Ryedale GP Women’s Road Race 2014

All images ©chrismaher.co.uk / CyclingShorts.cc

Round Eight in the Women’s Road Race Series – Ryedale Grand Prix incorporating the BC Junior Women’s National Road Race Championship.

 

Pre Race

Round Eight of the Women’s Road Series is the Ryedale Grand Prix, based around the Ampleforth Abbey Grounds, in North Yorkshire. The course has been used over the years for the National Championships and consists of two loops that pass through the grounds of the Sport College and the Start/ Finish area, allowing the spectators to follow the progression of the race as it develops.

This year’s edition incorporates the British Cycling Junior Women’s Road Race Championships with-in the senior race, and covers around thirty-nine miles.

 

Race

A nine-thirty start on a muggy, misty and slightly damp course saw the girls away safely up the switch-back climb in-front of the Abbey and onto the main road. A two kilometre neutralised zone got the girls through the town of Ampleforth where they swung left and onto the main climb across the Yearsley Moor to start the race. A high pace up the first ascent saw four or five girls dropped straight away. The course then turned to the right before Yearsley, and the girls headed out towards Oulston for the first of two large circuits.

It wasn’t long before a couple of minor falls split the peloton, and as the pace was kept high, the peloton once again fragmented.

Heading left at Gilling East and back through to the Sports Grounds at the Abbey for the first circuit, Series Leader Nicola Juniper made a small attack and gained four or five seconds lead. The peloton had strung-out on the approach to the Rugby Fields, but at the right, then left-hand pinch point, the slippery surface brought panic to the chasing girls as several slid across the surface and brought the group to an almost stand-still.

Chains un-tangled, and a quick brush-down, it was going to be a hard chase for the peloton to catch Juniper, who had ridden up through the start/ finish area un-aware of the hold-up behind her and to a lead of around sixty-seconds.

Looking back, further around the course, Juniper had realised that no-one was there, and decided to dig-in and time trial the rest of the race.

The peloton chased hard, but Juniper’s lead grew, and in the end, she rode to a solo victory.

Eyes were then on the sprint to the line and more importantly the first three Juniors, vying for the National Championships Jersey. It was no surprise to see Bethany Haywood, Matrix Fitness Vulpine glued to the wheels of Laura Massey, Epic Cycles who lead the bunch in for second place. Emma Grant rode in to forth, Elizabeth Holden in to fifth and Silver for the juniors. Amy Gornall, RST Racing rode in to eighth place to secure her Bronze Medal.

 

 

Race Results

 

  1. Nicola Juniper – Team Echelon Rotor
  2. Laura Massey – Epic Cycles Scott WRT
  3. Bethany Haywood – Matrix Fitness Vulpine (J)
  4. Emma Grant – Tibco To The Top
  5. Elizabeth Holden – RST Racing (J)
  6. Rebecca Womersley – Wyndymilla Reynolds
  7. Rebecca Rimmington – Merlin Cycles
  8. Amy Gornall – RST Racing (J)
  9. Jane Barr – Velocity 44 Stirling
  10. Jennifer Hudson – VC ST Raphael
  11. Elizabeth Malins – Fusion Development RT
  12. Ellie Campbell – Fusion RT Gearclub Bike Science
  13. Alexie Shaw – Epic Cycles Scott WRT
  14. Gabriella Nordin – Pedal Power RT
  15. Sophie Falkner – Fusion RT Gearclub Bike Science(J)
  16. Eve Dixon – Team 22
  17. Abigail Dentus – Team De Ver (J)
  18. Natalie Grinczer – Fusion RT Gearclub Bike Science
  19. Rebecca Nixon – Dundee Thistle CC
  20. Abby Mae Parkinson – RST Racing (J)
  21. Vanessa Whitfield – VC ST Raphael
  22. Karen Poole – GB Cycles
  23. Chloe Fraser – Deeside Thistle CC
  24. Cassie McGoldrick – Fusion RT Gearclub Bike Science
  25. Louise Burnie – Loughborough Students CC
  26. Maisie Duckworth – Wolverhampton Wheelers (J)
  27. Lauren Obrien – RST Racing (J)
  28. Iona Sewell – GB Cycles
  29. Nicola Soden – GB Cycles
  30. Helen McKay – Look Mum No Hands!
  31. Ashleigh Fraser – Deeside Thistle CC (J)
  32. Emily Middleditch – Deeside Thistle CC
  33. Clover Murray – Braintree Velo Cycle Racing Club
  34. Lucy Harper – Bike Pure LeMond Aspire (J)
  35. Alexandra Sheehan – Merlin Cycles (J)

 

British Cycling Junior Women’s National Road Race Championships

 

Gold: Bethany HaywoodMatrix Fitness Vulpine

Silver: Elizabeth HoldenRST Racing Team

Bronze: Amy GornallRST Racing Team

 

Women’s Road Race Standings after Round Eight

 

