50th Wally Gimber Road Race

March 15, 2009

Report and pictures by Belinda Sinclair

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Wally Gimber: Sport Beans/Wilier Rider Report (Grant Bayton)

Grant Bayton leads the break

For once we seemed to be blessed with good weather in March (hope I haven’t jinxed that), all I can remember from last March was getting soaked week after week! With the weather being so good, 80 riders took to the line for a fast-rolling course with one nasty little climb each lap.

Straight out of the blocks, the race was lined out and after several miles there were already splits with two groups of riders slipping off the front. Sport Beans - Wilier's plan of action was to have two riders in the break - I jumped to get across to the leaders and put myself in the red but thankfully made it. However by the time I got to the front, another four had clipped away, building a quick lead. The group contained Alex Higham (WyndyMilla) and Rob Enslin (AWcycles.co.uk).

There were about ten riders in our group chasing the four leaders at 30 seconds and the bunch a further 30 seconds back. Knowing we needed another one of our riders in the break, I took the role of sitting on as other teams had two riders in the break, hoping I would have a teammate coming across. The race stayed like this for the next three laps with each group maintaining their position.

By lap 4, the four leaders were caught by my chase group. At this point the lead group (now 14) were not working well and it seemed as if the bunch must surely catch us. However the bunch looked like it was doing the same with the odd big effort and then nothing. With just over two laps to go, I decided to try and split the group down to a smaller size, however after trying several times with no success I decided to just roll with it for the next 10 miles to recover.

On the final lap, Rob Hurd and another rider managed jump across to us - with most the riders in the break now spent, he managed to roll off the front and gain a 10 second lead. With only 7 miles to go the break was playing cat and mouse as to who was going to take up the chase to catch him. Someone would make an effort, bringing Rob down to 5 seconds and then the group would sit up for him to gain time again.

On the final climb, Chris McNamara (Corley Cycles) put in a big effort to bridge the gap - he managed to split the group by a few seconds and nearly close the gap on Rob, however more cat and mouse and the momentum was lost. Rob stayed away to win and the riders who got dropped on the climb managed to claw their way back and flew straight past the four of us playing cat and mouse. By the time I managed to get back on terms with the riders who just shot past us, we were crossing the line.

Ben brought in the bunch for 17th after Mark and Billy doing a good job of bringing Ben in safely for the sprint. On that note we were made aware a rider came down heavily in the sprint, unaware who this is I do hope the injuries are not to serious and he has a swift recovery and is racing again soon. *Manager's note: Andy Dolan (Team Toachim) was knocked unconscious but has made a good recovery and will be fine*

In all, a very disappointing weekend for the team after such a great start to the year - not managing to get two in such a big break and myself only managing 7th, then to top it all the three lads who ventured to the Bikeline Premier Calendar were disappointed with the race being cancelled after such a good start. I also feel very sorry for the race organisers who must have put so much work into organising such a good race as the Bikeline 2 day – I hope they can sort things out for it to be run successfully next year.

Belinda's Report

You can usually count on the weather being appalling for the Dulwich Primavera Wally Gimber Trophy in Kent, but not this year; the 50th run of the 75 mile/140km race delighted in warm, early spring sunshine and blue sky, making standing out on the normally windswept course a pleasure for spectators and officials alike.

Despite the seemingly undulating countryside, this event is known as a tough ride. But the welcome appearance of the warm weather seemed to bring out the best in the riders, to produce several early breaks, some hard fought chases and a couple of escapees, most of whom were caught after steady riding and work sharing between the bunch.

Relaxed start in the bright sunhine as Brain Dacey, the original winner in 1960, leads the field out in the neutralised section.

But it was Rob Hurd of DHC Colnago who crossed the line first, in 3 hours 4:23, to take his fourth Wally Gimber title; David Creeggan (VC Meudon) and John Heaton Armstrong(Fit for, Dauphin Cycles, For Goodness Shakes,Merckx Bikes) chasing him home for second and third places respectively. Hurd's win matches the four victories by Simon Cope.

Speaking to the winner afterwards, he was delighted with his win: ”I am excited today, winning this for the fourth time, as I was the first time, and of course the other times. I am really pleased, particularly as I’ve had a long lay off from riding and only came back four weeks ago, and to win the 50th is great.”

His win was particularly poignant as his absence was due to the death of his friend and fellow rider Derek Witt, organiser of the Two day Europa event in Hampshire. “ Derek was killed by a car in August and it really affected me as he was my inspiration and a truly great rider. He was just one of those people who did so much for me but after he died, I just didn’t want to ride. In fact it was Emma Johannson (Swedish Olympic Silver medallist behind Nicole Cooke in Beijing) who talked me round and I’m glad that she did, and I want to dedicate my win to Derek and his family.”

