John Whittington (Team Diabetes UK) won the Southern region road title, collapsing from his effort after he crossed the line. The 24 year old had attacked Chris Spence (Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves Cycles) Oli Beckinigsale (Endura MTB Racing) & Colin Parry (Spin- Rotor-Primal Europe-Coriginals RT) a mile from the line. The three hesitated and Whittington was clear, just two minutes in the hurt locker and the title was his!The final drag up to the line was all about desire,and it was clear Whittington wanted this one. “I just slammed it” he would say. The 90 mile race north of Tidworth, across the Vale of Pewsey,in Wiltshire, provided a stern examination, scattered the field and produced a worthy champion. An early break of six including silver medallist Spence & eventual 5th place 2nd Cat rider James Phillips (Severn RC) gained 90 secs before a further nine bridged across. A combination of team work and lack of ambition saw the gap grow, the move had stuck! Man in-form and pre-race favourite, George Harper (Felt-Colbornes) was stranded, heavily marked and with two men up the road, Harper would sit up with two laps remaining. The sun WILL shine again for the talented 21 year old. Meanwhile, at the sharp end of the race the distance and pace was starting to tell. Natural selection, rather than all-out attack gradually began to reduce numbers at the front. Only eight remained going into the final lap, the remnants of the main bunch now over four minutes down. The climb out of Upavon, through the feed zone shaped the race and had a say in the final shake up as eight became four.
The riders tell their story of the race:
John Whittington “ I got away on the last corner, I just slammed it, it was good work me and Oli (Beckingsale) we bridged over, I sort of knew Oli’s joker card, his little attack on the climb, he did that on the last lap I followed him there, yeah it was a nice little sort of hybrid team between me and Oli in the end, we both work in BW Cycling, a good win for the shop really. Oli was doing tons of work, he put 3 minutes into the bunch, when we got to the break. It was really tough but it felt like a safe course, a really fun course. Ive got to say I wanted to win it, yeah yeah, that’s the way you have to think, to try and win, you ve got to go in thinking you can win then you will give every effort to win. Once the break was away me and Oli knew we had to get across, Oli jumped and I just sucked his wheel on the climb, he has got a bit more power than me”
Chris Spence “ I knew from the get go you had to get in the moves, I was in the first and the second move, it was better up front than trying to get across. Oli and about four or five got across and we knew that was it. It just kind of whittled down after that, the legs got tired with a few of the guys and gaps were going and people were losing contact. A few people cramped through the feed climb and then we were four. Fair play to John, he got a little gap and just put his head down and buried himself. We were looking at each other we were tired and could not pull him back, I think everyone was cramping”
Oli Beckingsale “ It’s a good opportunity to train, I am a bike racer but I get paid to mountain bike. Road races like this are really good speed prep for the mountain bike. Road racing before some off road sort of revs me up a bit. I want to try and win but I would rather put it on the line and finish knackered, it’s a priority really. I train with John a lot, he’s a good guy, I said to him I am going to go full gas through the feed, don’t look back till we get to the top, and it worked perfectly. We got to the break, then we were the main guys driving it, I think we were the strongest in there. Last time up the climb I had a pop, I had good legs, I thought I was just going to ride away but I started to cramp in the hamstrings. When John jumped everyone looked but I did not move, everyone was tired, I could see John weaving all over the place. I think we were all in bits. It’s a great course, fair you could run a premier round here, 90 tough miles”
Colin Parry “I got in the break , it was a good group we were working well together we had a good gap, I have struggled a bit this year with a virus, so I am just trying to get some form back and today is the best I have ridden. I had a little plan to get away a couple of miles to go but John beat me to it, he committed first. He noticed he did well at the Lincoln GP last week. I think there was an element of team work with Oli, that’s fair enough”
James Phillips “ I was quite lucky to get in the break, I got in the right move, I looked around and saw some big guys there, I thought this could stay away as their team mates would not chase, it’s my first time riding this distance but I felt comfortable. I was not able to stay with the top boys”
Former Professional Harry Lodge drove the neutral service car and reported only 3 punctures and a broken spoke. Demand for water was high as the temperature rose.