1 Nicola Juniper – 274 – Team Echelon

2 Gabriella Shaw  – 140 – Pearl Izumi-Sports Tours International

3 Katie Archibald – 135 – Pearl Izumi-Sports Tours International

4 Dame Sarah Storey – 110 – Pearl Izumi-Sports Tours International

5 Laura Trott – 101 – Wiggle Honda

6 Molly Weaver – 96 – Epic Cycles – Scott WRT

7 Laura Massey – 93 – Epic Cycles – Scot WRT

8 Hannah Walker – 77 – Epic Cycles – Scott WRT

9 Bethany Hayward – 76 – Matrix Fitness Vulpine

10 Danielle King – 64 – Wiggle Honda

11 Gillian Taylor – 62 – Fusion RT Gearclub Bike Science

11 Rebecca Womersley – 62 – Wyndymilla Reynolds

13 Grace Garner – 58 – RST Racing Team

14 Alexie Shaw – 57 – Epic Cycles – Scott WRT

15 Elinor Barker – 55 – Wiggle Honda

15 Rebecca Rimmington – 55 – Velosport – Pasta Montegrappa

17 Lydia Boylan – 50 – Velosport – Pasta Montegrappa

17 Jessie Walker – 50 – Matrix Fitness – Vulpine

19 Elizabeth Holden – 48 – RST Racing Team

20 Abigail Dentus – 46 – Team de Ver

 

Nicola Juniper (Team Echelon) is the 2014 Women’s Road Race Series Champion.

Results by British Cycling

The final race in the current season is the Stafford GP and Kermesse, on Friday 1st – Saturday 2nd August.

 

Wiggo & Cav’s Triumphant Homecoming – ToB Stage 8

Did you go? Were you there? In case you left the country for a couple of weeks, you would have struggled to avoid seeing that the Tour of Britain hit the streets of this great cycling nation, and even with the inevitable inclemency of the weather, it appeared to be a great success. Cycling Shorts were lucky enough to be invited to London by Jaguar to see how the final stage all panned out, and did we ever pick a good day to go…

The first thought that occurred, when we arrived for the Johnson Health Tech Westminster Grand Prix was how busy the circuit was, even at half ten on a Sunday morning. The sizeable crowd was treated to the spectacle of the pack trying to attack Hannah Barnes for the best part of an hour, but their efforts were fruitless, the national crit champion relentlessly driving the bunch to cover chase after chase, with a final, full-blooded effort by Lydia Boylan and Nicola Juniper failing to stick after putting a big chunk of time on the peloton. The pack was all together for the finale and there was only going to be one winner in the sprint to the line, Barnes taking the win to popular delight. Two observations occurred – firstly, even when you have a standout favourite like Barnes, the racing can still be fantastic. And secondly, if you have any questions over the popularity of women’s racing, put them to one side – this race was massively popular.

The next event was the IG Gentleman’s TT, over one lap of the full 8.8km course, where pairs consisting of a pro “pacer” and a celebrity “gentleman” teamed together with the gentleman’s time over the line being the one that counted. Honours went to Andrew Griffiths and Francis Jackson with a respectable 11:47, tonking second placed Olly Stephens and Alex Stephenson by 47 seconds, with Gavin Morton and Steve Carter Smith another 7 seconds further back in third. I’ll be honest with you – I thought it was a really cool concept, but with very few exceptions (Lee Dixon, Dermot Murnaghen, Ned Boulting), I didn’t know who the celebrities were, although that may say more about me than anything else…  A good idea, though – maybe next year get Boris and Ken to get involved, add a bit of local colour and create a budding sporting rivalry.

But the main event was always going to be the final stage of the Tour of Britain. On a pan-flat stage, no-one was likely to make a race-winning break big enough to take the gold jersey, but that didn’t mean it was a dull affair, Pete Williams and Angel Madrazo joining a six man break in a frenzied battle to take the points jersey, the Spaniard taking it to add to his mountains jersey when Williams was DQ’d from a sprint for some overly lively riding. Inevitably however, the pack hunted them down and despite a late and valiant dash for glory from Alex Dowsett, it was all about the sprint, and there was only ever going to be one winner there, Mark Cavendish rocketing to his third stage victory. With Sir Bradley following him safely home to seal the overall, Whitehall went nuts in celebration – which is not a phrase you’ll hear often!

It’s hard to see the tour in general and stage 8 in particular as anything other than an unparalleled success. Certainly, all day long the crowds were both full and vocally happy, whilst the results were what everyone wanted. But more than just being a showcase for the extraordinary talents of two of Britain’s brightest stars, riders who fly comparatively lower on the radar than Cav and Sir Brad also received rapturous welcomes, riders like Alex Dowsett, Dan Martin and Nairo Quintana. It was great to see that, not only were they recognised and their names known, people were genuinely happy to see them, regardless of nationality. A year on from the Olympics, it’s clear that cycling has as firm a place in the heart of the sporting nation as it has had for many years, and all the signs show that it’s here to stay. Happy days…

Huge thanks to Claire and all at Jaguar UK for their hospitality on a fantastic day #ToB2013 #ridelikeapro @JaguarUK

 

 

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