Colclough is Second Junior in Italian Stage Race
Story posted May 16
Simon Cope from the Great Britain Cycling Team (Women's Academy & ODP coach), took a young team of junior women riders to Italy recently (7-10 May) for the 5th Tirreno - Adriatico. This is one of the selection races for the European road championships that will be in Italy in July and a valuable racing trip for those who want to follow in the footsteps of top British women Nicole Cooke, Emma Pooley, Sharon Laws and others. The stage race consisted of a prologue and three road stages.
The riders making the trip were Katie Colclough, Hannah Mayho, Sarah Reynolds, Alex Greenfield, Lucy Martin, Dani King and Corrine Hall. Ahead of them were some tough road races as follows:
Prologue; Vaiano -- 2.2km
Stage 2; Colle V.D'Elsa - Gracciano 53km
Stage 3; Serravalle di Chienti - Lago di Caccamo 62 km
Stage 4; Pievebovigliano - S.Ginesio 64km
Prologue
The race started well for the Brits with Katie Colclough finishing second on the short prologue race against the watch only five seconds behind the winner, under 21 rider Laura Doria who did the distance in 3minutes and 7 seconds. With Katie being the first junior, she lead that competition whilst European Pursuit medallist Hannah Mayho finished 12th at 9 seconds with the rest as follows:
Corrine Hall 13th @ 10sec
Lucy Martin 16th @ 13sec
Alex Greenfield 33rd @ 17sec
Dani King 34th @ 17sec
Sarah Reynolds 41st @ 20sec
Stage 2, 53km
The second stage of this Italian race named after a pro classic had two climbs in it to test the girls out. One was a kilometre in length and the other a long testing three kilometre climb where there would be nowhere to hide for those without their climbing legs.
Unsurprisingly, the key move of the day came on the longer of the two climbs and Katie Colclough showed what a talent she is by making that move, the only Brit to do so. With Katie in the break were Jessie Daams of Belgium and Oxana Kozonchuk Russia, an under 21 rider.
Of the three, the Russian was clearly the strongest and she showed that when she made a solo bid for freedom 10 kilometres from the finish on the final climb of the day. Katie meanwhile, won the sprint for second place 59 seconds behind the winner and held her position as leading junior one minute and two seconds behind Kozonchuk, still in second position overall. Hannah Mayho was the best of the rest for the Brits in 12th, 2 minutes and 11 seconds down on the leader.
Stage result
1. Oxana Kozonchuk 1:23:41
2. Katie Colclough 2nd @ 59sec
Others
38. Dani King @ 1min - 58sec
40. Sarah Reynolds @ 1min - 58sec
46. Hannha Mayho @ 1min - 58sec
49. Alex Greenfield @ 1min - 58sec
50. Lucy Martin @ 1min - 58sec
74. Corrine Hall @ 2min - 25sec
Summing up the first road stage, Simon explained “the girls didn’t gel that well as a team and needed to be more active at the front of the group. Alex Greenfield was captain on the road and was calling the shots and with it being the first time that this group of British Junior girls had ridden together like this, they showed they are by no means out classed by the other nations”.
Stage 3, 62km
Being Italy, the next stage was also hilly and the Brits went into the stage with the plan to control the race and keep Katie out of danger. Quickly learning the ropes, the young British team did much better as a team to protect their position on GC. When the race split on the last big climb, a really difficult one for the young women, the Russian leader showed her cards and again went on the attack.
She was followed by Katie Colclough and Belgium rider Daams who yet again showed they were among the strongest in the race by getting away from the rest to chase the Russian. This duo were on their own over the top but on the decent to the finish (6km), they where caught by a group of 10 riders. The Belgium team had the numbers in this with three riders in the group and they used their numeric advantage well, helping Daams to finish 2nd on the stage and with the time bonus, this put Daams in the Junior jersey by one second from Katie.
1. Oxana Kozonchuk 1:34:20
11. Katie Colclough @ 9sec
21. Sarah Reynolds @ 42sec
30. Lucy Martin @ 1min - 07sec
43. Corrine Hall @ 2min - 15sec
47. Alex Greenfield @ 2min 20sec
50. Hannha Mayho @ 2min - 35sec
90. Dani King @ 8min - 53sec
Overall
1. Oxan Kozonchuk 1:26:44
2. Jessie Daams @ 1min - 20sec (Bel 1st Junior)
3rd. Katie Colclough @ 1min - 21sec (2nd junior)
Stage 4, 64km
The final stage and the British junior women went into this race with an all or nothing approach. “We had to try and make the race hard to force the Belgium's to chase” Simon Cope told British Cycling.
It was going to be a really hard stage and the last climb was no less than 7 kilometres in length. Try as they may, the Brits were unable to split the race up as much as they were hoping and it turned out to be quite an experience for them. In the race for the stage, two Under 21 riders Roxana Kozonchuk and Laura Doria got away but behind, the battle was for bonuses for Katie to win back the Junior overall lead.
It was not to be for Katie however and Daams beat her to the line to win the bonus for third place and take a few more seconds out of her overall. The GB Junior Women’s coach however summed up the race by explaining that they had all ridden very well and the trip turned out to be a very good learning experience for them all as well as showing that in international company, they had nothing to fear. Well done to them all!
1. Oxana Kozonchuk 1:57:20
Brits
11. Katie Colclough @ 26sec
33. Lucy Martin @ 1min - 38sec
36. Sarah Reynolds @ 1min - 55sec
49. Corrine Hall @ 4min - 42sec
63. Dani King @ 5min - 37sec
87. Hannha Mayho @ 12min - 02sec
88. Alex Greenfield @ 12min - 02sec
Final Overall
1. Oxan Kozonchuk 4:48:04
2. Jessie Daams @ 1min - 45sec (Bel 1st Junior)
3. Katie Colclough @ 1min - 57sec (2nd junior)
Others
29. Sarah Reynolds @ 5min - 19sec
30. Lucy Martin @ 5min - 20sec
47. Corrine Hall @ 9min - 56sec
76. Alex Greenfield @ 17min - 01sec
77. Hannha Mayho @ 17min - 08sec
78. Dani King @ 17min - 09sec
