The Welsh Cycling Senior Track Championships took Newport by storm last weekend as riders competed to take title and welsh jersey at The Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales in an exciting event promoted by 42 Degrees.
The first day saw riders compete in the Team events of Sprint and Pursuits with a good varied entry of teams. The women’s teams led to some very tight racing, competing in a straight shoot out ride for the title which was taken by Stephani Hall and Naomi Lovesay of DIMASCIO and Jon Bagnell, Tom Baker and Simon Cox also of DIMASCIO for the men’s team sprint event. The Team Pursuit was heavily fought in the final with the boys of Backstedt/Hotchille narrowly taking the win over Cardiff Ajax CC and Pontypool RCC taking the bronze.
Day 2 Saw a Sprint heavy programme interspersed with Bunch races in the form of the Scratch and Points races.
The sprint competition attracted a big field in the senior men’s with an international feel with Marcel Laurenz attending from Germany for the meet along with a strong Irish contingent. At the end of a long day of competition it was Stephani Hall of DIMASCIO who came out victorious to take the Women’s title and Richard Davies of Cycle Specific CC taking the Welsh Championship. Matt Roper of Black Line the winner of the men’s senior open event, Marcel took the 40+ sprint title and Adam Wade taking the 50+ men’s sprint title.
The Senior women’s Points and Scratch races attracted an eager field with hard racing from the start in both events, Anna Morris who took the title in commanding fashion
The Men’s event drew in our Welsh Cycling juniors who took the racing on from the start forcing a frantic pace as other riders struggled to hold. The Scratch race stayed mostly together until a late attack by Nicholas Cooper saw him hold on to take the win from a fast closing bunch as Matthew Burke took the Welsh title. Not to be outdone by the youngsters, the 40+ and 50+ scratch race attracted a fast pace from the start which saw Robert West of AeroCoach and Courtney Rowe of Pontypool RCC taking their respective titles.
The Points Race followed a similar format with a fast pace barely slowing after each round of points. Matthew Burke was amongst the earlier scorers and looked to hold his lead from a number of challengers as Ryan Watkins was in attacking form and looking to take a lap which didn’t quite come off. In the end Burke’s consistency was rewarded as he took the title. The women’s Points race saw Anna Morris' day end on a high with another win along with Courtney taking the 50+ Men’s title. 40+ Men’s point’s race saw a different face on top of the podium in the open event in the way of National Masters Points Champion - Elliot Davis and Gerry Bowditch taking the jersey. The Welsh Cycling Young ambassadors did a fantastic job on the day helping out and learning more about what’s involved in organising a track event.
Day 3 and the competition focussed firstly on the Time Trials. A number of riders were using the start gate for the first time but with advice from the officials meant they were able to get out of the gate without issue and record some great times.
Winners of the TT and Welsh Champions were Stephani Hall again of DIMASCIO and Daniel Colman representing Cardiff Ajax CC. Marcel Laurenz took the 40+ open title while Liam Collins of PMR took the 50+ men’s open time trial.
Anna Morris was in complete control and cruised into another Welsh Champions jersey, this time for the individual pursuit with a time of 3:39.986 while Nicholas Cooper was crowned open champion with a time of 4:33.978. Matthew Burke added to his collection taking the Individual Pursuit Senior Jersey coming in second overall for the Pursuits.
The competition then moved onto the final event of the day with some keirin races as some very tired legs took to the track of what had been a long weekend, Each rider getting 2 rides in the event to race in.
The final saw an incredible tight race which saw Tom Baker take the men’s race and Alasdair Brown the Welsh title.
The Women’s race went through to a straight final and in a final show of complete dominance, Anna Morris added a final jersey to her collection showing her class to take the win after a commanding display on her home track.
A huge thanks to all the race official’s, Newport Live and race organiser 42 Degrees for putting on a fantastic weekend of Racing and to Primal for supplying the Welsh Jerseys.
