Follow britishcycling.org.uk on 
Report: Cyclo-Cross National Trophy Round 6
Rutland Water | Sunday 16 January 2011 | by Larry Hickmott
Results | Series Standings | Series Homepage | Preview | Photo Albums |
VIDEO
Senior Men's Race
Video Interviews with Jody Crawforth & Paul Oldham
IMAGES
First pictures from the racing ... See more here
The sixth and final round of the British Cycling National Trophy Cyclo-Cross was held at Rutland Water where the overall winners of many of the various categories were decided in a day of tight racing in windy conditions.
Senior Men
Jody Crawforth won the 2010/11 National Trophy Series senior men's category men after finishing second behind Kenneth van Compernolle of Belgium. Coming into the race, Crawforth led Paul Oldham by only one point - but you’d never know it as they chatted away on the start line. But, with seconds to go to the start, the race-faces came on and it was down to business. Crawforth and Hargroves team-mate Stuart Bowers were at the head of the race at the field shot down the start straight.
Over the hurdles for the first time, Crawforth was leading the new British Cyclo-Cross Champion Paul Oldham with the Belgian Kenneth van Compernolle in third. Second last year, Kenneth van Compernolle, was only interested in first spot this time and soon caught and passed Crawforth who admitted later he tried to go with him but that the Belgian was simply too quick accelerating in and out of the many twists and turns.
But while Crawforth was unable to stay with Compernolle, Oldham too was losing ground on the rider he had to beat to take the series. Crawforth soon settled for second. And, that was the way the top three were to stay with Compernolle winning ahead of Crawforth and Oldham.
Behind these riders though, there was a battle-royal between David Fletcher, Kenta Gallacher, Luke Gray and the ageless Nick Craig, the veteran's champion. The Scott UK rider showed patience, endurance and skill in coming from behind to finish ahead of all these riders, crossing the line in fourth place and claiming third in the series. Ben Roach meanwhile found that finishing 13th wasn’t so unlucky and he did enough to win the Under-23 series.
Senior Men Results (Full Results | Series Standings)
1 Kenneth van Compernolle Belgium Elite 1h 1m 28s
2 Jody Crawforth Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Spec Elite @ 0:35
3 Paul Oldham Hope Factory Racing Elite @ 1:00
4 Nick Craig Team Scott UK Elite @ 1:38
5 David Fletcher Boardman Elite Under 23 @ 1:40
Veterans
First event of the day was the Over 40’s followed soon after by the Over 50’s. With the blowing so strongly, barriers had to be tied down, but with the sun shining over the lake, temperatures were mild for the time of the year. The start of the over-40 race saw the yellow jersey of Darren Atkins on the front row and it was habitual fast starter, Phil Roach who got away first followed by Atkins.
Behind them, a crash at the back of the field saw half a dozen riders hit the tarmac but after a delay, all were able to get back into the race. Over the hurdles at the end of the first lap, Atkins was leading but Roach wasn’t giving an inch to the Silver medallist at the national championships. Behind them, a group of four or five riders was chasing them hard lead by Noel Clough, Gary Lingard, Dan Cook with Chris Young a second or two behind and getting up to speed.
Lap three, and Roach was showing great form by taking the lead again as Atkins, struggling to stay upright, followed him closely. The group behind them was starting to see space opening up between the riders as Young began to make up ground. Into the second half of the race and Atkins started to open up a gap on Roach who was caught and passed by Chris Young. Dan Cook meanwhile was making up ground on Roach and it was these two that had the big battle on the final lap.
While Atkins cruised to victory and a series win, and Young continued to close down the gap to Atkins, Roach and Cook had to battle their way round the final lap, each trying to break the other, with Roach coming out on top a second or two ahead of Cook. In the series, the overall placings were the same as the race itself, with Atkins winning from Young and Roach.
Darren Atkins: Winner of the Veterans over 40 series explained after the race “The race went well really. It was windy but it was the same for everyone. I was struggling with the surface and fell on the second lap and again on the third where Phil (Roach) got away from me as he was better on the corners. I thought Chris (Young) might get up to me when he got so close but I guess he just run out of road.”
Asked if there was a highlight from the series for him, Darren replied “The whole series was a highlight, I’ve enjoyed every race. I liked Bradford, really liked that course and to beat Chris on his own soil was nice after last year. There was only one low at Mallory when I punctured within sight of the finish almost.”
