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Field takes title and Richards wins in round five of National Trophy

Field takes title and Richards wins in round five of National Trophy

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Ian Field (Hargroves Cycles) sealed his elite men’s British Cycling National Trophy crown with a round to spare and Evie Richards (T-Mo Racing) powered to victory in the elite women’s race in round five, held in Bradford on Sunday.

Elite men

Liam Killeen (Malvern Cycle Sport) took the win in the fading light of Bradford only to be disqualified after a rule infringement whilst going through the pits, giving Ian Field (Hargroves Cycles-Ridley) his fifth victory and the Series overall.

NATIONAL TROPHY 2015 RND 5 BRADFORD 13TH DECEMBER ELITE MEN

Steven Roach (Team Raleigh-GAC) set the early pace leading the field out in the rain, but it was Field who took over the reins mid-way through the opening lap. Field remained in the saddle on the first slope while others carried their bikes, giving the National Champion the extra momentum to take the lead. Dave Fletcher (Pines Cycles-Felt-Enve) was quick to respond to get the leaders wheel and the pair soon pulled out a small but useful gap.

With the race into its rhythm and the lead pair away all eyes looked back to the chasers. Jack Clarkson (Hope Factory Racing), after a disappointing previous round, looked comfortable in third and was on the attack. Killeen was sitting in fourth slightly back, while the battle behind with Ben Sumner (Beeline-Gener8) and the under 23s leader Nick Barnes (Hargroves-Ridley) was hotting up.

With 20 minutes gone Field had upped the pace and was alone at the front setting another quick pace but Killeen moved passed Fletcher into second and began the chase. Clarkson was holding his position and was only a few bike lengths from Fletcher while Scott Racing’s Nick Craig was revelling in the thick mud and was on a charge.

At the mid-way point the conditions were deteriorating and bikes were having to be changed every half lap and the pit crews were working non-stop in the river of mud. Field ran in early carrying the bike, giving Killeen the chance to pull a few metres back on the leader, and as Field left the pits the chaser was just entering.

Craig had to run the back of the top field carrying the bike after rolling a tub, and Bibby took the opportunity to make up ground. Giles Drake (Leisure Lakes) was riding well and worked himself up behind Clarkson who was now in fifth.

As the race entered the final 20 minutes it looked as though Killeen was catching Field, the gap getting smaller as the ground deteriorated even more. Killeen upped the pace and mid-way through the penultimate lap the chase was over, the gap had been closed and the race was on both riders matching every pedal stroke.

But it was the final lap where Killeen attacked, Field unable to respond and Killeen was away, riding the final lap alone at the front. Field was safe in second, the Series now wrapped up. Fletcher kept third place and Nick Craig got the better of Bibby in the few metres to take fourth. Nick Barnes finished in seventh taking the Under 23s race and the Series title.

Speaking after the race, Ian Field said: “It’s not the way I wanted to win but rules are rules and it’s a UCI race so I guess they’ve got to abide by the rules. But it was a really good race, I really enjoyed it. It was a cracking course again but super tough conditions.”

Elite women

Evie Richards (T-Mo Racing) took her second win in as many weeks after another dominant performance in the elite women’s race.

NATIONAL TROPHY 2015 RND 5 BRADFORD 13TH DECEMBER ELITE WOMEN


Richards, who crashed on the opening lap, had to fight from mid field to take the lead and ultimately the win.

Beth Crumpton (Pearl Izumi-Sports Tours) took the early initiative and set out a quick pace from the whistle. Amira Mellor (Oldfield/Paul Milnes), Ffyon James (Abergavenny RC) and Hannah Payton (Team Kenesis) all at the head of the field were away.

Sophie Wright (Strada-Sport), as at Ipswich was towards the front of the chase, the junior rider holding her own in strong company. Richards had the work to do but soon had ridden through to the head of the race, and by the second lap had left the rest of the field to fight out the lower placings.