E/1/2/3
1st 48 John Whittington Team Diabetes UK
2nd 25 Chris Spence Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves Cycles @ 0-06
3rd 17 Oliver Beckingsale Endura MTB Racing st
4th 44 Colin Parry Spin-Rotor-Primal Europe-Coriginals RT @ 0-17
5th 41 James Phillips Severn Road Club @ 0-46
6th 43 Tom Stockdale Spin-Rotor-Primal Europe-Coriginals RT @ 0-57
7th 59 Matthew Franklin Team Diabetes UK @ 1-07
8th 22 Justin Hoy Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves Cycles @ 3-00
9th 37 Will Stephenson Rapha Condor JLT @ 4-45
10th 38 Grant Bayton Ride 24/7 Wilier st
11th 19 Luke Dunbar Equipe CMI st
12th 58 Wayne Coombs Winchcombe CC st
13th 40 Michael Ward Ride 24/7 Wilier st
14th 51 Steve Dring Team Echelon-Rotor @ 5-40
15th 15 Mark Perry Dream Cycling st
16th 54 Simon Brooks VC St Raphael/ Waites Contracts st
17th 20 Patrick Glabraith Equipe Velo Ecosse/ Montpeliers st
18th 3 Cameron Campbell Army Cycling Union st
19th 6 Glyndwr Griffiths Bristol South CC @ 7-00
20th 52 Nicholas Tilling Ride 24/7 st
21st 7 Adrian Lawson Cadence RT @ 7-09
22nd 5 Ben Davis Bristol Road Club @ 7-15
23rd 16 Matthew Ulmer Dynamic Bikes RPC @ 7-36
24th 64 Sam Dansie Berwicke Wheelers @ 10-19
25th 11 Charles Coleman Dream Cycling @ 11-48
26th 24 Robert Ward Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves Cycles st
27th 1 Daniel Guest Army Cycling Union st
28th 42 Malcolm Dixon Severn Road Club st
29th 31 Joe Barry Performance Cycles st
30th 12 Rupert Denny Dream Cycling st
31st 55 Jerry Rayner Westbury Wheelers st
32nd 23 George Harper Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves Cycles
33rd 28 Ben Stockdale Metaltek-Knights of Old
34th 46 Tom Bowering Swindon Cycles Race Academy
35th 34 Jay Eastwood Primera-Specialized
36th 47 Chris Fletcher Team Axiom
37th 39 Mark Munns Ride 24/7 Wilier
38th 61 Calllum Lister Cotswolds Veldrijen
39th 36 Jamie Wilkins Procycling magazine
JUNIOR MEN
1st 21 Tristan Robbins Cardif JIF
2nd 23 Andrew Shackel Peter Hansford RT
3rd 29 Adam Beddall Gloucester City CC
4th 22 Matthew Mildon Mud Sweat N Gears
5th 30 Tom Marshall VC Montpellier
6th 25 Noah Godman Severn Road Club
7th 26 Robert Bolwell VC St Raphael / Waite Contracts / Hewitt Cycles
8th 24 Charlie Creswell-Hogg Portsmouth North End CC
9th 27 Luke Davies VC St Raphael / Waite Contracts / Hewitt Cycles
10th 28 George Smith Westbury Wheelers
Tristan Robbins “It was a reall y good race, it’s a hard course, undulating and it was very windy and exposed. I planned on going up the road early, but its just so hard it all came back together , Andy led the sprint out and I hit him”
Ceclia Davis-Hayes “It was a great race, it was neat they mixed the juniors, masters and women all together. The fast juniors got away on the first lap.I was in a little group with for masters but we got caught near the end. I made friends with one of the masters and asked him to lead me out and he did! He went with about six hundred to go but cramped up and came off really hard. A gap opened up as the field were caught behind him, I had a 400 metre sprint which was a bit long” Cecilia is teaching at Winchester college for a year before returning to New York to start medical school. She races for Stans-No Tunes, a New York city women’s based team. How does the racing compare? “I think I have to give it to the Brits, better bike handlers a bit more savvy tactical, American women are really strong but a lot come from triathlon and they don’t have great bike handling skills”
WOMEN
1st 12 Cecilia Davis-Hayes Stans Notunes
2nd 1 GillianTaylor Abergavenny RC
3rd 9 Marianee Britten VC St Raphael / Waite Contracts / Hewitt Cycles
4th 7 Jennifer Hudson VC St Raphael / Waite Contracts / Hewitt Cycles
5th 6 Ellie Gilham VC St Raphael / Waite Contracts / Hewitt Cycles
6th 3 Harrriet Guest Army Cycling Union
7th 8 Madeline Moore VC St Raphael / Waite Contracts / Hewitt Cycles
8th 10 Lucy Chittenden East Street Cycles
9th 2 Lili McLean Andover Wheelers
10th 4 Susan Jeffery Army Cycling Union
11th 5 Nicky Roberts Army Cycling Union
NON CHAMPIONSHIP MC+3 / 4
1st 77 Andy Hibberd North Hants RC
2nd 61 Alan Spurden Andover Wheelers
3rd 62 David Harper Andover Wheelers
4th 66 Mathew Blackmore Bristol Road Club
5th 68 David Dalton Fareham Wheelers
6th 65 Bob Richardson Bournemouth Arrow CC
7th 63 Peter Phillips Bath CC
8th 70 Peter Humphreys Gillingham and District Wheelers
9th 76 Edward Collins Mendip CC
10th 72 Sean Bolton Swindon RC
11th 69 Mike Smith Gillingham and District Wheelers
12th 71 Richard Burch Sotonia CC
13th 73 Roger Longman Team Tor 2000
14th 75 Richard Pearman Team Wiggle
15th 74 Dave Tilling Performance Cycles
Thanks to
Sue Knight
