Event: 27 November 2011
Location: Abbey Farm, Bardney, Lincoln
Report: John Cotton
The latest Lincolnshire cross race promoted by Velo Club Lincoln at Abbey Farm, Bardney, saw a terrific battle between Mark Cotton (Bycka Sport Racing) and Rick Lister (Gabby Day Cyclesport RT) which took them nearly 4 minutes clear of promoting club rider Jon Wells.
In extremely windy conditions these three riders pulled clear of the field on the opening lap with Cotton and Lister leading the opening exchanges as Wells tucked in to form a rapid lead trio around the first lap. At the start of the second lap Cotton hit the front into the wind pushing hard, dragging Lister away from Wells by a few seconds. As they turned onto part of the farm track with a strong tailwind Lister moved to the front applying the pressure giving Wells a tough task to get back into contention. The trio was now a duo as Wells, already safe in third with a big gap on those behind, couldn’t hang in with the pace set by Lister and Cotton over the opening two laps.
Behind, Adam Ellis (Spalding CC) was himself clear in fourth and leading veteran ahead of a group containing Darryl Hewson (Alford Wheelers) Robert Howden (Beeston CC) Martin Kennedy, Mark Preston and Jordan Gell (all VC Lincoln).
Entering the third lap it was Lister who looked the strongest at the front forging a small gap of around 20 meters on Cotton through a technical bank. Creating any gap was difficult in the conditions and Cotton calmly clawed his way back up to Lister over a quarter of a lap over the very bumpy field and into the wind. With only 20 minutes of the race gone these two riders were increasing their lead and settled into another battle for the victory. Both riders were driving hard at the front in turn trying to create a gap but neither were successful. Such was the strength of the wind that it was difficult to put in an all out attack over the fields and into the tailwind each rider was coping with any increase in pace with relative ease. These two continued to push at the front and took the bell together for a frantic dash to the finish line.
Lister and Cotton are no stranger to last lap melees with one another, getting the upper hand tactically would be difficult and it was anyone’s guess as to which one of them would come out victorious. Timing and position into the final few corners would be everything and with a long fast farmer's track leading into the narrow final few hundred metres lead position would be important. With Lister leading into the wind Cotton made the decisive move attacking from behind taking his opponent by surprise into the wind at the hardest point. Lister reacted quickly and fought hard to get onto the wheel but Cotton reached a banked dismount first and kicked hard onto the track. With the wind behind them the duo were flying around the corners and passing on this, the fastest part of the course was difficult. Cotton reached the narrowest part of the course first and maintained a high pace through the twists and over a large soil bank. With only two slow corners left to negotiate before a small dash to the finish line Lister was defeated with no places where a successful pass could be made. Cotton sprinted hard all the way to the line not even sparing a glance behind or a hand in the air in celebration ensuring the victory was his as Lister rolled in a few seconds later.
Jon Wells came home clear in third even after rolling a tub and being forced to change bikes 3:46 down, Ellis had tied up fourth and 1st Vet with Robert Howden gapping the group of riders he had initially been with and moving clear of them by over a minute to claim fifth. Jordan Gell came in leading Junior in eighth in a three-way sprint with Darryl Hewson sixth and Martin Kennedy seventh. Phil Heyes (Skegness Wheelers) was first Vet 50+ in 20th and Louise Day took first lady in 27th.
In the Youth race it was Henry Thompson (Sleaford Wheelers) who took the win ahead of Sam Bentley (Spalding CC) by 22 seconds taking the lead on the first lap and holding the lead all way to the line. Promoting club rider Tilly Wilks (VC Lincoln) put in a strong performance in fourth overall and first girl in only her first season riding cross showing great promise. Wilks was not far behind Jake Peel (Spalding CC) who took third and Max Williamson (Lincsquad) was again top under 14 rider in fifth.
In the under 12 race the usual top five riders were again at the head of the field with Matt Ellis (Spalding CC) taking another win by 48 seconds over club mate Jake Norton. Kerrigan Robb (Witham Wheelers) was the only other rider not to be lapped by Ellis in third just over one minute down with Robert McAndrew (Spalding CC) in fourth and Bradley Sprogis (VC Lincoln) fifth. Abigail Armstrong (VC Lincoln) continued her dominance in the girl’s category in ninth overall.
Results
Senior
1st Mark Cotton Bycka Sport Racing 9 laps in 55:25
2nd Rick Lister Gabby Day Cyclesport RT at 0:04
3rd Jon Wells VC Lincoln at 3:46
4th Adam Ellis Spalding CC 1st Vet at 5:11
5th Robert Howden Beeston CC at 5:47
6th Darryl Hewson Alford Wheelers at 6:45
7th Martin Kennedy VC Lincoln at s.t.
