Premier Calendar Most Open in Years
Story posted April 18, TV coverage, British Eurosport (25th April)
By Larry Hickmott
This years British Cycling Premier Calendar is the most wide open for years and after last weekends event, the Archer Grand Prix, it’s quite evident that there are a lot more riders vying for the race victories now than in the past. Not for nothing have four different riders won the first four Premier Calendar events and all those from different teams.
Chris Newton (Recycling.co.uk) opened up the series with victory in the Bikeline 2-Day and then Dean Downing (Rapha Condor) picked up where he left off in the Bikeline with victory in the Tour of the Reservoir. Ian Wilkinson (SiS/Trek) was the next big winner in Scotland in the Girvan 3-Day and then last weekend, Plowman Craven/Evans Cycles had their moment of glory with Simon Gaywood. Next it’s the East Midlands International CiCLE Classic and with such a large international field for that one, its anybodies guess who is going to win that.
Leading the Premier Calendar after the Archer GP is Chris Newton who was 6th in the Buckinghamshire race and with Ian Wilkinson elsewhere on the day, Newton extended his lead by 51 points.At the Archer though, despite his obvious good form, even Newton couldn’t prevent a group of unsung heros from dominating the race.
The day began with a field of 100 riders setting off from the HQ in Hazelemere, many of them race winners in their own right. Premier Calendar events though are another level up from your run of the mill Elite race and anyone who saw the faces on the riders as they pedalled squares trying to get up the slopes of Whiteleaf time after time know this was a special sort of pain they were being put through so hats off to everyone who finished the Archer.
Proof of the toughness of the race were the large number of riders who were reduced to being spectators by the end as the highfliers turned the gas up to start chasing down the lead group and an awful lot of legs got burned up in the process.
One memory I have from the final time up Whiteleaf, where there were more DNF’s watching the race than ‘normal’ spectators, was seeing the leaders almost nonchalantly ride over the top of the Whiteleaf climb and then a few minutes later see Chris Newton with Malcolm Elliott glued to his rear wheel as the Recycling rider gassed it along the top of the climb, hugging the gutter close to the line of spectators while behind the chase group was in pieces.
It seemed over for the lead group with still five finishing circuits to do and the big boys flexing their muscles but they held it together and five of them managed to stay clear to the end where Simon Gaywood had a memorable victory. Afterwards he said “Its unbelievable, I can’t believe it. It couldn’t have worked any better. I was a bit dubious about the mileage because up until this year, I haven’t really done races this long for the last several years”.
“That was a hard race, not just the climb at Whiteleaf but the also the long drag on the main road on the finishing circuit. At times it was difficult being on my own in the breakaway with three riders from Team Corley and two from Rapha. The last few laps were particularly hard with the Rapha boys working well together."
“I want to thank my team, my other half Kay, and want to dedicate this win to the late Neil Gardner (former coach) and CC Luton for all the years they put into helping me. I’d also like to thank my parents and my dad for doing all that speed work up and down the bypass freezing his whatsits.”
Talking about the race and the tough course, Simon explained that the climb of Whiteleaf was horrible adding that the break were sensible and ‘rolled’ over it with the only attacks being the ones for points in the King of the Mountains competition.
“We went really early and I was a bit scared because at the Reservoir a few weeks ago I was cramping and today I started to cramp a bit. I actually pulled my foot out on the last climb when I overlapped one of the riders wheels and pulled the foot out, cramped in my calf and I thought ‘oh no, it’s not happening’ but I got my foot in and I still felt quite good.”
“I chased him (Matt Talbot) down and he gave me the perfect lead out. I could not have asked for anything more. Slammed it in the biggest gear I could get over and thankfully no-one could round me.” It could have been so different though as the final lap of the course saw a number of the riders in the five active, Andrew Roche and Richard Wilkinson particularly so.
Simon finished by saying, “its always only ever been track and criteriums but this year, being with the team has given me a kick up the ass to put some miles in early season which I have done and here I am!”
As I interviewed Simon Gaywood, who himself was close to tears as he was given a post race rub down by the team’s soigneur, suddenly the tears started to flow for his sponsor and a cyclist who puts a lot back into the sport, PCA’s Simon Barnes.
“What a day of contrasting emotions" he said of the day. "I was following the lead group in the team car and listening at the same time to the race radio as one by one our riders abandoned or dropped out of contention behind us. Soon all our hopes were squarely on the shoulders of Simon Gaywood, and although everyone commented that he’s better known as a track rider, and despite having two Rapha boys working together against him, he didn’t let us – or himself - down. I’m so pleased for him and so proud of him.”
Simon Gaywood takes a look behind to see where his rivals are.