In second spot, Payton had no answer to the Malvern girl but didn’t give up her second place and remains in the leader’s jersey going into the final round. Crumpton, did enough to take the final place on the podium whilst James just took a few seconds out of Mellor to claim fourth.

Evie Richards said: “It was a bit dirty, it wasn’t windy so there wasn’t much tactics, it was just go as hard as you could. I had a bit of a slip I think, I hadn’t anticipated just how slippy it was. Once I got to the head I just tried to take it a bit steady round the corner just to be sure I didn’t fall off again.

“Coming into the first pits, I decided to run but I got on my bike a bit earlier than the others and my dad shouted, ‘Go, Evie!’ So that was it, I just went!”

Other categories

NATIONAL TROPHY 2015 RND 5 BRADFORD 13TH DECEMBER OTHER CATERGORIES

Juniors

Local rider Tom Pidcock (Oldfield-Paul Milnes) took his fourth win in succession and wrapped up the Series win on a new course at Bradford.

Pidcock, who has arguably outridden the rest of the field this season, once again attacked early on and soon set his usual quick pace. Josh Waters (Sherwood Pines-Felt-Enve) and team-mate Harry Lewis tagged along on the opening lap but it was Pidcock who proved to be too strong for any joy riders.

Will Gascoyne (Pines Cycles-Felt-Enve) and Mark Donovan (Beacon Wheelers) set about trying to reel the leader back in, but from the second lap the pair would have to fight their own battle for second and third, Gascoyne eventually finishing in second to Donovan’s third, his best result of the Series.

Waters held his race to finish fourth while Pidcock’s team-mate Ben Turner had to be content with fifth but kept his series overall podium on the burner.

“On the first lap, I got to the front then fell off,” revealed Pidcock. “Then I went to the pits to change my bike but I wasn’t looking where I was going and rode past my pit crew so then I had to wait for them. I didn’t panic, ride back to front, ran past them on the uphill next to tree then had a gap.

“It was so muddy on the uphill and downhill sections, Durham was muddy but flat so I went as low as I could go on my back tyre.

“There’s a lot of running here, it’s hard to carry the bike so I pushed it up the hill. I’m happy to have won the series here because I can’t do the last event anyway.”

Veteran

Rob Jebb (Hope Factory Racing) took a fine win in the over-40 veterans race after a long tussle with an improving Ian Taylor (C and N Cycles).

It was Taylor who set the pace early in the day with Series leader Darren Atkins (Ride Coventry) and Jim Bryan (Zepnat) hooked onto his wheel, but it was Jebb who upped his race on the second lap and scampered past the leading trio, while both Taylor and Atkins were good to the pace as Bryan got dropped slightly.

Scott Racing’s Keith Murray worked his way up to fourth, the tall figure retaining that position crossing the finish line, but the fight was to be at the head of the race.

Taylor wasn’t giving the Jebb an inch, with every attack Taylor was good but Jebb held out coming up the finish straight a mere five seconds ahead of Taylor to take his third chequered flag of the campaign. Atkins rode in third place to keep the leader’s yellow jersey.

“Ipswich didn’t really suit me, but I love this course at Bradford,” said Jebb. “It’s my home town course so I like to ride well here, but Ian was really strong and I had to beat Darren to stay in contention for the overall. So it will all go down to the last one.

“It was a tough battle and tight all race. It’s a really tough course, it’s one of the toughest I’ve had here because it’s not wet but it’s really sticky.”

Tim Gould (Zepnat) secured the series overall with his third win of the campaign. Gould who took the Midlands championships the previous week, proved again too strong for the chasers on the thick mud.

A spirited second place by Grant Johnson still gives the Sunset Cycles rider a viable chance for a series podium in the final round. Johnson again rode the race workmanlike to ride a charging Chris Young (Pedalsport CC) into third while Team Jewson’s Phil Roach had to be content with fourth.

“There were two races where I wasn’t expected to win, so I thought all things being equal I wouldn’t win, but I managed to,” said Gould. “It’s probably my favourite course of the series, it’s reversed, but doesn’t make much difference as it’s still really hard.

