Another tough day’s racing on the Hog on Saturday, good turnout for all races, and some early season strength displayed in decisive breakaways in all three races.
4th Cat only
…3 laps in, and James Brown (G!ro Race Team) decided to jump away for the duration, keeping the bunch at a consistent 25 second gap. A few laps later the bunch began to surge at the top of the Hog causing a steady flow of dropped riders, and an eventual split in the bunch with five to go. James Brown smoothly TT’d over the line, followed by a bunch sprint won by Connor Backhouse (Kingston Wheelers CC), with Philip Lovett placing third.
Full results can be viewed here and series standings are here.
2/3/4 Women’s only
Exciting racing from a strong women’s field! High pace caused an early break to form at the top of the Hog. Five riders broke clear and worked well together for the duration. Ellen Bennett and Ella Coleman (both Team Flamme Rouge p/b Grenade), Connie Hayes (Awol), Greta Cowen (Les Filles RT) and Alice Lethbrige (Weston Homes-Torelli-Assure) kept the pace high and rode well clear of the bunch.
Considering the high rate of attrition from the chasing bunch, only a handful of riders pulled out of the race with lone riders receiving big cheers from the gathering crowd at the finishing line – seems like it was a day for just digging in.
In the final Sprint, Ellen Bennet pipped team-mate Ella Coleman for a Flamme Rouge 1-2, closely followed by Greta Cowen (Les Filles RT) in third place.
Full results can be viewed here and series standings are here. The Women’s Series continues on 15th and 22nd February 2020.
2/3/4
A high pace from the gun, riders were already being shelled from the bunch in lap 2. Lap 3 saw a savage acceleration from Charles Bailey (LeeValley Youth CC) as he rode well clear of the bunch for the duration. Toby Parnell (Pro Cycle Hire UK Racing Team) made a bridging move in lap 5 to join out front – it wasn’t his day though and he was soon ejected by Bailey and re absorbed into the bunch a lap later.
After a few more failed bridging moves, Paul Burton (Paceline Racing Team) managed to escape the bunch for the remaining duration of the race with 6 laps to go. Bailey and Burton rode their own TT’s to first and second over the line, followed by a bunch sprint for 3rd won by Alex Randall (Twickenham CC).
Full results can be viewed here and series standings are here.
Tom Haines
To all our racers, supporters and dancing spectators, thank you for brightening up a grey January day. And thank you to all our marshalls, BC Comms and to Kalas who are sponsoring some great series prizes.
Enter next week’s races before 8pm on Wednesday to save a fiver on the standard senior rate.
Series standings at week two are here. These superb photos from Ian Lambert, North London Thundercats BMBC, and Tom Austin are also well worth a look. (Photos and videos on this page are by East London Velo unless otherwise credited).
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