One of the two Rapha boys was a rider who has already been on the podium in a Premier before, the Lincoln, and Matt Talbot had this to say “I’m disappointed with the result to be honest. We had two of us in a group of five. On another day, we could have got a 1-2 so I’m going to talk to the boys and see if we can learn from our more experienced guys like Dean and Giancarlo.”
“Realistically we’re (Matt and Richard Wilkinson) three and four in the team and for us to be up there is just fantastic but we want a whole team capable of getting in the top five and its looking good for that”.
“Richard is so strong at the moment and to be honest, I wish he had been second because he deserves it. He will get a podium soon. This was a strange race. I don’t know what was going on behind but in the break, it was one of the easiest breaks I have ever been in. It was one of those breaks where no-one stood out and one of those breaks where the combination of everyone, worked. No-one was really trying and yet we were going really fast so we were lucky.”
Asked about how the group of 13 split, Matt explained “it never got nervous really. People just dropped off and we never saw them again. In the last two or three laps, it did get tough and that is when things started happening and people started showing their strengths but it turned out well.”
Matt was also at a loss to explain his good form saying “I have had a chest infection for five weeks and I don’t know what is wrong with me but thankfully my legs still work. I’m looking forward to the Rutland especially with all those international teams.”
In fifth place was Points winner Roy Chamberlain from Team Corley, another new team this year. “I have had some fourths in the past and I really wanted to be on the podium this year but it wasn’t to be. I cramped on the last lap with about 10 miles to go and am quite annoyed to come so close”.
Right: Roy Chamberlain.
“It was a bit of a strange move when three got away and then I just jumped on a chase group that went and didn’t really think it would be stick so I just sat on that for a mile and saw there was a gap and we caned it. When the 13 of us got up the road it was like make hay while the sun shines. We turned on to the Lacey Green road with a tailwind and we were doing 36mph and for them to get up to us, they were going to have to be doing 40’s. Then it was just steady on the hills and work hard on the flat.”
“We were expecting the group to come up all the time but we had 13 good guys all going through and off and steady. We were getting time checks a group was coming up and closing in. Most of us in the field are amateurs and we work, and some of us have got families as well but this shows it can be done. We all got round the Girvan and between races is just recovery.”
Roy is now looking forward to the Rutland where he says with 160 riders, he’ll just get in there and enjoy it. “it’s a great race, one of the best races in Britain now, and great to do.”
Finally, a word on his sponsor, Phil Corley (former pro champion) of Corley Cycles in Milton Keynes. The team had three riders in the break, Roy, Matthew Higgins (King of the Mountains) and Richard Cartland. Asked about his team, Roy says “I think Phil just wanted a bit of recognition. He was backing Team Milton Keynes but in the results wasn’t getting much from it like a Sigma Sport, Condor or JE James.”
“We also have this link with Willen Hospice where we get points and the shop puts money into the charity and the suppliers match it. So we’re on a bonus scheme if you like but the money goes to a hospice.”
Roy now takes a break with the family before the next big one at the end of April.
Pre Archer Grand Prix Interviews
Prior to the race, we spoke to some of the riders who have made names for themselves in the Premier Calendar starting with one of the youngest, a junior last year but already showing well, Alex Dowsett. The 100% ME rider is the leading under 23 (19th place) in the Premier Calendar despite only doing the Bikeline and the Archer so far.
Asked how he was finding the races, he said “they’re okay. I thought they were going to be harder going from short junior races but they have been okay so far although today (the Archer) is going to be a different kettle of fish. But I am enjoying doing the Premier Calendar series”
Alex explained his performances in the Bikeline where he was 5th and 3rd on the first two stages respectively were the most pleasing so far. In the Archer, he missed the break, as did most of the high flyers and then when the sort out commenced as the likes of Newton, Dave Clarke and Russell Downing turned up the gas, he found himself in the position of chasing alone. Training which will no doubt do him no harm as he looks to peak for the European Time Trial Championship in July.
After than, he will be looking to join his 100% ME teammates in the Great Britain Cycling Team Olympic Academy (Men’s Endurance) racing in Italy as he then looks to get selection for the Tour of Britain and the World Road Championships. Other targets are the National 10 and 25 titles with Alex adding “more so the 25, because that is the same distance as the major time trials.”
To get fit to do such races as the Premier Calendar’s Alex explained his training changed a lot over the winter and despite still being at school, his coach Rod Ellingworth has a programme that sees him doing between 16 and 20 hours a week around his school hours. “We focus mainly on quality” he added “because I just don’t have the time to do the quantity.”