“I don’t know if I have won overall, but I’ll still ride Milton Keynes it’d be rude not to, and the national championships too. Last year’s title race suited me in Wales with it being hilly, but I’ve altered my training a bit to get more power on the flat which looked to be working at Ipswich, so I should be in with a shot.”

There was no holding Maddi Smith back in the veteran women’s race. The Bolsover and District CC rider didn’t put a foot wrong to claim her fifth win of the season and the series overall.

Smith took the race from the whistle and never looked back to the trailing field. Second-placed Helen Pattinson (Solent Pirates) took second on the day ahead of Alison Kinloch (PH-MAS VCUK) which takes the remaining podium places down to the final round in January.

Youth

Lewis Askey (Lichfield City CC) pulled the win out of the bag in the Under 16s just when it mattered most, putting him in the series lead by a slender two points to team-mate Toby Barnes who finished eighth.

Askey attacked the field around mid-race after a small group which consisted of Barnes, Charlie Craig (Scott Racing) and Ben Tulett (Beeline-Gener8) amongst others set out at a brisk pace.

Once Askey had gone it really didn’t look like anyone was going to bring him back so the race was on for second and third. Tulett got the slip on Lewis Hartley (Inspire VCUK) to take second place ahead of Hartley. Edinburgh’s Sean Flynn took fourth and his best race of the series but it all comes down to the final round at Milton Keynes and who finishes in front of the other to decide the overall winner.

Emile Alexander (Lichfield City CC) took the win in the under-14s race. Alexander, who made the course look relatively easy, took his fourth win of the series. But the battle was between Leicester’s Alec Gregory and Welwyn Wheeler’s Oli Stockwell for second and third, Gregory taking the sprint after the pair were locked together for the duration.

Harriet Harndon (Malvern Cycle Sport) proved too strong for Poppy Wildman (Nottingham Clarion) in the under-16s race taking her first win of the series.

Harden, who got caught up in a crash in the opening metres, powered through the field to claim a well-deserved victory, but it was Wildman who took the series overall finishing second on the day with no real worries.

Wildman set an early pace and along with Kim Baptista (Nutcracker Racing) and Abergavenny’s Megan James soon had the field strung out but mid-race it was Harndon who sliced through the field. Only Wildman was able to respond but the Malvern girl was on a charge and the finish line was hers to take alone.

In the under-14s race Ava Oxley-Szilagyi (PH-MAS VCUK) took her third win in the series to retain the white jersey. It was Eluned King (Towy Riders) who set the pace from the whistle and along with Szilagyi, Anna Flynn (Edinburgh) and Maddie Wadsworth (Beeline Bikes) took to the head of the race.

Flynn worked her way to the front but took a fall on the slippery bends and tangled with the tape which allowed the rest of the lead group chance to put some distance in.

Wadsworth took the lead over the hurdles for the second time but as the race drew to its conclusion, Szilagyi made her jump back to the front and took a fine solo win.

Results

Elite men

1 Ian Field Hargroves Cycles Ridley RT 00:59:25
2 David Fletcher Pines Cycles - Felt - Enve 01:00:33
3 Ian Bibby NFTO 01:00:54
4 Nick Craig SCOTT Racing 01:00:55
5 Jack Clarkson Hope Factory Racing 01:01:42
6 Giles Drake Leisure Lakes Bikes.com 01:02:37
7 Nicholas Barnes Hargroves Cycles Ridley RT 01:02:46
8 Ben Sumner Beeline-Gener8 01:03:05
9 Steven James Hargroves Cycles Ridley RT 01:03:35
10 Paul Oldham Hope Factory Racing 01:03:45

