Beckingsale & Copnall make it three out of three

British Cycling Premier Mountain Bike Series Round 3

Drumlanrig, July 8 2006

Report & Images Joolze Dymond

Round three of the increasing popular Premier Mountain Bike Cross-Country series popped north of the border to the birthplace of the bicycle - Drumlanrig. The event arena at this venue is overlooked by a grand Jacobean castle, whilst the racing takes place in the extensive grounds and estate.

With the National championships just round the corner, it was inevitable that a few familiar faces might be at home, giving this one a miss, but numbers certainly weren't lacking with an influx of entries from Ireland and Scotland to add to the mix.

For those that made the journey, the rewards were high: tantalising singletrack, technical highlights (and for some lowlights), fast flowing forest tracks and, for a while, hardly a hint of mud. The testy 5.6-mile course put together by Rik and chosen from miles of track available. For those who raced at Drumlanrig before, there were also a couple of familiar "signature" sections, including the fast fire road climb out of the arena and dramatic descent back at the end of the loop. All-in-all, it was a course to test the best.

In the Elite race, Ian Wilkinson was chomping at the bit, right from the start. The talented road and mountain bike racer has previously done well on this circuit - he won here back in 2004 - and was eager to prove himself a worthy opponent to series leader Oli Beckingsale (pictured). From the gun, Phil Spencer lead the group out charging up the long forest road climb, but by the end of the lap Wilkinson and Beckingsale were dominating the battle for the lead, followed closely by Spencer, Robin Seymour, Nick Craig, Dave Collins, Will Bergfelt, Stephen Roach, with the rest of the field ducking and diving along the trails behind.

The pattern was set with Beckingsale and Wilkinson, racing hard over the 5 laps, each looking for a sign of weakness or opportunity to break clear. By the last lap, Beckingsale managed to ease a couple of seconds between himself and the persistent Wilkinson and he went on to take the win by a mere 8secs. Nick Craig had a steady race moving through the pack in his familiar way to finally pick up third, with Phil Spencer narrowly squeezing into fourth just ahead of Robin Seymour.

With three wins in three starts, Beckingsale, has strengthened his position as series leader, whilst Wilkinson picked up some useful points to move himself up to second spot in the series, with Nick Craig not far behind in third.

In the Women's Elite field, Jenny Copnall once more showed her good form of 2006 as she rode away from the field, underlining her position as series leader along the way with her third win. She finished with nearly 3 minutes to spare over second-placed Jenn O'Connor. Mechanical problems nearly put paid to Kate Potter's race, with her bars working loose, but despite this she battled on to finally take fourth behind Raleigh rider Sophie Johnson, who recorded one of her best results to date.

Anothony O'Boyle and Kate George

Anthony O'Boyle took the Experts category race by the horns, blasting away from the start and leaving the rest of the field to pick up the pieces. He even overcame an early tree/rider interface, which resulted in broken knuckles, to pick up his second win in the series, giving him the series leader position from an absent Luke Moseley. However, with two rounds left to go, this category is still wide open. Andrew Barlow picked up second spot and James Williams rode consistently to take third.

In the Expert women's race, the tough challenging technical sections suited Kate George, down to the ground. Opening up from a steady start, she soon overhauled series leader Jules Toone on the first serious technical section and rode away, keeping the pressure on all the way round. Toone suffered a mechanical, which caused her some grief, and she could do nothing to reel in George and eventually came home over 5 mins down to take second. Marcie Reinhart picked up third. George, whose first win in this category this was, is now within shouting distance of the overall series lead - she now sits in second spot behind Toone, with the absent Abi Greenaway relegated to third, just one point ahead of Marcie Reinhart. The next couple of rounds look certain to see a close fought battle for the title.

Paul Robertson and Fran Moore

The Sport men's race was taken by Paul Robertson: a fast start, followed by a succession of consistent laps, but him way out in front, despite the challenge from local rider Steven Halsall. In the end Robertson added a second win in the series to his tally, extending his lead in the overall series. Halsall took second, while Andrew Cockburn just nudged in front of Gareth Williams and James Griffin to take third. In the process, he moved up to second overall in the series standings.

Fran Moore won the Sport women's race, amassing more points to cushion her lead in the series over Nadine Spearing, who, probably still recovering from her excellent third spot in the recent 24hr solo race, came home in third just behind Louise Robins who took second. With Moore now just nudging ahead of Spearing in the overall standings by just 4 points, this will be another closely fought category in the remaining rounds.

Earlier in the day, it had been the youngsters who had the honour of being the first to tackle the new course.

David Fletcher and Amy Thompson

David Fletcher had a close battle with Tom Last in the Junior race. Last took advantage of a mechanical that Fletcher suffered towards the end of the first lap, opening up a good gap in the process. Fletcher fought back bravely and managed to close the gap by the end of the second lap and he was rewarded for his perseverance when a mistake by Last entering the arena gave him the chance to attack. Needing no second bidding, off he went, with Last desperately chasing hard behind. However, Fletcher went on to take his second win of the series, with Last coming in 43secs behind in second. Connor McConvey was third.