Currently in third place after a forgettable Archer GP, former Premier Calendar Series winner Robin Sharman (KFS Special Vehicles) says of the series so far (talking prior to the Archer) “it’s not going too bad, better than I thought. Now that I am working full time, I wasn’t sure it was going to work out because of the reduced training time but I am pleased with how it is going.”
“I had a good start in the Bikeline Two Day and then the Tour of the Reservoir was okay (3rd) and then in the Girvan (6th overall) I was suffering a bit.”
Robin was hoping to do a good ride in the Archer but perhaps the lack of miles took their toll as he came home in 16th place. He did though manage to keep his high place overall in the series admitting that he was looking to try and win the overall again.
Right: Robin Sharman in the Archer GP last Sunday.
Talking about how his new team, KFS Special vehicles, was bedding in after coming together for this season, he says “the team is fantastic. We have some young guys who are still in the process of building their form up for these races but everyone has gelled well in the team. The management are fantastic too.”
Talking about the Premier Calendar series this year as opposed to previous years he says “instead of one dominant team and a few half organised teams, there are now quite a few well organised teams which makes for some really good racing. It has certainly been more exciting this year and I look forward to seeing it hopefully to continue to develop more in the coming years. The structure of the races this year looks a lot better as well.”
Another former Premier Calendar Series winner, Gordon McCauley (Plowman Craven/Evans Cycles), was quite subdued before the start of the Archer. Whilst a team-mate in Simon Gaywood went on to win the race, Gordon failed to finish but admitted before the off “the Premier Calendar is going alright.
"There are stronger teams this year so it is harder to get a lead.” He explained he went into the Girvan with the aim to win everything and came away with victory in all the competitions bar the overall where he was third which followed his second in the Tour of the Reservoir.
Right: McCauley relaxes before the start on Sunday.
The New Zealander, who won a bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games Time Trial, also admitted he intends to drop away from the series in July as he concentrates on preparing for the World Time Trial championships. To do that, he’ll train in the UK saying “Where I see the British based time trialists getting it wrong before the worlds is they go to the fast courses all the time but you have to do the hilly courses because the Worlds will be hilly and hard”.
A surprise visitor to the Premier Calendar is a former winner of the Lincoln Grand Prix and British Road Race Championship, Russell Downing who had on his HealthNet jersey the colours of having been a British Champion. “I’ve come home for a couple of weeks as it’s a quite period for me in the States. I realised the Archer was on so I thought I might as well race. My form is starting to get good in America now so I am looking forward to returning to the US when we have plans to do 10 days of long crits, 2.5 hours approximately, and they are so fast, its unbelievable.”
“After that, I’ll prepare for Philadelphia week at the beginning of June and then return for the Nationals.”
Asked how racing in the US differed to here and Europe where he has raced a lot, Russell says “the crits are normally longer, two hours or more, and there is quite a lot of control in the crits. You can’t just attack. Quite often they are on bigger roads so there are a lot more guys getting to the finish and it can get a bit hectic when there is 20,000 dollars on the line. A few people take a few too many risks.”
“To start off, it was hard getting to grips with all that. In the European peloton, if you lean on someone that you know is going to give you something back you’re alright, but when you’re not sure on the guy and they look a bit weak, it can panic you. I have come to grips with it though.”
“The team is brilliant. Like with 20 or 30k to go, the word goes out as to who is feeling good and if you say yes, that’s it, the race s for you. We have won a couple but are still working on getting it right.”
“A lot of the racing has been in California early on but now we’re moving inland to Boulder because a lot of the racing is on the other coast. Flying about is quite easy. I did a race last Saturday that took three flights to get there and when I got there, it was snowing! But I’m really enjoying it and hoping to get a contract.”
Lying in fourth in the Premier Calendar series and already a winner of not only the Tour of the Reservoir but also stages in the Bikeline two Day and the Girvan, Dean Downing has had a good start to the Premier Calendar Series for his new sponsors, Rapha Condor. This is no accident though as he put in a lot of hard training in after Christmas.
“I was amazed at the start of the season just how good my form was and the results are especially good because I’m not flying yet. I hope to put some more hard work in over the next month and build on it.”
Talking about the previous Premier event, the Girvan, Dean explained that although he finished on a high, he had a bad third stage. “It was my own fault. All the attacks were going in the first 30 miles and I lost concentration a little bit and everyone like Chris Newton and John Tanner and so on had attacked. I tried to go on my own but couldn’t make it and had to get my team on the front and they did fantastic.”
“To bring a 40 second gap with 21 GC riders up there who were all riding flat stick, we must have been riding flat stick plus one. So the Girvan was a mixed race, winning a stage but not getting as many Premier Calendar points on the overall. It is still quite close (10 points between 2nd and 4th).”