Full Result

Elite women

1 Evie Richards T-Mo Racing 41:11.7
2 Hannah Payton Team Kinesis UK 43:11.3
3 Bethany Crumpton Pearl Izumi Sports Tours Int 43:42.8
4 Ffion James Abergavenny RC 44:15.4
5 Amira Mellor Oldfield/Paul Milnes Cycles 44:25.7
6 Sophie Wright Strada-Sport 44:35.8
7 Emily Wadsworth Beeline-Gener8 45:51.9
8 Delia Beddis Vicious Velo 46:18.4
9 Merce Pacios Pujadó Zappi's Racing Team 46:39.5
10 Diane Lee Team Mulebar Girl Sigma 47:02.2

Full Result

Under-23 men

1 Nicholas Barnes Hargroves Cycles Ridley RT 01:02:46
2 Iain Paton Team Wiggins 01:04:27
3 Mark McGuire Mountain Trax RT 01:04:54
4 George Thompson Sleaford Wheelers CC 01:05:11
5 Arthur Green Clee Cycles 01:05:14
6 Thomas Craig SCOTT Racing 01:06:26
7 Tom Seaman Nutcracker Racing 01:07:44
8 Frazer Clacherty Nutcracker Racing 01:08:29
9 Jack Humphreys Wheelbase Altura MGD 00:58:59
10 Billy Harding 00:59:16

Under-23 women

1 Evie Richards T-Mo Racing 41:11.7
2 Hannah Payton Team Kinesis UK 43:11.3
3 Bethany Crumpton Pearl Izumi Sports Tours Int 43:42.8
4 Ffion James Abergavenny RC 44:15.4
5 Amira Mellor Oldfield/Paul Milnes Cycles 44:25.7
6 Alice Barnes Betch.NL-Superior 48:01.0
7 Abigail Van Twisk Corley Cycles - Drops RT 48:05.5
8 Rebecca Preece Red Rose Olympic CC 50:34.1
9 Emily Barnes Beeline Bicycles RT 44:28.5

Junior men

1 Thomas Pidcock Oldfield/Paul Milnes Cycles 35:00.0
2 William Gascoyne Pines Cycles - Felt - Enve 36:42.9
3 Mark Donovan Beacon Wheelers 37:13.5
4 Joshua Waters Sherwood Pines Cycles 37:54.6
5 Ben Turner Oldfield/Paul Milnes Cycles 38:07.8
6 George Fox Paul Milnes Bradford Olympic 38:25.4
7 Daniel Tulett Specialized Racing 38:36.5
8 Thomas Mein Derwentside CC 38:43.8
9 Finlay Robertson Derwentside CC 39:17.5
10 David Barnes Corley Cycles - Drops RT 39:21.1

Full Results

Junior women

1 Sophie Wright Strada-Sport 44:35.8
2 Emily Wadsworth Beeline-Gener8 45:51.9
3 Sophie Thackray Oldfield/Paul Milnes Cycles 51:43.3
4 Ella Conolly Ben Wyvis Cycling Club 40:56.3
5 Madeleine Gammons Sherwood Pines Cycles 41:31.1
6 Megan Kay Vieri Velo RC 44:01.7

Veteran 40

1 Robert Jebb Hope Factory Racing 42:16.9
2 Ian Taylor C and N Cycles RT 42:22.5
3 Darren Atkins Ride Coventry 43:39.8
4 Keith Murray SCOTT Racing 44:18.2
5 James Bryan www.Zepnat.com RT 44:46.3
6 Pete Middleton www.Zepnat.com RT 45:11.1
7 Dan Alexander www.Zepnat.com RT 45:19.8
8 Andrew Peace Jedi Cycle Sport 45:36.6
9 Mike Simpson Beeline Bicycles RT 45:57.3
10 Crispin Doyle Hargroves Cycles Ridley RT 46:21.4

