East Midlands International CiCLE Classic
Event: April 26, 2009 | Oakham - Rutland Water - Melton
Report and Photos: Larry Hickmott & Sarah Brooke
Our thanks to Graham Harper for helping to make possible the photos below
In what Ian described afterwards as his biggest win to-date, the Halfords Bikehut rider wins the 2009 East Midlands CiCle Classic. He went into the race confident and came out of it brimming with excitement at having at last won this unique event.
REPORT
The East Midlands CiCle Classic may have only been on the racing calendar for a few years now but already it is an event that attracts riders from around Britain and beyond. It has also become a highly prized one to win if what Ian Wilkinson said me (click here for pre-race interview) on the eve of the event.
At the event race headquarters on Sunday morning, almost 200 riders assembled to take part in this unique race and with such a big field of Elite riders, picking a winner was going to be difficult as the foreign teams are always a big unknown. At 10.15, the signing on in the town centre of Oakham started with Hugh Porter the MC keeping the growing crowd informed of what was happening.
The start of this year's CiCle Classic
Team by team, the riders signed on and towards the end, there was a presentation of a ceremonial ‘cleat' to former Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt who was having a terrible morning with a broken down vehicle just one of the things going wrong for him. Magnus though was one of the riders who were waved away at 11am to the applause of a big crowd and as soon as the race hit the open roads, and the flag was dropped for action to commence, George Richardson (Pendragon-Kalas) was off the front and whipping up the pace of the race.
This attack, attack, attack nature of the race was how it stayed for the next two laps of Rutland Water. The pace of the race was just so fast that spells of freedom for any rider who dared to make a move were short lived and when I left the race with 55 minutes on the race clock to get through Oakham and ahead of the race, it was all together still. After Oakham however it was a different story and a small group of riders were away.
George Richardson starts the attacking as the flag drops for racing to commence.
In the break were three Rapha Condor riders, Tom Southam, Kristian House and Darren Lapthorne, two Pinarello riders in Pete Williams and Graham Briggs as well as other riders that included Mark McNally (Halfords Bikehut), Martyn Irvine (Ireland), Yanto Barker (Lecol-Colnago), Simon Gaywood (Corley Cycles), Ross Adams (West Midlands Team) and Frederik Jernov.
It was this break that dominated the race, opening up a lead of just over a minute and with the majority of the riders working, they continued to hold off any attempts by the riders in the bunch to bring them back. The race was by now into the unique part of the course, the narrow lanes and special sectors and these were not helping the bunch in getting a chase organised. Something riders like the experienced professional Tom Southam knew in the break.
The bunch never gave up through and into the second half of the race, the big guns starting to fire off the front. When I dropped back to the peloton with the help of my motor cycle pilot Graham Harper of the Welsh NEG, there was big Magnus Backstedt attacking and a who's who of the best of British riders in view behind him.
A little later I went back again and two Dutch riders were a few seconds clear of the lined out field across Stygate and giving it full throttle behind them were Ian Wilkinson and a few lengths behind him former winner Malcolm Elliott. This is why this race is so special - the view from the motor bike was spectacular as the riders raced flat out over a sector with the banner at the start saying "Welcome to Hell!"
At last, just when it looked like the race would never split, a group gets away. It is lead here by Graham Briggs.
Back at the front, the break was more or less still together although Tom Southam was still driving it hard and now and then, opening up gaps behind him. His luck though was about to change. It was time for me and my pilot to head to the infamous Somerby sector, almost two kilometres of gravel track through a farmers field. We raced on ahead to make sure we had time to make our way down the track at a gentle pace to get in position where a big crowd had assembled.
Soon the break appeared and gone was Southam but in black also on the front was Yanto Barker, appearing to be back to his best as he drove the break hard up a short steep ‘berg' on the farmers track which is still listed as being a road. The peloton were not far behind now, or at least what was left of it, as Ian Wilkinson lead the group up the same short climb and onto the fast gravel section and onto Owston for a couple of laps.
We stayed put knowing how difficult it was going to be to get ahead of the race and when they came back through Somerby from the other direction 20 minutes later, the break now only numbered three riders, Yanto Barker, Darren Lapthorne and Martyn Irvine. Behind them, besides clouds of dust, was the figure of Ian Wilkinson chasing hard to get across on his own and behind him, more small groups of what was left of the original break all trying to do the same. Only one other managed to do that, a Danish rider, Berling who was fourth in 2008.
