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RAPHA Condor Sharp rider Andy Tennant has won the Richmond Grand Prix in North Yorkshire after a near race-long break just managed to hold off a strong chasing bunch in the closing stages.
Premier Calendar Series leader Ian Bibby (Motorpoint) finished fifth at Richmond to secure overall victory in the series.
We open our coverage with Andrew Kennedy's interview with the winner, Andy Tennant and former winner Russ Downing - then, there's his slide show of images. We also have results and report too.
Interviews
Images
The final round of the Premier Calendar features a 82 miles long circuit that takes in some of the toughest terrain seen in the season-long series. The brutal climb of Butter Tubs comes early in the day splitting the race apart with only the main contenders able to stay anywhere near the front.
Big splits in the field were almost inevitable, as the strong men ploughed up the hills and left the rest behind. And so it proved, with the decisive break of five riders going clear early in the race which contained Simon Richardson (Sigma Sport), Marcin Bialoblocki (Motorpoint), Andy Tennant (Rapha Condor Sharp), Dan Fleeman and Jamie Sparling (both Team Raleigh).
Raleigh rider James Sparling had started the break soon after leaving Richmond, the break gained a maximum lead of around three minutes before a chase was mounted, which contained many of the strong riders and top teams.
Team Sky's Russell Downing was the most high-profile member of the chasers, while others included Rapha Condor Sharp trio of Graham Briggs, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke and Dan Craven, as well as Premier Calendar series leader Ian Bibby and his team mate Jonny McEvoy (Motorpoint), Liam Holohan (Team Raleigh), Dave Clarke and Rob Partridge (Endura Racing).
The five man break appeared to be working well together, with only James Sparling struggling to hold his position on the final small climbs.
Russ Downing: the Sky star was active throughout the race
Back with the chasers and all eyes were on Sky rider Russ Downing. Downing has won at Richmond on two previous occasions and the whole group was waiting for him to make a move to bridge to the leaders. Heading through the final feed Downing attacked causing mayhem in the chasing group, and although he sat up shortly afterwards it proved to be a catalyst which helped close the gap to the leaders.
But they had left it too late and on the final descent towards Richmond Market Place Tennant, Richardson, Fleeman and Bialoblocki knew it was going to come down to a sprint up the cobbled High Street into the Market Place.
Rapha Condor Sharp rider Andy Tennant used his Olympic track training to get a gap on his rivals crossing the line ahead of Simon Richardson, while Fleeman was bitterly disappointed in third place.
Large crowds had come out at Richmond to enjoy the bike racing in the warm September sunshine. The podium presentations were a fitting end to the season long Premier Calendar series with overall winner Ian Bibby sharing the champagne celebrations with the Richmond winners.
Andy Tennant celebrates a fine win in style
Results:
1 Andy Tennant (Rapha Condor-Sharp) 3:11:31
2 Simon Richardson (Sigma Sport RT) @ 2sec
3 Dan Fleeman (Team Raleigh) @ same time
4 Marcin Bialobkocki (Motorpoint Pro Cycling) @ 5sec
5 Ian Bibby (Motorpoint Pro Cycling) @ 26sec
6 Zak Dempster (Rapha Condor-Sharp)
7 Jonny McEvoy (Motorpoint Pro Cycling) all @ same time
8 Russell Downing (Sky Pro Cycling) @ 28sec
9 Liam Holohan (Team Raleigh) @ same time
10 Tom Last (Sigma Sport) @ same time
11 Stephen Adams (Sigma Sport) @ same time
12 Steve Lampier (Sigma Sport) @ same time
13 Rob Partridge (Endura) @ same time
14 Pete Williams (Motorpoint pro Cycling) @ same time
15 Robert Hassan (Endura) @ same time
16 Yanto Barker (Pendragon) @ same time
17 Michael Cumming (Twenty 3c-Orbea) @ same time
18 Sam Harrison (100% ME) @ 33sec
19 Tobyn Horton (Motorpoint Pro Cycling) @ same time
20 Dave Clarke (Endura) @ same time
21 Evan Oliphant (Endura) @ same time
22 James Sampson (Motorpoint Pro Cycling) @ same time
23 Richard Cartland (Team Corley cycles) @ same time
24 Kit Gilham (Sigma Sport) @ 36sec
25 Nik Gustavsson (Team UK Youth) @ 38sec
26 Dale Appleby (Cyclepremier.com) @ 42sec
27 Matt Cronshaw (Team Raleigh) @ 44sec
28 Gael Le Bellec (Team Raleigh) @ same time
29 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Rapha Condor-Sharp) @ 46sec
30 Will Berjgfelt (Motorpoint Pro Cycling) @ same time
31 Wouter Sybrandy (Sigma Sport) @ 53sec
32 Ben Greenwood (Rapha Condor Sharp) @ 1:13
33 Richard Handley (Team Raleigh) @ same time
34 Kristian House (Rapha Condor Sharp) @ 1:25
35 Dan Craven (Rapha Condor Sharp) @ same time
Premier Calendar, final standings:
1 Ian Bibby (Motorpoint Pro Cycling) 358 pts
2 Jonny McEvoy (Motorpoint Pro Cycling) 337
3 Marcin Bialoblocki (Motorpoint Pro Cycling) 325
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.