Full Results

Veteran women

1 Maddi Smith Bolsover & District CC 36:51.7
2 Helen Pattinson Solent Pirates 37:57.9
3 Alison Kinloch PH-MAS VCUK Women's CT 38:26.8
4 Nicola Davies Beacon Wheelers 38:51.0
5 Bev Martin Adept Precision RT 40:59.0
6 Andrea Rodgers Norton Wheelers 42:15.3
7 Jackie Field Cycle Club Ashwell (CCA) 42:42.3
8 Juliet Horrocks Hope Factory Racing 43:49.9
9 Lynn Bland Norton Wheelers 44:43.4
10 Nicola Hartle PH-MAS VCUK Women's CT 46:48.5

Full Results

Veteran 50

1 Tim Gould www.Zepnat.com RT 44:40.8
2 Grant Johnson Sunset Cycles 45:34.2
3 Chris Young Pedalsport Cycling Club 45:52.6
4 Philip Roach Team Jewson-M.I. Racing 46:43.4
5 Steven Davies Hargroves Cycles Ridley RT 48:37.8
6 Kenny Johnson SCOTT Racing 49:07.0
7 Mark Ferguson High Peak Cycles RT 49:26.7
8 Mick Davies Pedal Power Loughborough 49:48.7
9 Geoff Giddings Team Jewson-M.I. Racing 49:53.6
10 Adrian Hill Squadra RT 50:38.0

Full Results

Under-16 boys

1 Lewis Askey Lichfield City CC 28:27.5
2 Ben Tulett Beeline-Gener8 29:02.7
3 Lewis Hartley Inspire VCUK Racing Team 29:26.3
4 Sean Flynn Edinburgh RC 29:26.9
5 Charlie Craig SCOTT Racing 29:42.4
6 Euan Cameron Paul Milnes Bradford Olympic 29:47.5
7 William Raymond Welwyn Wheelers CC 29:54.8
8 Toby Barnes Lichfield City CC 30:00.0
9 Oliver Draffan Derwentside CC 30:00.2
10 Harrison Knight Solihull CC 30:54.1

Full Results

Under-16 girls

1 Harriet Harnden Malvern Cycle Sport 23:23.9
2 Poppy Wildman Nottingham Clarion CC 24:05.8
3 Megan James Abergavenny RC 24:36.0
4 Kim Baptista Nutcracker Racing 24:44.5
5 Xan Crees Team Empella Cyclo-Cross 25:46.3
1 Fiona Turnbull Speedflex Race Team 26:04.3
6 April Tacey Leicestershire Road Club 26:37.1
8 Lily Greenhalgh East Bradford CC 26:51.3
9 Lucy Whearty Pedalsport Cycling Club 28:00.2
10 Lucy Naylor Paul Milnes Bradford Olympic 28:01.7

Full Results

Under-14 boys

1 Emile Alexander Lichfield City CC 31:13.7
2 Alec Gregory Leicestershire Road Club 32:10.2
3 Oliver Stockwell Welwyn Wheelers CC 32:10.2
4 Matti Egglestone Beacon Wheelers 32:53.2
5 Daniel Barnes Lichfield City CC 34:37.9
6 Archie Peet Team Milton Keynes 34:44.3
7 Ethan Whiteside Ilkley Cycling Club 35:01.2
8 George Ball Furness Future Flyers 35:04.8
9 Adam Lightfoot Cycle Club Ashwell (CCA) 35:30.8
10 Jamie Johnston Pro Vision Cycle Clothing 35:34.0

Full Results

Under-14 girls

1 Ava Oxley-Szilagyi PH-MAS VCUK Women's CT 25:17.8
2 Maddie Wadsworth Beeline Bicycles RT 25:48.0
3 Anna Flynn Edinburgh RC 26:00.5
4 Sarah Briggs Matlock CC 26:12.7
5 Anna Wadsworth Beeline Bicycles RT 26:37.0
6 Eluned King Towy Riders 27:29.2
7 Amelie Wayte www.Zepnat.com RT 28:48.1
8 Libby Smith Fossa Racing 29:08.8
9 Harley Pell Cycle Club Ashwell (CCA) 29:09.7
10 Jasmine Kent Speedflex Race Team 29:14.5

Full Results