Talking about the Archer pre-race he said “We never race this kind of distance and its going to be hard. And it’s the first hot day of the year for racing so its going to be tough”. Dean though had some inside information on the form guide for his team and so it proved.
“Richard Wilkinson is going really really good. He impressed me in the Girvan. On that horrible day when it split from the back, he managed to hang in with the last 15 and got 12th overall. He’s impressed me this year and its been a big step up being a full time worker.”
Asked about his rivals in the Premier, Dean said of them, Gordon (McCauley) is flying, going really well, so is Chris Newton, Robin Sharman too. John Tanner is coming back to his former old self so its exciting riding this year, brilliant. Like the last stage of the Girvan, was around 15 guys from five or six teams” And that makes for good racing for everybody”.
Dean finished 17th in the Archer Grand Prix saying afterwards that with two teammates in the lead group he had been in the ideal position. As always though, expect the unexpected and after a 150km, he had a very swollen right hip flex muscle which meant he had to ride the last 30k with a numb right leg! Apparently, something that only happens in the Archer!
He is now off to Trinidad and Tobago for some track racing, all expenses paid and a smile that says it all! On his return, the next race he is looking forward to is the Lincoln GP in May where he has been on the podium before. “That would be one I’d love to get a victory in. It’s my local race, and also Richard’s. Even more for Richard because he lives in Lincoln. Its only 30 miles from where I live and all the training guys go up to it to watch and when Russell and I did well in it, it was a great experience.”
PREMIER CALENDAR OVERALL
1. Chris Newton, Recycling.co.uk, 354
2. Ian Wilkinson, Science in Sport-Trek, 295
3. Robin Sharman, KFS Special Vehicles, 286
4. Dean Downing, Rapha/Condor, 285
5. Gordon McCauley, Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing Team, 257
6. Malcolm Elliott, Pinarello RT, 229
7. Andrew Roche, Pinarello RT, 185
8. Richard Wilkinson, Rapha/Condor, 142
9. Graham Briggs, Recycling.co.uk, 140
10. Simon Gaywood, Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing Team, 131
11. Roy Chamberlain, Alpha RC/Team Corley Cycles, 109
12. John Tanner, Sportscover-Planet X, 108
13. Giancarlo Checchi, Rapha/Condor, 94
14. Matthew Talbot, Rapha/Condor, 85
15. Jason MacIntyre, Edge Racing, 78
16. Matthew Kipling, Inkland CRT, 76
17. Oli Beckingsale, Giant RT, 66
18. Wayne Randle, Sportscover-Planet X, 65
19. Alex Dowsett ***, 100% ME, 64
20. James Millard, Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing Team, 59
21. Dan Staite, Bike & Run London, 56
22. Mathew Higgins, Alpha RC/Team Corley Cycles, 53
23. Richard Cartland, Alpha RC/Team Corley Cycles, 51
24. David Clarke, Unattached, 46
25. Russell Downing, Team Health Net/Maxxis, 45
26. Simon Richardson, Trek Volkswagen, 33
27. Mark Lovatt, Sportscover-Planet X, 31
28. Matt Stephens, Sigma Sport, 28
Lee Davis, Pinarello RT, 28
30. Tony Gibb, Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing Team, 26
31. Dan Axford, , 25
32. Fred Johannssen, Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing Team, 21
33. Ashley Brown, Sportscover-Planet X, 19
34. Ray Wilson, Dunfermline CC, 18
Alex Higham, Bike & Run London, 18
36. James Sampson, Kinesis UK, 15
37. Tom Barras, Merlin RT, 13
38. Alex Atkins, Glendene CC/Bike Trax, 12
Liam Holohan, Merlin RT, 12
Richard Sykes-Popham, Glendene CC/Bike Trax, 12
Jason Allan, Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing Team, 12
Ryan Bonsor, Recycling.co.uk, 12
43. Tristan Barnes, Wills Wheels CC, 9
Tom Diggle, Recycling.co.uk, 9
Dave Collins, Science in Sport-Trek, 9
46. James Stewart, K.F.S Special Vehicles - Sunday Bicycles, 8
47. Simon Holt, Recycling.co.uk, 7
Andrew Tinsley, Onimpex Bio-racer RT, 7
49. Mathew Cronshaw, Science in Sport-Trek, 6
Ben Price, Rapha/Condor, 6
51. Scott Gamble, Ashfield RC, 5
Gareth Hewitt, K.F.S Special Vehicles - Sunday Bicycles, 5
53. Philip Brown, Velo Ecosse, 4
54. James McCullam, Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing Team, 3
Pete Williams, Kinesis UK, 3
56. Richard Kent, Science in Sport-Trek, 1
