Britain will hold its first ever round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Milton Keynes on 29 November and with Great Britain set to field a seven-strong team of developing riders alongside pros Ian Field, Helen Wyman and Nikki Harris, fans are in for a rare treat.
The event will be the biggest cyclo-cross event to grace the British Isles since Leeds hosted the world championships in 1992, the Campbell Park venue staging a whole weekend of racing with round three of the world cup on Saturday and round four of the British Cycling National Trophy Cyclo-cross Series on Sunday.
The 2014/15 world cup has already visited Valkenburg, Netherlands and Koksijde, Belgium before Milton Keynes, with the series returning to Belgium for two further rounds in December in Namur and Huesden-Zolder before the series finale in the Dutch cyclo-cross nexus of Hoogerheide.
The Milton Keynes event is an excellent opportunity for British fans to witness world-class cyclo-cross racing and a chance for Great Britain’s up and coming riders to compete on home turf against the world’s best.
The venue
Milton Keynes’ Campbell Park is the venue for the weekend, with course designers laying on a world-class 2.6-kilometre course within the city park, its central location making it accessible for travelling cyclo-cross fans and locals keen to get a flavour of the discipline.
The schedule
Racing begins with the non-world cup junior men’s event at 10:00am before the UCI women’s world cup race from 12:30pm, followed by the men’s event which begins at 2:00pm.
The team
Great Britain have selected a squad of seven under-23 and junior riders to gain experience at world cup level. Hannah Payton, Ffion James and Amira Mellor will take part in the elite women’s race while Ben Sumner, Jack Clarkson, Nicholas Barnes and Jack Ravenscroft will contest the elite men’s event.
The developing Great Britain squad will augment a strong British contingent of Ian Field, Steve James, Jody Crawforth, Alex Paton, Helen Wyman, Nikki Harris, Gabby Durrin, Adela Carter and Annie Simpson, all of whom will ride the event for their trade teams.
Elite men’s national champion Field is in good form, having won the first two National Trophy rounds alongside competing in Europe in the Superprestige, Bpost Bank Trofee and UCI World Cup series.
Harris showed impressive form earlier in November with a bronze medal at the European championships, while 2014 world championships bronze medallist Wyman was just one place behind. Harris backed it up with fifth at round two in Koksijde, while Wyman had a strong start to the world cup, with second place in Valkenberg before ninth at Koksijde.
Harris and Wyman’s one-two in the latest Superprestige round at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium bodes well for their Milton Keynes form and both will relish the opportunity to chalk up a good result in front of a home crowd.
Women
Hannah Payton (under-23)
Hannah Payton heads the Great Britain women’s charge in Milton Keynes after a strong performance at the recent European championships in Lorsch, Germany, where she finished 13th in the race for 17-22-year-old riders. Last season, Payton was Great Britain’s leading female rider on the domestic ‘cross scene, taking the National Trophy title in January 2014.
The 2014 season saw Payton make the jump to regular European competition, riding the Valkenberg and Koksijde world cups, experience that will serve the 20-year-old from the West Midlands well when Europe’s elite descend upon Milton Keynes.
Ffion James (Junior)
Younger sister of track stars Becky and Rachel, Ffion James took an impressive bronze medal behind Helen Wyman and Nikki Harris at the British championships in Derby in January 2014. The 16-year-old from Abergavenny currently lies in seventh position in the National Trophy rankings after a second place in the opening round. James missed the second and third rounds in Southampton and Durham but will hope to make an impression in Milton Keynes.
Amira Mellor (Junior)
Despite being one of the youngest on the domestic women’s cyclo-cross scene, 17-year-old Amira Mellor currently leads the National Trophy elite women’s standings after two third places and an emphatic win at the most recent round in Durham. The Holmfirth-based rider will want to carry her current top form into the Milton Keynes weekend, where she stands to make a splash on the international scene and consolidate her position in the domestic rankings.
Men
Ben Sumner (under-23)
Ben Sumner is no stranger to world-class cyclo-cross, having represented Great Britain at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships earlier in the year and riding the opening round of the 2014/15 world cup. Sumner from Oxfordshire currently leads the under-23 National Trophy rankings with two wins out of three so far.
Jack Clarkson (under-23)
Currently domestic series runner-up to Sumner, Yorkshire’s Jack Clarkson has also experienced the top flight of ‘cross competition at the 2014 world championships.
Nicholas Barnes (under-23)
Nicholas Barnes currently lies in third place in the National Trophy after two podium places in Shrewsbury and Durham, form which led Great Britain Cycling Team coach Stuart Blunt to include the Zepnat/Kuota/GSG rider in the four-man squad for the elite men’s race.
Jack Ravenscroft (under-23)
Jack Ravenscroft was one of the standout performers in the national junior men’s categories in the 2013/14 season, fourth overall in the National Trophy junior rankings followed by a bronze medal at the British championships. The Team Thomson Cycles rider followed his cross season with a strong mountain biking campaign, finishing second in the British Cycling MTB Cross-Country Series and fourth place at the national championships.
Coverage
Reports, images and results will appear on the British Cycling website. Both the women’s and men’s events will be broadcast live on the UCI YouTube channel.
For further information on the event go to the event website.
Entry lists