With his second win of the series in the bag, Fletcher maintained his position as series leader. However, the overall series title is by no means settled, and with Tom Last and Ross Creber still snapping at Fletcher's heels, there's everything to play for in the coming rounds.

Despite a sprained wrist, Amy Thompson flew round the course taking her second win of the Junior Women's series, with over twenty minutes to spare over second placed Jessica Roberts, with Monica Evans taking third.

Twice a winner already this season and hot pre-race favourite Annie Last found herself in unfamiliar territory in the youth women's race, when a slight mistake entering the arena on the last lap gave rival Rebecca Thompson the advantage on the run up to the finish. Thompson hung on to take the win by a mere second from Last. Thompson's win puts her just 4 points behind the formidable Last in the battle for the series.

Juvenile and Youth Women's race action

Hannah Barnes made it two wins out of two starts in the Juvenile Women's category as she dominated her race. Sam Bryant took second and still retains her position as overall series leader, but she will be feeling the pressure now from Barnes. Penny Rowson again made the podium in her first full year of mountain bike racing, taking third.

 
Juvenile and Youth Men's race action

In the Youth Men's event, Hamish Creber once more pushed series leader Alex Paton to the wire. Creber went on to take his second win of the series and now finds himself just 3 points adrift of Paton. With his strong second place Paton still retains the overall lead for now, but again anything could happen in the last couple of rounds, with the best 4 results counting. Michael Butler made it a good show for his team by taking third spot giving them second and third on the podium.

Despite a strong challenge from Max Sykes, Luke Gray, resplendent in his new team kit, took his third win of the season, almost making his position as Juvenile Men's series leader unassailable in the process.

So far the racing had been conducted in dry conditions, but as the last races of the afternoon got underway, the rain finally arrived. The already glass like roots and polished rocky sections now took on a brand new twist as the masters, vets and grand vets set out on their quests for glory.

Matt Barrett and Jodie Vickery

The racing was close in the Masters category, with series leader Matt Barrett throwing down the gauntlet from the start and opening up a serious lead on the first lap. Chasing behind were Paul Hopkins, round two winner Ben Dale and Mark Hutt. Dale, still suffering from the 24hour race two weeks ago, dropped off the pace ever so slightly, leaving Hopkins and Hutt working together to bring down the gap opened up by Barrett.

By lap four Hopkins, fresh from a stint in the Alps, had opened up a gap on Hutt and was quickly closing on a tiring Barrett. In a nail-biting conclusion, Barrett clung on to take his second win of the series with a delighted Hopkins pleased to take second spot, just 34secs adrift. Hutt claimed third ahead of Richard John, who finished strongly, pushing Ben Dale down into fifth. This leaves Barrett as series leader but with the smallest of margins over Dale, so this is another category with everything to play for.

Sarah Carter gave Jody Vickery a real run for her money in the Master women's race, with Carter snapping at the heels of her rival until a nasty tumble on a technical descent, threw her off the scent. A disappointed Carter picked herself up and gave chase but to no avail, as Vickery went on to take her second win of the series, with Carter limping in to take second. Jane Kilmartin, having a sensational first year in mountain bike racing, despite some early-season broken ribs, found herself unable to challenge on the technically challenging and came home in third. With only 9 points separating her from Vickery in the overall standings, and with Carter just another 8 points adrift, this is yet another contest that is shaping up nicely for the closing rounds.

David Nelson and Gill Egner

With Adrian Timmis missing from the action in the Veteran Men's field, it was a right ding-dong battle as the remaining riders battled for victory over an increasingly muddy course. David Nelson opened up the race from the gun, taking an early lead from Roland Tilley, Mark Cracknell and Paul Hinton. By lap two, his lead was diminishing as Cracknell and Tilley chased him down.

The writing was on the wall for Nelson and at the end of the race the positions had all changed, with Roland Tilley coming through the strongest to claim the win, just seconds ahead of Cracknell, whilst Nelson had to settle for third.

In the Veteran Women's race, Lydia Gould was missing, leaving Kate Wheeler and Gill Egner to chase the win, with Wheeler coming out on top from Egner whist Hazel Sutherland took third. Wheeler now leads the series, 4 points ahead of Egner.

Grand Vets Roy Hunt and Penny Kingsland

Finally, Grand Veteran superstar Roy Hunt took his second win of the series, a good 5 minutes clear of rival Ray Crossthwaite, who in turn was a good 10minutes clear of third placed Peter Kneeshaw. The win gives Hunt the overall series lead for now.

And so, another exciting day's racing at yet another varied and interesting course came to an end. The course had been set to challenge the riders and reveal their strengths and weaknesses, aided in the latter stages by the Scottish weather and it did just that. With the first three events of the series now behind us and two to go, most of the categories are still wide open, so the racing is set to hot up even more over the next couple of rounds. The Series next rolls into the old stomping ground of World Cup racing, Newnham Park, Plymouth, where we just hope the weather will be as hot as the racing.

