Martyn Ashfield Classic Road Race 2007

 

March 24, 2007

British Cycling Michelin/Reynolds Junior Road Race Series

Report and photos from Richard Robotham

Sam Webster wins the first round of the Junior RR series for 2007.

 

The picturesque snow capped Brecon Beacons was the setting for the opening race in the 2007 season of the Junior Road Race Series. The demanding course of 67 miles coincidently saw 67 riders take to the start outside the Storey Arms at the foot of the “Y Gyrn” & “Pen Milan” Mountains. The sun was out from the start and shone on the riders all the way to the finish but the windy conditions kept the temperature down and the conditions difficult.

 

Last years race winner and overall Junior Series Winner Andrew Griffiths said before the start “I think it will be quite a hard race considering the steep hills, and I think it will split over the top on the KOM prime hill. You’ll need to be a strong rider to win but I am helped by a strong team who are working well together at the moment.”

 

 

From the start it was obvious that this group of Juniors were not going to hang around. The attacks started immediately from the dropping of the Neutralisation flag. These attacks were lead by a group of three riders;Tom Dempster (Scotland), Ben Roach (Rugby Velo), A Henningan (Munster) closely followed by two more riders Daniel Kogan (Glendene CC), and Ben Carty (Stratford CC). After only 10 miles along the River Usk Valley, these two groups came together with nearly a minute advantage over the chasing group and a minute 20 seconds over the peloton.

 

 

After 16 miles of racing, the riders came to the first KOM climb and in a hotly contested sprint Daniel Kogan took it from Ben Carty with Ben Roach chasing them down. The rest of the field were strung out over some distance. On the descent, the Peloton regrouped but three riders had managed to stay clear, these being were Daniel Kogan, Andrew Fenn and Ben Carty.

 

The second lap saw an attack from Ben Carty prior to the villages of Sennybridge and Defynnog. Ben then took the 5 points at the second KOM Prime, leaving Daniel Kogan and Andrew Fenn to battle it out for the minor points with Daniel taking 2nd and Andrew 3rd.

 

However, the attack was short lived, and after a mile from the KOM Prime, Andrew Fenn managed to drop Daniel Kogan and then caught and immediately past Ben Carty. The Peloton soon reeled in Daniel Kogan and Ben Carty and were desperately trying to chase down Andrew Fenn but without success.

 

Andrew Fenn managed to increase his lead to three minutes and 30 seconds by the thirdd and final KOM Prime. He took the 5 points which meant he would take 3rd place in the KOM competition with riders Ben Carty and Daniel Kogan on equal points giving them an equal share of the KOM 1st prize.

 

Despite the long descent from the KOM Prime towards the town of Brecon, Andrew Fenn could not keep up the blistering pace and was caught and past on the climb back to Storey Arms. The long climb saw the Peloton splinter considerably with two Riders forging towards the finish; these were Sam Webster (Glendene CC) and Dennis Dunworth (Munster A). The Irish Rider started the sprint for the line with some 100m to go but was no match for the Glendene Rider who over came the strength of the Irishman to win by a clear length.

 

Andrew Fenn commented about his race “I knew from the start that my legs were not a 100%, and the first climb really took its toll, so I rolled off the front and went up the road, but kept looking back hoping that group might just pull away, but it ended up with me and Sam Webster.  Although we had a decent lead,  I could see he was dying,  so I went for it on my own and  tried to hold off  to the finish but then I realised I had to go down to the island and that’s when my legs started to cramp up. But I thought if I could build a better lead I might be able to make it up the long climb to the finish but I didn’t quite pull it off. ”

 

Second placed Rider Dennis Dunworth stated “It was probably the hardest race I have ever ridden, with the steep gradients, it was just awesome. On the long climb up to the finish I knew the lead rider was suffering as he had been out there on his own for a while so I just went for it. ”

 

The winner Sam Webster said “It was quite a tough race but I really enjoyed it and felt that the wind was in my favour today.  I was familiar with the course as it was used last year for the Junior Tour of Wales so I knew it was a long course and I had to pace myself. The Team were chasing pretty hard and we were knocking through at 35 mph all the way down to the island, we slowed on the climb but managed to stay clear where I was able to out sprint the Irish rider.”

 

At the prize presentation Sam Webster thanked all the Officials, Motorcycle Outriders, Marshals and the Organisers for putting on and running a great event. He also thanked his fellow Riders for making a race of it and his Team for helping him to win.

 

Provisional Result
1. Sam Webster, Glendene CC
2. Dennis Dunworth, Munster
3. Luke Rowe, Recycling.co.uk
4. Peter Kennaugh, Pinarello RT
5. Mark McNally, Liverpool Mercury (Dolan)
6. Rhys Lloyd, Liverpool Mercury (Dolan)
7. Andrew Griffiths, Glendene CC
8. Sam Redding, I-Team
9. Andrew Fenn, Liverpool Mercury (Dolan)
10. Hamish Creber, Sandy Wallace Cycles

 

 

Ben Carty (Stratford CC).

 

Luke Rowe congratulates Sam on his victory.