Lucy Lee capped a commanding DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK performance while Thriva-SRCT’s Tom Williams scored the biggest victory of his career at the latest round of the 2024 Lloyds Bank National Road Series.
Women
Lucy Lee was the strongest rider on a day with over 100km covered in the rolling Howardian Hills. The race started in earnest on the long opening circuit, and the action was mainly out of the back of the race. The lengthy, and often steep climbs, proved too much for some as the Alba Development Road Team and DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK riders set a strong pace early on.
It wasn’t until the third lap of the race, and the first on the short circuit, that the action really ignited with the peloton splitting on the technical descent from the Abbey; tired legs, and minds, strung out the peloton as they passed through the grounds of Ampleforth.
The pace at the front of the race remained high, and a further split occurred later on in the lap as a group of twelve went clear including the DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK trio of Lee, Lancaster Grand Prix winner Frankie Hall and Morven Yeoman, as well as Shaw and her new Alba Development RT teammate Lauren Dickson. Joining them were Elizabeth Hermolle (Team Boompods), Caitlin Dimbleby (Unattached), Grace Reynolds (Brother UK-On Form), Jennifer Powell (The Performance Collective), Molly Patch (The Phoenix Collective), Ruby Oakes (Shibden-Apex), and Anna Flynn (Spectra Racing).
Crucially, the Series leader, Lucy Harris (Pro-Noctis 200 Degrees Coffee Hargreaves Contracting) did not make the split, and again the DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK and Alba Development RT riders came to the fore in the lead group as the gap extended to over two minutes. Shaw, who started the day just one point behind Harris, now had one hand on the jersey.
As the bell for the final lap rang through the grounds of the Abbey, Hall made her move. She powered through the finish line with just 16km remaining as she attempted an audacious solo move. However, her gap never got above half a dozen seconds as she was chased down, the leading group of ten then preparing for an uphill sprint to decide the win, Flynn and Oakes the only two to have lost contact.
Hall and Yeoman combined as the group entered the Abbey grounds with only a few hundred metres remaining to lead out their teammate Lee, her powerful sprint pipping Dickson to the line, as the Scot took another National Road Series podium. Frankie Hall came home third to complete a memorable day for the DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK team, who extended their lead in the team standings to a whopping 90 points over Shibden-Apex with only next month's Curlew Cup remaining.
Shaw's fifth place behind Caitlin Dimbleby gives her the series lead, 16 points ahead of Harris with Hall in third, a further five points in arrears.
Open
Tom Williams took a fine sprint victory in the open Ryedale Grand Prix, powering to the line ahead of a depleted front group.
Attacks were few and far between at the start of the race, again the action was mostly out of the back of the peloton on a brisk opening tour of the long circuit.
On the hilly terrain, Saint Piran were keen to get back to winning ways, having fired blanks at both the Lincoln and Lancaster Grand Prixs. The Cornish squad set the pace in the early stages as they looked for a positive result on the back of an incredible 1-2-3-4-5 here last year.
Danylo Riwnyj (Foran CC) was the first rider to attack as the race reached the Abbey grounds for the first time. However, his tenure out front was short lived as the Scottish road race champion Logan Maclean (Spirit TBW Stuart Hall Cycling), Josh Housley (HUUB-BCC) and Gabriel Dellar (Stolen Goat RT) were the next to go off the front.
With the race set alight, their advantage was quickly closed down as a dangerous group of five took advantage of the status quo. Former national cyclocross champion Thomas Mein (Project1) was joined by Tom Martin (Wheelbase-CabTech-Castelli), Will Roberts (Saint Piran), James Hartley (Cycling Sheffield) and eventual winner, Williams, as their advantage grew to 25 seconds at the end of the second lap.
Sensing the danger, Matt Holmes (One Good Thing Orientation Marketing) pulled a phenomenal turn to bring back the quintet, continuing to set the pace as the peloton tackled the third ascent of Thorpe Lane.
The attacks continued to rain down as Dom Jackson (Foran CC) and Maclean found themselves caught as they crossed the finish line as the race moved onto five laps of the short circuit.
Using Thorpe Lane as a launch pad, Mein went on the attack again, the Gateshead rider extending his advantage to 21 seconds before 14 riders bridged across to him with just over four circuits left to race.
With just over two laps to go, it was the effervescent Martin who threatened to make a move stick, attacking with the finish line in sight and building up a 38-second lead, Holmes burning more matches as he set an infernal pace to close the deficit on the penultimate lap.
As the bell tolled in front of the imposing Abbey, James Hartley set off in pursuit of Martin, his lead cut substantially in less than a lap.
By the time the race reached the final ascent of Thorpe Lane, Martin was one of a leading group of 20 setting an unusually pedestrian pace up the challenging slopes, indicative of how hard the race had been thus far. A rare bunch sprint to the line was on the cards.
A group of twelve entered the Abbey grounds to battle it out for the win, Martin among those unable to hold the wheels to contest the sprint. With the finish line in sight, Thriva-SRCT's Williams powered up the right hand side, timing his effort to perfection, punching the air as he crossed the line a couple of bike lengths clear of Holmes, with the East Cleveland Grand Prix winner, Rowan Baker (Saint Piran), in third.
George Kimber extends his series lead to 11 points with a battling 10th place after his closest rivals were absent for this round. Saint Piran's James McKay is now his closest challenger after his ninth place finish. Holmes’ podium puts him right in the hunt for the overall series win, the former WorldTour rider a further six points adrift heading into the Beaumont Trophy, while Saint Piran retain their commanding lead in the team classification.
Podiums
Men
- Tom Williams (THRIVA-SRCT)
- Matthew Holmes (One Good Thing Orientation Marketing)
- Rowan Baker (Saint Piran)
Women
- Lucy Lee (DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK)
- Lauren Dickson (Alba Development Road Team)
- Frankie Hall (Shibden Apex RT)