The Danish rider joined Wilkinson and they joined the leading three to make a group of five. Wilkinson was a man in a hurry and urging the riders to rotate and work to make sure the break succeeded. Their lead was only slender, less than a minute and there was still half an hour of racing to go. The pace was full on - so much so that when the riders had to turn sharp right at one point, Martyn Irvine went straight into a hedge and had to chase back to the leaders.
The break raced on and then with 15 to go, Ian Wilkinson sensing the break was not strong enough, attacked them and the Danish rider joined him. The two were now in the position of having to give it everything. There was no turning back and we left the race with 10k to go as my pilot took me to the finish to await the riders.
It was very tempting to sit there with the race and see whether the chases would catch them because it was when we left, on a knife edge but the roads are so tricky, I knew we had to go then to make sure we had time to get to the line in time for the winning picture shot.
Whilst at the back of th ebreak, King of the Mountains winner Kristian House punctures and is helped back into the race by his team's mechanic who was close behind.
As I waited on the line with the other photographers, Hugh Porter kept us informed and then we had the sight of Ian Wilkinson leading around the final bend and powering all the way to the line, not giving his Danish rival a sniff of the victory that Wilkinson wanted so much for himself.
Post Race Reactions
And the victory was ever so sweet after losing here to Malcolm Elliott in 2007. I joined the throng of journalists now wanting to talk to the winner as he was still getting his breathe back near the finish line. "Macca (Mark McNally) was down the road all day and it was sweet back in the bunch with the lads around me keeping me out of trouble. I had a few efforts to test the legs out and I was feeling pretty good."
"Then all of a sudden we caught the break back, or part of it and then Macca did some more work to help pulls us closer to the leaders before Somerby the second time. It was there I rolled off the front and rode my own race through the Somerby sector, steady and then on the ramp out of Somerby wood, I could see Berling coming across to me so I waited. We got to the three in front pretty easily and they all looked gassed."
"I had a go in Whissendine and split it again and the two of us got away then. The other guy was doing little turns but it was enough for me to recover as I was feeling real good and I went through Sawgate (final gravel sector), nice and steady, no panic as I knew I had a bike at the end anyway. Then we came down the hill and I just teed up the sprint, a bit of weaving, and the legs were there and I went full beam to the line."
"I had memories of Malc beating me a few years ago and was having none of that. If I come round the corner second or third wheel, I don't have a jump quick enough, so me being in front was perfect. To win it is just fantastic after a handful of second places this year plus it gives me a few UCI points for the Sky team next year!"
Asked how this will be in his palmeres, Ian replied "this will sit right at the top I think for now. Things are coming on though. I have had plenty of set backs this year and I have a few K to shift before the Tour of Ireland and Tour of Britain but lets have a stage win in one of those."
Podium, Michael Berling, Ian Wilkinson and Yanto Barko
Yanto Barker "I have 10 years worth of training diaries and I got them out in the winter and did what I always do and so I'm pretty much getting back to where I was. The motivation is fantastic on a day like today, in a race organised as well as it was today. You can't help even with cramp and a bit of suffering in the last 20k, you can't help but feel good about it. It was a fantastic race, I really enjoyed myself."
Having been in the break all day, and then in the split of three when the break disintegrated, I asked did he go too early with the likes of Wilkinson coming up or was it the perfect way to make sure he was in the right group at the end? "The move was a bit of a soft one but it was swings and roundabouts whether it was better to stay in the group or not. By going up the road, you have a much smoother ride and I am really pleased with how I rode it. It goes without saying, if I'd had the legs, I would have gone with the (Wilkinson/Berling)."
"Ian attacked with 15 to go and they were a little fresher and none of us could quite go with them. I am enjoying the racing more now than I did before. I'm running a business now and it is fantastic to get on a podium in a race like this one today."
"This and the nationals are my two big objectives for the season and hopefully I can do the same as here and get on the podium like I did four years ago. The racing isn't in life everything anymore. I have a business (clothing, Lecol) to manage and that takes the pressure off." On his clothing business, he says "hopefully I'll get a few more podiums and you'll see more about the clothing I'm doing a bit later on".
Darren Lapthorne: It is definitely a unique race. I really enjoyed it even though it was incredibly tough and a long day. From the start it worked out well with three of us in the break and we all worked well and had to work hard to establish it. Once we did that, I felt good. Then I got away with the other two guys (Irvine and Barker) and it was unfortunate I couldn't quite hold it until the end but I have to say I enjoyed it."
