Hat-Trick of wins for Gibb & Taylor

National Madison Championships

Newport Velodrome 9th September 2006

Report & Images Richard Robotham

Tony Gibb & James Taylor (Plowman Craven RT) dominated the field at the National Madison Championships held at Newport's Wales National Velodrome to make it 3 in a row and take their 5th joint Madison title. In a hotly contested race the main rivals were the Team of Adam Blyth (Pinarello RT) & Matt Rowe (Glendeen CC) as well the Team with UCI World Junior Scratch Champion Peter Kennaugh & Jonathan Bellis (Glendeen CC.) James Taylor commented before the start that he was confident the he & Tony could net another British Title.

Taylor (left) and Gibb in full-flow

With 12 Teams entered & 11 taking the start, the partnerships of Gibb / Taylor and Blyth / Rowe took maximum points in 4 of the 10 sprints with the other 2 sprints being taken by Luke Rowe (Glendeen CC) & Steven Burke (Le Coq Sportif). Gibb / Taylor ensured victory by attaining more 2nd & 3rd places than the other pairings.

The bunch mid-race and Gibb (right) is keeping tabs on the rest of the riders

Two early crashes caused by inexperience of some of the Riders, however no one was seriously hurt. BC's Commissaire President Louise Jones issued the appropriate warnings which calmed things down to enable the race to be run without further problems. The crashes resulted in the Teams of Russell Hampton & Alex Dowsett (Glendeen CC) and Scott Budgen (Pearson Cycles) & Philip Glowinski (VC Londres) retiring early.

Kennaugh & Bellis making a neat change

The other Team that retired were the pairing of Katie Curtis (Cardiff Ajax CC) & Lizzie Armitstead (Raleigh RT). The Team covered more than half of the 50km race. Although loosing laps to the opposition, they showed strength and resilience by continually chasing down the other Teams.

Happy faces on the podium - l to r: Adam Blythe, Matt Rowe, James Taylor Tony Gibb Jonny Bellis & Peter Kennaugh

Both Gibb and Taylor very pleased with the win especially after last year "close call" They both said that they had concentrate on this year's event with some serious training. This they did behind a Derny at high speed which again both stated it had ensured their 5th joint National Championship. Of the standard of the field, both Gibb and Taylor felt concerned about the experience of some of the other Teams and stated that both crashes were down to this lack of Madison skills, they also were pleased that no one was seriously hurt.

Results

1. Team 1 Tony Gibb & James Taylor 37pts
2. Team 2 Matt Rowe & Adam Blythe 32pts
3. Team 7 Jonny Bellis & Peter Kennaugh 19pts
4. Team 11 Luke Rowe & Steven Burke 17pts
5. Team 8 Pete Williams & Tom Murray 5pts
6. Team 10 John McCelland & Joel Stewart 0pts -1 lap
7. Team 9 Ian Cooper & Ross Dingley 0pts -2 laps
8. Team 5 Ben Plain & Tom Butt 0pts -2 laps

DNF
Scott Budgen & Philip Glowinski retired from the race having crashed and restarted but couldn't continue due to injuries.
Russell Hampton & Alex Dowsett retired immediately following crash.
Katie Curtis & Lizzie Armitstead retired after gallant effort to keep up with the pace but the high pace forced them to concede.

DNS
Rhys Lloyd & Mark McNally