Full Results >>>>

Post-Race Rider Comments:

David Fletcher
It went all right. Me and Tom went away on the first lap. We got about a 45secs lead or there abouts and going through the arena my seat slipped back, so Tom got about a 25sec lead whilst I was playing about with my saddle. From there, I had to try and get him back, and I just about got to him on the finish of the second lap. He came off just as I caught him so I took advantage and it ended up pretty good. I've had a really good season so far, riding all over the place doing some really good rides. I'm Looking forward to the nationals. I'll see how I go and hopefully I'll be at the next round with a national jersey.

Tom Last
I'm pleased with my result, I felt really strong today. I had a good gap on him after the first lap, as his saddle slipped down or something but then I un-shipped my chain and the gap closed right down. I crashed coming into the finish on the second lap and Fletcher got away and I never got back to him after that.

Annie Last
It was really good. On the first lap there was me, Annie Simpson and Rebecca Johnson riding together and then Annie dropped off the pace. Rebecca and I worked really hard all the way round, then on the final approach to the arena she just managed to get round me. I tried to get back to her on the final descent, taking a different line but I couldn't get round her, so she got the win.

Rebecca Johnson
It was good; it was a really hard circuit with all the rocks and stuff. Annie and I had a good tussle at the end. I've never won a youth race before, so it was really good. I've just got to do it again next week at the nationals haven't I?

Luke Gray
I didn't ride too well, I made a few mistakes on the technical sections and I'd made the wrong tyre choice really, plus I'm just getting over a chest infection. So not a great race but pleased I managed to win despite everything.

Hamish Creber
Yeah two wins now! I'm over the moon, it's really good. The course wasn't quite to my taste. I managed to practice well and managed to learn the course well, so I was able to limit my weaknesses, plus I had a good start. I attacked from the start, opened up a small gap and from there I just kept pushing hard. I could just see Alex behind me in a couple of places but that just kept me pushing harder to keep on going. It was a wee bit exciting towards the end, but I just managed to stay away. I think this now stands me in good stead for next week's Nationals. I hope to get a good result there; it's one of my major focuses of the season.

Kate George
Yeah it was a good race. Everyone went off fast at the start, I just rode at my own pace then I started picking people off going through the singletrack and the overtook Jules on one of the rocky sections and that was it really. I just rode my own race. I think Jules (Toone) had some mechanical problems but yeah it was my sort of course, a bit technical, lots of roots and rocks and yeah I really enjoyed it. I'm really looking forward to the Nationals. I've heard it's big ups and big downs and they're using some of the downhill course too, so maybe I wont have to ride the downhill race as well after all, I'll just do it in the Cross-Country!

Amy Thompson
Yeah I had a really good race. I wasn't expecting it as I've got a sprained wrist. I crashed in a race a few weeks ago then I fell down the stairs a few days ago, not the best preparation for a race. I didn't know what to expect. I haven't trained that much due to illness. So yeah, good course - it certainly suited me.

Roy Hunt
I'm still tired I think after riding the endurance event last week. I've never ridden so many hills with so few downs, it's was hard. This one was really technical especially in the singletrack, though you were getting a bit held up by slower riders so that tended to slow things up a bit a bit, but yeah it was a really good course.

Peter Kneeshaw
The two in front of me took off from the start and I never saw them again. I was in the middle of the two fast guys and the two slow guys. The last lap was very, very slippy, it started raining so that made it worse, and I'm really pleased to get third.

Anthony O'Boyle
The course was really good really technical and slippy. I got along, broke my knuckles on the first lap, slipped off on a corner and punched a tree. I still won it. I'm really pleased I've just got to win the next one now haven't I next week?

Paul Robertson
Really technical course. I fell off 3 or 4 times but I really enjoyed it. I rode the race on my own for most of it. The weather didn't help but it was still enjoyable.

Oli Beckinsale
Yeah I'm really happy, not a bad course and pretty pleased with the result. It's not too bad winning 3 out of 3 so far! I knew Wilkes was going to be hard to beat on this course. He's won here before and he's going pretty well at the moment and had some good results on the road. We just sorted of raced it out between us. I'm pleased I rode the technical stuff very well and I just managed to open up a gap on Wilkes on the last lap. I did enough to hold him off and take the win. I've been doing quite a lot lately so I'm not very fresh and I'm thinking about the nationals next week.

Phil Spencer
I was leading on the first lap which is normally a bad sign for me. I've got good power but if it comes out early in a race and I'm doing well then it usually a good sign that I'm tired and that's what happened. It was really technical. I haven't touched a mountain bike since Fort William so it takes a while to get used it handling a bike and moving it round the course especially when it so technical. I should be much better next week.

Paul Hopkins
Pretty good the course suited me really well today: it's so technical and the climbs didn't take that much out of you either. It was enjoyable without all the pain and suffering! I've just got back from the Alps and that probably helped. My form seems to be coming just at the right time.