Veteran 40 Men Results (Full Results | Series Standings)
1 Darren Atkins Team Jewson/Thule/Kinesis/CNP/MI Veteran 41m 30s
2 Chris Young Wheelbase.co.uk/Cannondale Veteran @ 0:25
3 Philip Roach Rugby Velo Veteran @ 0:31
4 Dan Cook Planet X Veteran @ 0:32
5 Noel Clough Wheelbase.co.uk/Cannondale Veteran @ 1:10
In the over 50’s race, Steven Davies, the series leader, having won four of the rounds before Rutland Water, got a great start and led Ian Wright, his closest challenger in the series through the finish area after the tarmac start. It was Cliff Featherstone however who had the best start and the MTS Cyclesport rider lead the whole field away from the line.
The race however soon settled into a theme seen in so many rounds with Davies leading Wright with Dave McMullen in third. Wright had said before the race how much he wanted to give Davies a run for his money, and on the first few laps he did just that until his chain got caught up on his rear wheel and the Raleigh rider lost time.
This gave Davies the opportunity to open the gap and ride his own race out front, something he has done a few times in this series already. Wright however managed to recover and hold his place from McMullen, Peter Wilken, Peter Harris and Peter Smith. That was pretty much how it stayed with Davies, Wright and McMullen finishing 1-2-3 and finishing the same overall in the series.
Steven Davies: Winner of the over 50’s race had won five of the six rounds in his age group as well as the British title in Derby. Talking about the final round race at Rutland, he said “I enjoyed today and it went as planned so it was good. I wasn’t sure I’d win today as Ian was strong but unfortunately for him, he had a chain jam which gave me a chance to get away and after that, stay away”.
Steven’s highlight was his first event win in the series. “I’d trained hard in the summer and didn’t know how it was going to work out. I went to Abergavenny and won the first of the series and thought maybe I have a chance this year and haven’t looked back so it’s been good.”
Veteran 50 plus Results (Full Results | Series Standings)
1 Steven Davies Team Jewson/Thule/Kinesis/CNP/MI Over 50 44m 7s
2 Ian Wright Raleigh RT/Michelin/High5 Over 50 @ 0:10
3 Dave McMullen Evans Cycles RT Over 50 @ 0:51
4 Peter Harris Pearce Cycles RT Over 50 @ 0:53
5 David Smith Team Empella cyclo-cross.com Over 50 @ 1:15
Women
In a category dominated by talented young riders, Lucy Garner won the race on the day, lifting herself up to second overall behind series winner Hannah Payton. The yellow jersey at the start of the final round was Payton and the Stourbridge woman got a great start and led Garner away from the start.
Garner however quickly stamped her authority on the race and led at the end of lap one. Mountain bike rider Maddie Horton also showed great form by slotting into second place behind Garner with Payton slipping to third. Behind these three, though, Bethany Crumpton was making a run for the podium and soon caught and passed Horton who slipped to fourth. The top three hung onto their positions well with Garner winning well clear of the rest. In the overall, Payton held on to win with Garner in second and Corrine Hall finishing the series in third place.
Hannah Payton: One of many young riders that have dominated the Women’s category this year, Hannah rides for the same club as women’s cyclo-cross legend Isla Rowntree . While she didn’t win the final round, the young Stourbridge CC rider said “It’s really good to win the series as I’m only a first year Junior so win the Senior Women’s series is really good.”
“It was really windy out there and fast from the start and I thought Beth (Bethany Crumpton) was going to catch me. Lucy (Garner) was riding really strong and I knew she wasn’t really catchable but I was concerned about the riders behind me.”
One of those riders, Corrine Hall, was lying second to Hannah, 17 points adrift of her overall and while Hannah thought about letting some of the riders behind her catch up to get some shelter from the wind, she decided to hold her place to finish 2nd and gain points on her nearest rival, Hall.
As for a highlight of the season, Hannah replied “winning the British title (Junior women) last week”.
Women Results (Full Results | Series Standings)
1 Lucy Garner(J) Leicestershire RC Woman 38m 40s
2 Hannah Payton(J) Stourbridge CC Woman @ 0:27
3 Bethany Crumpton(J) Halesowen A & CC Woman @ 0:30
4 Maddie Horton Team Certini - McCaulays Woman @ 0:48
5 Katy Winton (J) Glentress Riders Woman @ 1:00
Juniors
Newly crowned National Champion Hugo Robinson lined up at the start resplendent in his champion’s jersey alongside yellow jersey Alistair Slater and the other contenders. Slater had a good 14 point lead going into the race over Jack Clarkson, but it was the rider in third in the series, Taylor Johnstone who got the best start.