"The strongest guys made their mark today. When the two guys caught us, the legs were hurting by that stage and when they went again I wanted to go with them but the legs just wouldn't respond. At the same time, my form is going in the right direction and I'm feeling better with each race so I am pleased."
Darren, a former Australian champion which shows just what a quality rider he is, says the racing here is quite similar to what he remembers it was like in Australia and the event on Sunday suited him quite well. No doubt we will see more of him in the results this year.
Tom Southam tries to get an early move going
Tom Southam: "I had two punctures today so that's the way it goes in a race like that. The first one came when I was in the break and I ended up back in the bunch and then as soon as I hit a dirt section, I had another than went straight down and the car was behind the break so it was race over. It is disappointing."
When I put it to Tom that after almost an hour of attacking and nothing getting clear, how did that group finally break the elastic, he replied "it's a case of having something special" he said tongue firmly in his cheek. In reality, it was special though as no-one else in a quality field had managed to do it."
"The first lap I had put in an effort over a drag with a slight crosswind and I noticed riders struggling, so the next time we went round, I went in the same place. First McNally came with me and then guys drifted across and when we got working, the break just stuck. It's not rocket science that you put guys down the road it is going to be easier as in those lanes, it's just so hard to organise a chase on".
"Three guys in a break (from Rapha Condor) is always imposing to the others, and sure, the Danish guy was sat on. I was a bit nervous because with three of the same team in a break, the others are not likely to commit that hard but everyone was going through though. Riders were missing the odd turn every now and again but our guys were riding hard and that's why when I punctured I was happy to go back."
Result
1. Ian Wilkinson (GBr) Team Halfords-BikeHut 3.57.22 (39.23 km/h)
2. Michael Berling (Den) Glud & Marstrand Horsens
3. Yanto Barker (GBr) Geoff Thomas-Colnago-Assos 0.54
4. Darren Lapthorne (Aus) Rapha Condor
5. Martyn Irvine (Irl) Ireland National Team
6. Maros Kovac (Svk) Dukla Trencin Merida 1.03
7. Matthew Stephens (GBr) Specialised-SigmaSpt.
8. Russell Downing (GBr) Candi TV - Pinarello RT 1.26
9. James Cambridge (GBr) BC East Mids Devel. A
10. Tobyn Horton (Bel) Deschuytter-Abutriek
11. Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Candi TV - Pinarello RT
12. Juraj Sagan (Svk) Dukla Trencin Merida
13. Stephen Adams (GBr) Plowman Craven - Madison
14. James Millard (GBr) Plowman Craven - Madison
15. Ross Adams (GBr) BC West Midlands
16. Tom Last (GBr) BC West Midlands 1.27
17. Matt Kipling (GBr) KUK - Kinesis UK
18. Alex Wetterhall (Swe) Cyclesport.se-Magnus Maximus Coffee.com
19. Dion Beukeboom (Ned) Midi Center- Ruiter Wielerteam
20. Grant Bayton (GBr) Sports Beans-Wilier
21. Scott McCrae (GBr) Endura RT
22. Mark McNally (GBr) Team Halfords
23. Kristian House (GBr) Rapha Condor 1.28
24. Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den) Glud & Marstrand Horsens
25. Simon Richardson (GBr) Rapha Condor
26. Tom Slagter (Ned) Midi Center- Ruiter Wielerteam
27. Ladislav Fabisovsky (Cze) AC Sparta Praha 1.29
28. Andrew Roche (Irl) Candi TV - Pinarello RT
29. Evan Oliphant (GBr) Plowman Craven - Madison 1.37
30. Scott Thwaites (GBr) Lancs & Yorks 2.20
31. Chris Newton (GBr) Rapha Condor 2.25
32. James Sampson (GBr) Candi TV - Pinarello RT 2.38
33. Martin Ford (GBr) BC West Midlands
34. Mark Wordsworth (GBr) Team Corley Cycles 2.39
35. Simon Gaywood (GBr) Team Corley Cycles 2.59
36. Jack Adams (GBr) Pendragon- Kalas 5.19
37. Dan Duguid (GBr) Specialised-SigmaSpt. 5.21
38. Paul Oldham (GBr) Sports Beans-Wilier
39. Gareth Montgomerie (GBr) Specialised-SigmaSpt. 5.22
40. Frederik Just Jernov (Den) Glud & Marstrand Horsens 5.23
41. Jody Tesselaar (Ned) Midi Center- Ruiter Wielerteam
