Circuits de Stone

 

June 18, 2008; Stone (Staffordshire)

Round of the British Cycling Elite Circuit Series

Report/Pictures from Larry Hickmott

Report

Malcolm Elliott was the sensational winner of the first running of the Circuit de Stone race in Stone (Staffordshire) on Wednesday night.

 

The pretty Staffordshire town of Stone came alive in Wednesday night when many of the best British cyclists converged on it for the latest round in the British Cycling Elite Circuit Series. Organised by former professional Steve Douce, the Elite event was the only race of the night and what a race it turned out to be.

 

When I arrived a few hours before the start, work was already well under way in getting the circuit ready as British Cycling’s Pete and Matt got the start/finish area ready for action. The barriers apparently were being put in place days before the start by the same crew that do the nearby Newport Nocturne and the bars and pubs were also gearing up for a crowd. Stone did not disappoint them! With an hour to go, the barriers were still empty but passing trade and staff in shops were certainly curious about what was going to happen.

Rain drops on my lens! The start was very wet and slippery but the crowd still came out in thousands.

 

Then as the time for the race approached and Hugh Porter and Mick Jeggo got going on the  microphones perched high up on the British Cycling podium truck, people start to position themselves on the barriers and with half an hour to go, the place was filling up and starting to buzz. A party was about to kick off with a  bike race at the centre of it!

 

Disappointingly, the field was not as big as it could have been and there were a few stars missing from the line up but crucially, the leading riders in the series such as Dean Downing, Simon Holt, Rob Hayles, Malcolm Elliott and so on -- the men in form -- were all there and despite the rain early on, they made a real race of it from the word go.

 

The course for the race was tough. Not only did it climb a fair bit, the space between the barriers was tight and anyone wanting to move up was not going to find themselves a lot of room to do so.

 

After looking quite bright and dry in the hours preceding the race, as the time for the flag to drop approached, the wet stuff started to fall and by the time the riders started their race, the circuit was very wet and so was everyone watching! A few laps with the field intact and then a split off the front with the likes of Elliott, Rob Hayles, Stephen Adams, Simon Holt, Graham Briggs, Peter Williams and Simon Gaywood.

 

Behind, Russell Downing could be seen patrolling the bunch which was also split into pieces with only seconds between the various groups. Whilst Elliott decided there were too many passengers in the break and put the pressure down to ride away from the break with still only 15 minutes on the clock, the chase was on behind and various riders were getting away only to be brought back quickly and nothing really stuck until Dean Downing and Russell Downing got away.

Peter Williams wins the sprint for second from Dean Downing with a cramping Russell Downing in third.

 

They joined the break but Elliott had already gone and as each lap went by his face told the story of how it was hurting out there and the questions were being asked in  the crowd whether the chasers would bring him back. They didn’t but they had a dam good go as first Dean Downing and Peter Williams got away and then they were joined by Russell Downing. These three started to make time on Elliott for a lap or two but then the pace evened out and Elliot continued to keep time with the chasers and started to lap the back markers.

 

The by now huge crowd were cheering him on, willing him on and by the finish he had almost a minute on the best riders in the country. It was quite a sensational ride by the 40 something. The sprint for second was between two Pinarello riders and one from Rapha and Pinarello's Peter Williams showed just what a talent he is these days by beating both the Downing brothers to the line.

 

Afterwards, Dean Downing, the series leader said “That was tough. It was a tough circuit, tight but very good. It has a couple of climbs in it so that made it tough. Pinarello rode brilliant again and I didn’t even see Malcolm go.”

A delighted Malcolm Elliott celebrates an awesome victory.

 

After the podium we caught up with Malcolm Elliott and asked did he go out there with any sort of strategy? “None what so ever. I could tell right from the start with the damp conditions it was going to be strung out. A lot of these corners  are single file and so if you weren’t right at the front, you’d be queuing to get around the corners.”

 

“I was probably never out of the first half dozen in the first part of the race. I got in that move of around seven or eight of us and you could tell there were a few guys in there just for the ride and I could see it was stringing out and on the corners I had a bit of an advantage. So I just made a little effort one time, got a big gap and once you get a gift like that, you take it. It was like Newport last year, and I was thinking how long am I going to keep this going for.”

