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Guide: 2016/17 British Cycling National Trophy Cyclo-cross Series round five

Guide: 2016/17 British Cycling National Trophy Cyclo-cross Series round five

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The British Cycling National Trophy Cyclo-cross Series reaches its conclusion in Shrewsbury on Sunday 11 December – with both the elite men’s and women’s titles still to be decided.

Defending champions Ian Field and Hannah Payton are the favourites to retain their championships – but there could be an upset in the mud of Shropshire.

Elite men

Yorben Van Tichelt (Marlux - Napoleon Games) won in Ipswich at round four to go top of the standings for the series, tied on 188 points with Ian Field (Hargroves Cycles – Ridley RT).

But the Belgian rider – whose win at Trinity Park was his second victory of the series – will not be in action in Shrewsbury, handing the chance to retain the title to Field.

The Hargroves Cycles – Ridley RT rider needs to finish 26th or higher to guarantee the series win – and Field hasn’t been outside the top two in any of this year’s four rounds to date.

Ian Field

In the event of Field finishing 27th or lower, already confirmed under-23 champion Billy Harding could claim an unlikely double.

A win for the Oldfield/Paul Milnes Cycles ERT rider, with Field picking up four points or less, would hand Harding the elite series title.

More likely, Harding will be racing to take second place from Van Tichelt or to secure third place in Shropshire, with Paul Oldham (Hope Factory Racing) and David Fletcher (Sherwood Pines Cycles-Felt-Enve) the main challengers to the final podium place.

Harding holds the advantage on 142 points, with Oldham (130 points) and Fletcher (122 points) potentially able to leapfrog him with a race win.

Start list

Elite women

Team Kinesis UK’s Hannah Payton is in pole position to retain her series title, having won three of the four races so far.

Hannah Payton

Payton has 146 points and a sixth place finish or higher would guarantee her the series championship.

Any lower than sixth would open the door to Annabel Simpson – the Hope Factory Racing rider is currently second on 124 points, but knows Payton would have to suffer a major loss of form, having finished no lower than fourth in this year’s series.

Third place rider Bethany Crumpton (Boot Out Breast Cancer CC) cannot win the series title, but could overtake Simpson for second place.

Crumpton currently has 103 points, her chances of an overall victory hampered by a 16th place finish in round four in Ipswich.

There are three other riders who could claim the final spot on the podium in Ffion James (Abergavenny RC), Elspeth Grace (Welwyn Wheelers CC) and Sophie Thackray (Oldfield/Paul Milnes Cycles ERT).

James, who will finish the series as the highest-ranked under-23 women’s rider, has 86 points, but does not race in Shrewsbury, with Grace and Thackray on 81 and 70 points respectively.

Evie Richards

Reigning women’s under-23 cyclo-cross world champion Evie Richards is unable to reach the series podium, having only competed in one round this series – winning the round two race in Abergavenny – but the 100% ME rider could complicate matters for the other riders if she is able to continue her good form on the mud.

Start list

Under-23 men

With the under-23 men’s title already secured by Billy Harding, second and third place will be decided in Shrewsbury.

There are eight riders competing for the final two podium places, currently held by Stephen Lee (Derwentside CC) on 100 points and Joe Griffiths (TORQ Performance) on 83 points with James Madgwick (QSQ/-Etixx) well placed in fourth on 75 points.

Start list

Venue

British Cycling National Trophy Cyclo-cross Series: Round five, Shrewsbury

Event schedule

Sunday 11 December

Race 1

10:15am: Veteran men

Race 2

11:15am: Youth girls

Race 3

12:00pm: Youth boys

Race 4

1:20pm: Elite and under-23 women, junior men and veteran women

Race 5

2:30pm: Elite and under-23 men

How to follow

  • A report, result, reaction and images will appear on the British Cycling website.
  • Follow @BritishCycling on Twitter for updates