Hugo Robinson however was looking very confident and led early on with a group containing all the contenders chasing hard. From that group came Jack Clarkson who chased and caught Robinson, followed shortly after by Luke Grivell-Mellor who soon slotted into second place. In third was Taylor Johnston while Robinson was riding hard to hold off yellow jersey Slater.
Clarkson out front managed to hold the gap to Grivell-Mellor but both were going all out and it wasn’t going to take much of an error to see a change of lead. That error never came as Clarkson rode a faultless race to win from Grivell-Mellor with Johnston finishing third and Slater fourth. In the series, winner was Slater who held off the challenge from Clarkson in second while Johnstone finished third.
Junior Men Results (Full Results | Series Standings)
1 Jack Clarkson Pedalsport CC Junior 41m 5s
2 Luke Grivell-Mellor Mid Shropshire Wheelers Junior @ 0:04
3 Taylor Johnstone Team de Ver Junior @ 0:09
4 Alistair Slater Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Spec Junior @ 0:32
5 Hugo Robinson X RT/Elmy Cycles Junior @ 0:41
Youth Report
In the Youth category, there were no less than four races for Under 16/14 Boys and Girls. First off the line was the Under 16 boys where series leader, Jake Womersley lead the field away resplendent in his yellow jersey and he was never headed as he gapped his rivals and won the race by almost half a minute from Billy Harding and Chris Lawless.
In the Under 16 Girls, Series leader and British Champion Alice Barnes, wearing the blue series leaders jersey, went head-to-head with Imogen Buick who was lying 4th in the series. The two quickly gapped the rest of the field but Buick’s pace soon took its toll on Barnes and the happy go lucky Thetford Mountain Bike racing rider was never caught and crossed the line with a huge smile.
A smidge over thirty seconds later, Alice Barnes finished in second, doing enough to clinch the series while third in the race was Emily Nelson who finished second in the series.
In the Under 14 Boy’s, winner was the British champion Joseph Fry who came from behind in a storming sprint finish to beat long time leader of the race and series winner Arthur Green . Third in the race at 19 seconds was Jake Poole.
The Under 14 Girls was again dominated by the hugely impressive British Champion Charlotte Broughton who led her teammate Grace Garner away from the start. These two gapped the field and soon Broughton was away on her own, taking time out of Garner and eventually crossing the line first, 42 seconds ahead of Garner with Amira Mellor in third. Broughton won the series from Garner and Sarah Lomas.
Youth Results (Full Results | Series Standings)
Under-16 Male
1 Jake Womersley Sowerby Brothers CRT Youth 27m 36s
2 Billy Harding Paul Milnes RT/ Bradford Olympic Youth @ 0:22
3 Chris Lawless Maxgear RT Youth @ 0:31
4 Matthew Hargroves Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Spec Youth @ 0:42
5 Jack Ravenscroft Solihull CC Youth @ 0:44
Under-16 Female
1 Imogen Buick Thetford MTB Racing Yth Girl 32m 6s
2 Alice Barnes Palmer Park Velo Yth Girl @ 0:31
3 Emily Nelson Halesowen A & CC Yth Girl @ 1:06
4 Zoe Armstrong Bill Nickson Cycles RT Yth Girl @ 1:14
5 Bethany Hayward Welwyn Wheelers CC Yth Girl @ 1:15
Under-14 Male
1 Joseph Fry Welwyn Wheelers CC Under 14 29m 28s
2 Arthur Green Matlock CC/Impsport/Farmers/Wards Under 14 @ 0:01
3 Jake Poole Cyclesport UK/Pygott & Crone Under 14 @ 0:19
4 Tomas Franklin Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Spec Under 14 @ 0:24
5 David Barnes Palmer Park Velo Under 14 @ 1:54
Under-14 Female
1 Charlotte Broughton Leicestershire RC U14 Girl 23m 49s
2 Grace Garner Leicestershire RC U14 Girl @ 31:42
3 Amira Mellor Holme Valley Wheelers U14 Girl @ 1:19
4 Sarah Lomas Matlock CC/Impsport/Famers/Wards U14 Girl @ 1:31
5 Jessica Wilkinson Birkenhead North End CC U14 Girl @ 2:5
