Hargroves Grand Prix/Wessex League Round 8
Southampton Sports Centre | Sunday 22nd November 2009
Report and photos by Graham Robins ()
Reigning National Cyclo-Cross champion Jody Crawforth (Arctic-Premier RT Elite) won today's race in a sprint finish, after a close fought battle with Ian Field (Hargroves Cycles) in a rare UK appearance.
After several days of rain the Southampton Sports Centre course was soft, muddy and soon cut up making for some very interesting lines. The course was a mixture of parkland and a small technical wooded section. After a couple of very heavy showers throughout the morning the racing got underway under blue skies.
This was a local round for the Wessex League, however event sponsor Pete Hargroves had manage to attract a quality field to grace the National course.
The race got underway with Crawforth and Field pulling away from Jamie Newell (VC Meudon) and Wessex League riders Matt Macdonald (Hargroves Cycles) and Crispin Doyle (Swindon RC). Several riders came to grief on the off camber section around the edge of the cricket pitch, and gaps soon started to appear.
After a couple of laps the leaders had pulled out a good lead over a distant Jamie Newell who was in a race on his own. The next battle was between Matt Macdonald and team mate and junior rider Daniel McLay. Meanwhile at the head of the field the lead seemed to change hands on different parts of the course, but it soon became clear the win would come from either Field or Crawforth.
The pits were kept busy all race cleaning bikes, even Pete Hargroves was manning the jet wash making sure all his riders had clean bikes when the needed them. We did lose a couple of riders with broken chains and Michael Cotty (Wheelbase-Cannondale) looked like he broke his rear mech with a couple of laps to go.
With a lap to go both Field and Crawforth took clean bikes from the pits and headed out to complete the rest of the lap. As they exited the wooded section there was still nothing between them and the next time they came into view there was still nothing to separate the two after nearly an hour's racing. On the last corner before the uphill finish Crawforth pulled out a slight gap and headed for the line, just out sprinting Field. Jamie Newell finished third with Daniel McLay finishing in forth and first Junior.
Youth Race
Jonathan Dibben took the win for Hargroves in another hard race. The race numbers were boosted by a large entry from local Hamble College bringing up several riders riding their first Cyclo-Cross race. Dibben had Harry Franklin for company all around the course with the lead changing hands several times.
With a couple of laps to go, and as they came into view Dibben seemed to have lost a lot of ground. He had parted company with his bike, and after remounting he then realised his chain was off. He quickly sorted the chain and set about closing down Franklin; a gap that was quickly closed just before the uphill sprint towards the finish. The U12 race was won by Jack Phillips (Banjo Cycles).
Results:
Pos Rider Team / Club Cat
1 Jody Crawforth Arctic Premier S
2 Ian Field Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Scott/GSI S
3 Jamie Newall VC Meudon S
4 Dan Maclay Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Scott/GSI J
5 Michael Cotty Wheelbase.co.uk/cannondale S
6 Mike Groves Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Scott/GSI S
7 Sean Williams Wightlink/Offshore S
8 Matt Macdonald Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Scott/GSI S
9 Sam Allen AW Cycles.co.uk S
10 Luke Gray Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Scott/GSI J
11 Antony Green GA Cycles V
12 Crispin Doyle Swindon RC S
13 Mike Warner Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Scott/GSI S
14 Robin Wilmott GA Cycles S
15 Gary Allan GA Cycles V
16 Keith Sheridan Corinium CC V
17 James Cotty Wheelbase.co.uk/cannondale S
18 Martin Tuckey Dorset Fire Service V40
19 Will Girvan NHRC V
20 Mark Cracknall AW Cycles.co.uk V45
21 Phil Smith S
22 Andrew MacDonald GA Cycles V1
23 Robert McCarthy VC Mevdon S
24 A Dickes VC Mevdon S
25 Steve Jones AW Cycles.co.uk V45
26 E Sneddon Sigma Sport S
27 Mark Drayton London Dynamo S
28 Gavin Spiers Reading CC S
29 Tim Costello Southdown Velo V45
30 James Astbury DHC S
31 Kevin Blann Team Rose Blann V
32 Neil Cooper AW Cycles.co.uk S
33 Graham Rogerson Army CU V
34 Pete Hutchinson Swindon RC V40
35 Peter Bolke DHC V45
36 Dan Smith GWR Team S
37 Peter Kench GWR Team S
38 Nigel Page S
39 Anthony Dyment North Hamps RC V
40 Jason Blann Team Rose Blann S
41 Nick Merliny S
42 Rob Tutt GS Europa V
43 Fraser Malloch S
44 P Graham NHRC V
45 Chris Long TVS Sherborne V40
46 Martyn Dymond GA Cycles V
47 Stuart Grace GA Cycles V50
48 Shaun Smart Southdown Velo/Geared V
49 Chris Mison NHRC V
50 Peter McGuiness Southdown Velo/Geared S
51 Colin Addison VC Mevdon V
52 Richard Bremner North Hampshire RC V
53 Hannah Bowers W
54 Steve Dines Wight Mountain V50
55 Steve Kirk Sotonia CC S
56 Glenn Panton Owens Cycles S
57 Karen Murphy Wight Mountain W
58 Graham Hughes Corinium V
59 G Macnamee Twickenham V
60 Ray Claridge Crabwood CC S
61 S Thompson Behind The Bikeshed S
62 Martin Saunders New Forest V60
63 Phill Chinn Fareham WH V40
64 Dennis Murphy Team Axion S
65 S Blann Team Rose Blann S
66 Martin Ward Sotonia CC V60
DNF Andy Hargroves Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Scott/GSI J
DNF Harvey Pitt Oxford City RC V
DNF A Kerr Unattached S
DNF Fraser Kennedy Unattached V
DNF Rory Geldard S
DNF Stuart Bowers Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Scott/GSI S
DNF Sean Dukes V40
DNF Robert Lobuda BACC J
