe for 10% Discount!
Join our mailing list to receive the latest cycling news and updates from our team. Receive 10% off your first order placed in our online shop!