 

“I looked at the clock and saw we had done 25 minutes and I thought that was way to early. So you’re not riding fully committed because you know you’re going to have something left if a group comes up to you but as the finish got closer and closer, I had to dig deeper and deeper and it was all or nothing while the (Pinarello) guys behind were doing a great job hindering the chase.”

 

“I was just so happy when the five laps to go board came out”.

 

“The team was motivated for tonight and wanted everything here to be a success. We were involved from the start and Steve and Sharon consulted us on the course and so I felt we had more of an interest in this race than usual. I was a little wary of the course because it had not been tested and when the rain came down it was a bit of a trial but overall, once you get into the grove, I felt like a metronome just knocking the laps off.”

Elliott is a blurr as he races up the High street

 

Asked if he was going to go for the series after two wins out of two and with a  lot more rounds to come, Malcolm replied “to be honest, I haven’t given it a second thought. It’s like the Premier Calendar  whereby if you’re riding for the overall it can mess up how you ride the individual races. I just want to go out and enjoy doing the individual races, picking and choosing the ones I want to do well in”.

 

Finally, with Malcolm being in his forties, and still a major force on the road,  was it getting harder to race at this level? “I think the hardest part is balancing your personal life with the time required to race at the top. When you get a result like this, I feel like 21 again, age just has no bearing what so ever. Three quarters of the race off the front in a crit is going to hurt no matter what age you are and I had to dig deep but found what I had to so I have no complaints.”

 

Next stop for Malcolm and the rest of the British stars will be Abergavenny on Friday night.

 

FIRST PHOTOS (Album coming later)

Not only was the winner brought up on stage but so was his bike!

Pete Williams makes Dean Downing suffer as they chase Elliott.

Whilst behind Russell Downing goes it alone to chase down the chasers.

... and whe he does, attacks his brothers Dean .. the faces say it all really.

The riders are flagged away by the mayor as the rain comes down

Peter Williams looks back to see who has made the split early on

Round 1 of the series, Graham Briggs leads the break but later on dissappeared from the front -- a crash perhaps?

Elliott applies a little more pressure to the pedals in the corners and starts to open up gaps behind him.

While the brass band plays tucked away under the trees, the riders race at speed around the wet and tricky course.

KFS rider James Sampson was very agressive in the chase group

Tom Barras has his tongue well and truly out trying to get on terms with the leaders.

Pete Williams was looking really strong on the night in Stone.

Dean Downing, series leader, leads the chase after Elliott.

Charlie's Angels give the race the tumbs up!

Malcolm Elliott is cheered on by the huge crowd which it is hoped will convince the council to run the event again next year. From what the mayor was saying afterwards, there is a lot of hope that will be the case so well did the race go down with the VIPs at the event.

 

Chris Newton took care on the wet roads and when they started to dry out, went off on his own to chase the group in front of him. Chris, like the rest of the Olympic contenders, has a track camp up and after missing the Worlds with a  broken collarbone, the World Track Champion was not taking chances.

 

Second in the series before Stone, Simon Holt leads the break that is chasing Elliott but losing ground.

Evan Oliphant leads one of the chase groups.

Whilst Elliott gets ready to raise his arms in celebration of a lone win, this team owner, Phil Griffiths has already got his raised!

The sprint for fifth place.

 

Rob Hayles had several goes but was unable to escape the second chase group

A Champagne celebration for Elliott.

 

Result

1. Malcolm Elliott, Pinarello
2. Peter Williams, Pinarello
3. Dean Downing, Rapha Condor/Recycling
4. Russell Downing, Pinarello
5. Jeroen Janssen, Pearl Izumi
6. Rob Hayles, Halfords Bikehut
7. Simon Gaywood, Plowman Craven
8. Tom Murray, Pinarello
9. Simon Holt,  Rapha Condor/Recycling
10. James Stewart, KFS Special Behicles
11. Liam Holohan, Pearl Izumi
12. Adam Bonser,  Rapha Condor/Recycling
13. Evan Oliphant, Plowman Craven
14. Andrew WIlliams, Cwmcarn Paragon CC
15. Chris Newton,  Rapha Condor/Recycling
16. Graham Briggs,  Rapha Condor/Recycling 
17. Tom Barras, Plowman Craven
18. Andy Tinsley, Pearl Izumi
19. Martin Forde, Unattached
20. Stephen Adams, Pearl Izumi
21. Paul Oldham, Hope Factory
22. Matt Rowe,  Rapha Condor/Recycling

 

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