8th Jordan Gell VC Lincoln 1st Junior at s.t.
9th Richard Hamblin Sleaford Wheelers at 7:02
10th Peter Fielding-Smith Richardsons RT 2nd Vet at 1 lap
11th Mark Preston VC Lincoln
12th Aaron Tuplin Cherry Valley RT
13th Bart Kieres Bourne Wheelers
14th Martin McGregor VC Lincoln
15th Sam Mullenger VC Lincoln
16th Premek Jasnikowski Spalding CC
17th Shane Norton Spalding CC 3rd Vet
18th Jason Clark VC Lincoln
19th Henry Heyes Skegness Wheelers
20th Philip Heyes Skegness Wheelers 1st 50+
21st George Hackney Lincoln Wheelers
22nd Jimmy Armstrong VC Lincoln 4th Vet
23rd Sean East Witham Wheelers 5th Vet
24th Steve Potter Lindsey Roads 2nd 50+
25th Clayton Maltby VC Lincoln
26th Paul Bonnett Skegness Wheelers
27th Louise Day Gabby Day Cyclesport RT 1st Lady
28th Phil Galpin Bourne Wheelers 6th Vet
29th Adam De Smit VC Lincoln 2nd Junior
30th Helen MacGregor VC Lincoln 2nd lady
31st Andrew Fraser VC Lincoln 7th Vet
32nd Graham Atkins Welland Valley 3rd 50+ at 2 laps
33rd Ian Fensom Spalding CC 4th 50+
34th Paul Dann Lincoln Wheelers 8th Vet
35th Gavin Sykes VC Lincoln 9th Vet
36th Karl Fraser Sleaford Wheelers 10th Vet
37th Tim Kingswood Yello Velo 11th Vet
38th Tom Webster Spalding CC 12th Vet
39th Tom Drew Spalding Tri 13th Vet
40th Simon Cocker Witham Wheelers 5th 50+
41st Simon Santry Spalding CC 14th Vet
42nd Nick Appleyard Lincsquad
43rd Graham McAndrew Spalding CC 15th Vet
44th Andy Pack Spalding CC 16th Vet
45th Karl Brown 6th 50+
46th M Seaton Lindsey Roads 7th 50+
47th Andy Stewart
48th Graham Illingworth 17th Vet
49th Terry Biesty Scunthorpe Poly 1st 60+
50th John Bateman Vegetarian C and AC 8th 50+
51st Barry Robinson 9th 50+ at 3 laps
52nd Kenton Jones 3rd Junior
Youth
1st Henry Thompson Sleaford Wheelers 6 laps in 27:20
2nd Sam Bentley Spalding CC at 0:22
3rd Jake Peel Spalding CC at 3:00
4th Tilly Wilks VC Lincoln 1st Girl at 3:32
5th Max Williamson Lincsquad 1st U14 at 5:12
6th Reece Moradakhan Spalding CC 2nd U14 at 1 lap
7th James Armstrong VC Lincoln 3rd U14
8th Aaron Bateman Bourne Wheelers 4th U 14
9th Daniel Burton Bourne Wheelers 5th U14
10th Louise Beedham Lincsquad 2nd Girl, 6th U14
11th Robbie Sturdy Lincsquad 7th U14
12th Callum Baker Newark Castle 8th U14
13th Rebecca Richards Newark Castle 3rd Gril
14th Maddie Gammons Bourne Wheelers 9th U14
15th Thomas Webster Spalding CC 10th U14
16th Jack Bunn VC Lincoln 11th U14
17th Flynn Geraghty 12th U14
18th Joseph Collins Bourne Wheelers 13th U14
Under 12
1st Matthew Ellis Spalding CC 8 laps in 13:58
2nd Jake Norton Spalding CC at 0:48
3rd Kerrigan Robb Witham Wheelers at 1:16
4th Robert McAndrew Spalding CC at 1 lap
5th Bradley Sprogis VC Lincoln
6th Max Poole Lincsquad
7th Jacob Santry Spalding CC
8th Cameron Neilson Bourne Wheelers
9th Abigail Armstrong VC Lincoln 1st Girl
10th Alex Armstrong VC Lincoln
11th Nathan Priestley Newark Castle
12th Isabel Darvill Newark Castle 2nd Girl
13th Alex Galpin Bourne Wheelers
14th Megan Kendall Spalding CC 3rd Girl
15th James Broughton VC Lincoln
16th Oliver Sawyer VC Lincoln
17th Kian Baker Newark Castle
18th Daniel Turner VC Lincoln
19th Dan Galpin Bourne Wheelers
20th Jake Kennedy VC Lincoln
21st Matthew Wooley Newark Castle
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.
