The final round of the Under-23 Open National Road Series saw Rowan Baker take the overall series title at the 360cycling Tour of the North West as the Loughborough Cycling Festival and Black Line Open also saw plenty of success. Abroad, there were podiums for mountain bikers Tom Pidcock, Ella Maclean-Howell, Charlie Aldridge and Joe Blackmore, while Geraint Thomas also rounded off a magnificent Giro d’Italia with a third place podium.

Loughborough Cycling Festival

The fourth round of the Youth Circuit Series saw wins for Millie Salmon, Alex Coles, Billy Ladle and Aisling Charlesworth at the annual Loughborough Cycling Festival.

The university campus became a fast and technical racing circuit, taking in a steep incline and multiple sharps bends on every lap, making for some challenging, but exciting racing.

In the youth A girls’ race, Millie Salmon (Clifton CC) took her first win of the series, finishing five seconds ahead of Aelwen Davies (Velo Myrddin CC) and Phoebe Taylor (ESV Manchester) who faced a close sprint for second and third position, respectively.

Alex Coles (Evolution Racing Academy) sprinted to the line to take the win by a very small margin ahead of Finlay Storrie (GKR Racing). Aaron Cocker (RTD-J's Cycle Shack) finished three seconds behind to take third position and complete the podium.

It was current series leader, Billy Ladle (Secret-Training CC), who took the victory in the youth B open race. Finlay Burns (Maindy Flyers CC) secured second in a close sprint finish, while James Hardisty (Nottingham Clarion CC) crossed the line in third, after an impressive solo attack earlier on in the race.

The youth B girls’ race, Aisling Charlesworth (Fibrax Fenwick’s Wrexham Cycling Club) dominated the race from the start, staying out front on her own for the entire race. Almost two minutes after Charlesworth crossed the line, current series leader, Katie Robertson (Clifton CC), sprinted for second place, with Yasmin Clay (VC Londres) crossing the line in third. A further 20 seconds later, Olivia Smallshaw (Secret Training CC) came across the line in fourth place, winning the sprint out of the next group of chasers.

The National B elite races saw Lucy Harris (Loughborough Lightning) take the home victory in the women’s race, while Toby Barnes (Spectra Racing) attacked on the final lap to win the open race.

The fifth round of the Youth Circuit Series takes place over the weekend of 15-16 June in Fife.

 

360cycling Tour of the North West

The 360cycling Tour of the North West saw Jamie Whitcher (BmthCycleworks VitecFire FordCE) take the under-23 win in the final round of the Under-23 Open National Road Series, while Rowan Baker (Saint Piran) won the overall series.

The first stage saw Samuel Nisbet (Reflex Racing) take the win, outsprinting Cycling Sheffield teammates Max Krasinski and David Hird after a rolling road race.

Stage two’s 80km road race saw James Hartley (Cycling Sheffield) storm to the win in a sprint finish against Zak Machin (HUUB BCC Race Team), while Ben Pierce (Bridgnorth Cycling Club) won the bunch sprint to take third.

The final stage’s time-trial saw Whitcher deliver an incredible performance, completing the 16km distance in 19:40 to also take the 360cycling Tour of the North West title. Baker came home 14 behind, which was enough to secure the overall series victory, while Joe Schillabeer (Shibden-A Fawcett) settled for third on 20:20 to also match the podium of the tour.

The junior results are still to be confirmed.

Black Line Open

The Black Line Open saw a dominant weekend from the second round of the National Track Series sprinters league, with Pete Mitchell (Black Line) and Ellie Stone (Black Line) securing wins in Newport.

National champion Mitchell kicked off the open event with a meeting record time in the flying 200m, clocking 9.966. Mitchell went on to take the title over Oliver Aloul (ESV Manchester), while Matthew Meanwell (Black Line) edged out Joachim Ritter for third.

In the women’s race, it was an all Scottish podium with Stone overpowering Kirsty Johnson (Edinburgh RC) in their final match sprint, while Sarah Johnson (Edinburgh RC) rounded off the podium in third after beating Christina Smith (Glasgow Track Racing Team).

Giro d’Italia

Geraint Thomas finished third overall at the Giro d’Italia to become only the second rider in history to finish the race on the podium over the age of 38.

Riding for Ineos Grenadiers, Thomas secured his second straight podium finish, having finished second at last year’s event, and also his fifth Grand Tour podium in his career.

UCI MTB World Cup

Tom Pidcock took the cross-country Olympic win at the Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Nové Město na Moravě in Czechia.

The world champion dominated the race, battling briefly with Nino Schurter for the lead, and managing to escape solo to victory over 30 seconds ahead of second place, with national champion Charlie Aldridge crossing the line in fourth place to make it onto the podium.

Ella Maclean-Howell finished in second in the under-23 cross-country short track race, while Joe Blackmore came fifth in the men’s equivalent.