Rob Hurd’s fourth win matches the record of Simon Cope who has also won the race four times followed by three time winner Tony Gibb

And he was equally pleased with the actual race “The good weather made such a difference because people just wanted to keep riding. I’ve ridden this event when its been snowing or pelting down with rain, and that makes it very hard for everybody. But today was special and you could just feel it; the work was being shared and everybody rode very well. I did think that the break had gone a bit early, and it’s tempting to wait for the hill to attack, but I timed it right and got in front when it mattered.”

Race organiser Nigel Wood, was also very pleased with the event ”Bob Ruszkowski who has organised this for the past twenty years is on a  sabbatical so I took it on and its always hard to follow somebody who has done such a great job. But it went well – and I did organise the weather rather well – but I am really pleased with how it went. We had nearly eighty riders start, the transponders (hired from SERRL) meant that the timing and results were straight forward and fortunately, the rider who was knocked unconscious at the end (Andy Dolan, Team Toachim) , has made a good recovery, and we wish him well.”

Bunch sprint

Early chase group

Peloton on lap 1 all lined out

Another of the breaks, this one with eventual winner Rob Hurd

Spoils of victory, his fourth in the race.

Shot of the peloton

break

Rob Enslin on the move over the line. Read his report of the race here -- Robs Blog

Result

1. Rob Hurd DHC Colnago  
2. David Creeggan VC Meudon +0:07s
3. John Heaton-Armstrong Fit-For  
4. Mark Daly private member  
5. Richard Mason Fit-For  
6. Herny Furniss WyndyMilla  
7. Grant Bayton Sportsbeans/Wilier  
8. Roger Smith Wildside707RT  
9. Chris McNamara  Team Corley  
10. Rob Enslin AWcycles.co.uk  
11. Andy Betts SigmaSport/Specialized/Sportful  
12. Tom Hemnant London Dynamo  
13. Steven Saunders Kingston Wheelers  
14. Daniel Felstead Dulwich Paragon  
15. Alex Higham WyndyMilla (+0:50s)
16. james stuart Norwood Paragon  
17. Ben Luckwell Sportsbeans/Wilier  
18. Tom Smith AWcycles.co.uk  
19. Justin Hoy Felt Racing  
20. Simon McNamara Wildside 707 RT  
21. Josh Cunningham In-Gear Development Squad  
22. Andy Davies Fit-For  
23. Jason Humphries Norwood Paragon  
24. Billy Joe Whenman Sportsbeans/Wilier  
25. Darren barclay Arctic Premier RT  
26. Guy Powdrill London Dynamo  
27. stephen skuse private member  
28. Julian Bray Dulwich Paragon  
29. Philip Jones Dulwich Paragon  
30. Ian Paine London Dynamo  
31. John Venness    
32. Adam Wojtkiewicz Caesarean Cycling Club  
33. Adam Cotterell In-Gear Development Squad  
34. Mark Perry Dulwich Paragon  
35. Mark Sussex Wildside 707 RT  
36. Mark Perry Sportsbeans/Wilier  
37. Kevin Knox Dulwich Paragon  
38. Doug Baldock In-Gear Development Squad  
39. Jaco Ehlers In-Gear Development Squad  
40. Alex Peterson AWcycles.co.uk  
41. Warren Jesse Felt Racing  
42. Ishmael Burdeau Agiskoviner.com  
43. Shaun Reed Bayeaux Landscapes  
44. David Kennett Norwood Paragon  
45. Steve Calland Norwood Paragon  
46. Gary Dodd Sigma Sport  
47. Matthew Melville AWcycles.co.uk  
48. Ashley Holding Wildside 707 RT  
49. Andy Waterman Dulwich Paragon  
50. Russell Shingles In-Gear Development Squad  
51. Chris Spence Caesarean Cycling Club  
52. David Seager San Fairy Anne CC  
53. Chaz Hollosi Gemini BC  
54. Joe Hemnant London Dynamo  
55. g mccullough Medway Velo  
56. Jake Butler In-Gear Development Squad  
57. John Wager Felt Racing  
58. Michael Kingan Fit-For  
59. Matthew Miles Wildside 707 RT  
60. Toby Neave Southdown Velo  
61. Valentino Fontana Colour-tech  Lapped
62. Gyles Wingate In-Gear Development Squad