Location: York Sports Village, York
Event: 8 December 2013
Report: Snowdon Sports
Photo: Craig Zadoroznyj
Paul Oldham (Hope Factory Racing) and Rebecca Preece (Scott Contessa Epic) were crowned North of England Champions in the senior men and women’s categories respectively after a challenging and entertaining title race at the new York Sports Village venue on Sunday.
The course proved to be tough but not impossible, with a good mix of off-camber and tarmac sections as well as windy and cold conditions for a large field of more than 400 riders.
In the senior men’s race Oldham led almost from the start and had an eight second lead over Tony Fawcett (Scott UK) and Nick Barnes (Zepnat RT) by the end of the first lap, with Stuart Wearmouth (MTS Cyclesport) and Robb Jebb (Hope Factory Racing) about another nine seconds back.
As the race developed, Fawcett and Barnes were gradually gapped by Oldham who was about ten seconds a lap quicker. In turn, Fawcett eventually dropped Barnes and mid-race Jebb started closing on the frontrunners and it soon became apparent that he was lapping quicker than everyone apart from Oldham.
With two laps to go Jebb caught Fawcett, who hung on for third place.
In the veterans race the top five were together for most of the race with several others not far behind, and it was only on the last lap that Mick Style (Manchester Wheelers) attacked and gapped everyone else to take the win, while Mark Horrocks (Hope Factory Racing) won a three-rider sprint for second spot.
In the women’s race Rebecca Preece (Scott Contessa Epic) , Amira Mellor (Paul Milnes RT) and Rebecca Womersley (Scott Contessa Epic) were close together for the first few laps, but on lap three Preece gapped her rivals, putting eight seconds into them during that one lap which she held to the finish.
In the over-40s race Ian Taylor (Jedi Cyclesport) got away from the start, but team-mate Andy Peace managed to peg him back on the second and third laps.
They rode together for a while, but Peace suffered a mechanical when the battery fell out of his gear changer and he had to head to the pits which cost him valuable time.
In the junior race Chris Barnes (Zepnat RT) and Matthew Worton (Blackhawk Bikes) rode away together early on. Barnes got a small gap over Worton on the off camber banking, but when a veteran fell in front of him it allowed Worton to get a six-second lead at one point.
However, Barnes pulled him back and they headed to the finish together where Barnes attacked prior to the final straight and held the lead to the line.
In the Under-16 Boys race Alfie Moses (Paul Milnes RT) led from start to finish, while fastest girl was Henrietta Colbuorne (Beacon Wheelers). Euan Cameron (East Bradford CC) was best under-14 boy, while Anna Docherty (Clifton CC) was best under-14 girl.
Results:
Seniors:
1 Paul Oldham (Hope Factory Racing) 9 laps 57:22
2 Rob Jebb (Hope Factory Racing) @ 2:02
3 Tony Fawcett (Scott UK) @ 2:15
4 Nick Barnes (Zepnat RT) @ 3:15
5 Stuart Wearmouth (MTS Cyclesport) @ 4:00
6 Rob Partridge (UK Youth) @ 4:28
7 James Dalton (Pedalsport CC) @ 6:07
8 Keith Murray (Scott UK) @ 7:10
9 Alan Nixon (Blackhawk Bikes) @ 1 lap
10 Colin Ash (Cestria Cycles)
Veterans Over-50:
1 Mick Style (Manchester Wheelers) 5 laps 37:54
2 Mark Horrocks (Hope Factory Racing) @10sec
3 Keith Ainsworth (Sheffrec CC) st
4 Barry Kipling (MTS Cyclesport) @ 11sec
5 Sean Beswick (Zepnat RT) @ 23sec
Women:
1 Rebecca Preece (Scott Contessa Epic) 5 laps in 42:07
2 Amira Mellor (Paul Milnes RT) Jnr @ 11sec
3 Rebecca Womersley (Scott Contessa Epic) @ 33sec
4 Sarah Lomas (Scott Contessa Epic) Jnr @ 1:26
5 Nikola Butler (VC St Raphael) @ 3:07
Veterans Over-40s:
1 Ian Taylor (Jedi Cyclesport) 6 laps in 43:28
2 Andy Peace (Jedi Cyclesport) @ 24sec
3 Morgan Donnelly (Beacon Wheelers) @ 36sec
4 Chris Taylor (Pedalsport CC) @ 1:09
5 Dan Cook (Peak RC) @ 1:19
Juniors:
1 Chris Barnes (Zepnat RT) 6 laps in 42:47
2 Matthew Worton (Blackhawk Bikes) @ @2sec
3 James Edmond (Ferryhill Wheelers) @ 14sec
4 Oliver Payton (CS Pendle) @ 3:03
5 Thomas Figgins (Lancashire RC) @ 4:05
Under-16 Boys:
1 Alfie Moses (Paul Milnes Cycles) 27:13
2 Rob Scott (Pedalsport CC) @ 1:08
3 Adam Hartley (Velocity) @ 1:19
Under-14 Boys:
1 Euan Cameron (East Bradford CC) 29:20
2 Lewis Hartley (Eastlands Velo) @42sec
3 Alistair Leivers (Blackpool YCA) @47sec
Under-16 Girls:
1 Henrietta Colbourne (Beacon Wheelers) 32:55
2 Connie Hurton (Beacon Wheelers) @30sec
3 Sophie Thackray (Paul Milnes RT) @37sec
Under-14 Girls:
1 Anna Docherty (Clifton CC) 35:43
2 Fiona Turnbull (Tyneside Vagabonds) @ 1 lap
3 Georgia Savory (CS Pendle) @ 1 lap
Please credit www.britishcycling.org.uk and link back if you use any of our race results.
British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.
