Champ McCallum wins Smithfield Nocturne

 

23rd of June, 2007, Rapha Condor Crits
London; Belinda Sinclair reports & images

 

In what proved to be a thrilling end to a fantastic race, James McCallum netted his second major win of the week when he beat Dean Downing and John Mosely to the line in the Smithfield Nocturne. The meat market in Central London was the setting for the one kilometre, one hour plus five lap criterium, which weaved it way round some very tight turns and narrow streets. 

 

A third/ fourth cat race and several fun races over the same circuit kept the  crowds entertained in the lead up to the elite event, before Scotsman McCallum who came up through the Braveheart Foundation, won on the very road where the real Braveheart  – William Wallace – met an unsavoury end long before the bicycle was invented.

 

 

Not surpringly, after taking the Smithfield event, and National Criterium championship in Otley on Wednesday, McCallum was delighted with his week’s work: “I’m really pleased – two big wins in a few days, what can I say-  its great! I don’t know what’s happened – I’ve suddenly come into loads of great form at the right time. I guess it’s the result of the hard work that I’ve put in for the team, and it’s come back round as payback”.

 

A torrential downpour and thunderstorm had swamped the course shortly before the Elite race started, changing conditions completely from those earlier in the afternoon. With standing water, spray and poor light thus tempering the expected speed of the elite riders, it came as a real surprise when one rider rode off on his own, getting away from the peloton from the start. Warrick Spence opened a huge gap and commanded the pace from the front, forcing  McCallum and Downing to lead the bunch in a desperate chase, but Spence kept them at bay for over half of the hour, before eventually being caught:

 

“A lot of the guys were probably thinking that the race would be ridden steadily because of the weather, but then Warrick went out on his own from the start and built up a huge lead.  That ruffled a few feathers, rung the panic bells, and meant we all had to work very hard to catch him. I think it took us 28 minutes to get back the 28 seconds that he’d built up, and it was hard, trying to get it back, in seconds on every lap. It was a fantastic ride by Warrick.”

 

And McCallum revealed that despite the best efforts of the weather, the course was  easier to ride than it looked.

“It wasn’t actually as bad as I thought it would be. I think that because it rained so hard, it washed a lot of the grease away and cleaned the road surface In hindsight you always think ‘oh no its going to be slippey’ but it was OK. The only difficult bit was on the first corner where it turns tightly and there was a crash there, but it’s a great course. I’d love to race on it in the dry to see just how fast I could really go!”

 

Earlier in the evening, Tour de France prologue favourite David Millar (Saunier Duval Prodir) made a brief, non riding visit en route to the World Team Time Trail Championships in Eindhoven on Sunday. Asked about the Central London start to this year’s Tour, he said: “ It will be tremendous, and it will be a very proud moment to be up there on the Mall.

 

I rode the course earlier this morning, and I’m looking forward to it. It will be surreal, and exciting for me and everybody who gets to see it.”

 

And in a double hit for Plowman Craven vet rider Craig Stevens won the earlier 2nd/3rd/ 4th cat race, riding a terrific last lap and passing Addiscombe CC’s George Brent who had done much of the front riding, in the home straight. The race was neutralised for twenty minutes earlier in the same race, after a pile up near the finish line, and which saw In Gear Quick Fit Development Squad rider Sam Finniston taken to hospital with a suspected fractured skull.

 

Until then, the group had split and the few of us riding at the front had got away. The guy who came in behind me (George Brent, Addiscombe CC) was very strong, but then the race was neutralised, so it all came back together again as everybody got a bit of a breather. It was a good race, but even on the last lap there were a couple more crashes behind us, but we were in front of them, so we were OK.”

Results
ELITE EVENT
1. James McCullum, Plowman Craven
2. Sean Downing, Rapha Condor
3. Jon Mozley, Merlin RT
4. Warrick Spence, London Dynamo
5. Ross Muir, Rapha Condor
6. Simon Gaywood, Plowman Craven
7. Simon Holt, Recycling.co.uk
8. Matt Talbot, Rapha Condor
9. Dean Shannon, Heron Cyclesport RT
10. Alex Dowsett, 100% me
11. Tom Smith, awcycles.co.uk
12. Matt Holmes, Artic RT
13. Roger Morgan, VC Meudon

 

SUPPORT RACE
1. Craig Stevens, PCA Ciclos Uno
2. George Brent, Addiscombe CC
3. Adam Gent, In Gear Cycling Dev.
4. Gavin Ryan, London Dynamo
5. Guy Powderill, London Dynamo
6. Matt Bridge, London Dynamo
7. Jake Butler, Sutton CC
8. Daniel Santoni, Pearson Cycles
9. James Norris, High Wycombe CC
10. Phil Sheehan, Mosquito Bikes RT