Location: Graves Tennis and Leisure Centre, Sheffield
Event: 27 November 2011
Report: Snowdon Sports
Perhaps best known for his exploits in road racing, Endura Racing’s Rob Partridge showed off his cyclo-cross skills at the Yorkshire Go Cross race in Sheffield, taking victory in the event at the Graves Tennis and Leisure Centre on Sunday.
Leeds-based 26-year-old Partridge took victory by 25 seconds from Team CF’s Matt Buckingham from Penistone near Sheffield, while veteran Marcus Spencer of Hargroves Cycles was third, about a minute off the pace set by Partridge.
Six riders went clear from the off, while a large group chased close behind.
Partridge, Spencer and Rick Crabtree (Pedalsport CC) escaped off the front and looked to be working well together. But Partridge’s raw pace proved too much and the others soon dropped back as the Endura ace powered on alone with three laps to go.
Buckingham took second and Spencer third, while Chris Bradley (Zepnat RT) was not far behind in fourth after nearly catching Spencer.
The battle for fifth proved entertaining, with Darren Binks (Black Hawk Bikes) heading a chasing group for the first half of the race. But Crabtree had been towards the front of the race for most of the event, and held him off in the sprint for the line.
Halifax rider Levi Moody (Pedalsport CC) was top youth rider – as he has been in all the Go Cross races this season. He powered on alone almost straight from the off, and had opened up a gap of around three minutes by the end.
Results:
Seniors:
1 Rob Partridge (Endura Racing) 48:37
2 Matt Buckingham (Team CF) @ 25sec
3 Marcus Spencer (Hargroves Cycles) @ 1:00
4 Chris Bradley (Zepnat RT)
5 Rick Crabtree (Pedalsport CC)
6 Darren Binks (Black Hawk Bikes)
7 Richard Allen (Here Come the Belgians)
8 Gareth Jones (Clayton Velo)
9 Chris Francis (Team CF)
10 Ben Cooper (Hargroves Cycles)
Veterans: Marcus Spencer. Juniors: James Unwin (Sheffield Stars CSC). Women: Clare Hansell.
Youth:
1 Levi Moody (Pedalsport CC) 25:28
2 Harry Lewis (Sherwood Pines) @ 3:00
3 Connor Pallister (East Bradford CC)
4 Brandon Stock (Clifton CC)
5 Joe Williams (Holme Valley Wheelers)
Under-12s:
1 Jack Ford (Holme Valley Wheelers)
2 J Brown (Holme Valley Wheelers)
3 Morgan Turner
Girls: Ruby Boyes. Under-10s: Thomas Ford (Holme Valley Wheelers). Under-10 girls: Chloe Hinchcliffe (Wakefield Junior Tri Club). Under-8 girls: Martha Hallam.
British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.
