British Cycling Elite Road Series 2014 – Spring Cup
Author: Chris Maher, Pictures courtesy of: Chris Maher | Photography
Press Release 11th May 2014
2014 Lincoln Grand Prix Race Report.
This years event was set to be one of the most exciting and competitive Lincoln Grand Prix with a few twists and turns thrown in for good measure, as the organisers set out to test the new circuit ahead of next years nationals.
Voted by far the most popular one day British road race, the course still embodied all that is great and glorious about this historic race. Added to the circuit this year was a thirty mile loop taking the riders twice out into the windswept Lincolnshire countryside. This circuit will then be used for the men’s race in 2015.
It was also a welcome return to the West Common road race which will form the basis for the 2015 women’s event. It followed the same circuit but would only take in the starting loop once.
The West Common got under way at ten o’clock , with sixty riders taking the start. Timing being the watch word of this years event, it got off without a hitch rolling out of Yarborough Leisure centre and heading out to start the countryside loop. With nowhere to hide from the weather, the strong
riders soon came to the front. The leaders set a fast pace and the bunch were fighting to find a wheel. The strong cross winds were causing early problems and would prove to be a big factor in the Grand Prix as small crashes made it difficult for the main peleton to get organised.
Meanwhile the West Common race came through Castle Square for the first two laps, three riders jumped off the front Scott Auld, Fraser Martin and Joseph Wiltshire, with several more riders fighting to make the front group a six.
With one lap to go the three leaders were holding a gap of just under a minute with a small chase group trying to organise behind. The main field while decimated by the weather conditions were battling on bravely, with a few riders trying to drag themselves back to the front.
Scott Auld had already built a winning lead for the Michael Gate Challenge Competition and as the leaders came on to Long Leys Road their gap had shrunk to only a few seconds. At the start of the steep cobbled climb of Michaelgate it looked like the finish might be contested by several of the front runners. but as they came in to view of the crowds in Castle Square, Joseph Wiltshire of NFTO Race club proved he was the man of the moment, crossing the line in front of Scott Auld and Fraser Martin.
The action then turned to the Grand Prix, which set off at eleven thirty, and made its way out onto the two loops that would add the required distance for the Nationals next year. With the two leaders of the Spring Cup fighting to stay on top of the leader board and the added incentive of it being used as the National course for 2015 the major teams had spent many hours planning how to put their man on top of the winners podium. A group of some nineteen riders had got a small lead of about one and a half minutes, during their time out in the countryside, on the chasing pack.
Rapha Condor had got their plan correct, as they dropped into the first decent through Burton Village, they had three riders up in that group with Yanto Baker one of the men, fighting to win the Spring Cup at the fore, but his main rival Marcin Bialoblocki had also managed to fight his way into contention.
The big news from the race as they finished the first lap was that Russell Downing and Sam Harrison from NFTO had crashed out of the race.
The breakaway group by then had managed to drag their gap out to two minutes, with four chasers working hard to bridge the gap, lead by Dean Downing who had missed the original split. The gap had come down as they came through again with seven laps to go. With the remaining peleton spread all along the course it seemed the selection had been made early. As the race progressed the lead group fractured into several small groups with six riders working together to stay away.
Rapha had lost Graham Briggs to a accident on the side of the road and that had left them short handed as they got to half distance. The race had now entered a period of stability for the leaders as they left behind them single riders trying to find the strength and determination to get to the finish. With the rest of the race now strung out over several miles, many riders called it a day as they dropped to over eight minutes back from the leaders.
Three laps to go, a loose group of nine had formed led by Thomas Moses who had built a good lead in the Cossavella Michaelgate Trophy. It looked like they would all come back together after the punishing climb had sapped the strength from tired legs once more. The NFTO Pro cycle team had perhaps the most riders in contention with a couple of riders from the iconic Raleigh team, Madison Genesis and Velosure Giordana.
The early bad weather had finally given way to the glorious Lincolnshire sunshine, but it had taken its toll on many of hopefuls who had given their all. Seeing that many of his rivals were not going to be able to stay with him, Moses put the pressure on and started to ride away, but with two laps to go, many thought he had perhaps gone too soon. But on the final lap he had built a gap of just under thirty seconds, and was looking strong, but Bialobocki and Baker were working to try and steal the victory.
It would all come down to who could find the best line to climb the hill for the final time and take the honours before a fantastic crowd, which had cheered the riders on, all around the course. As the leaders bikes bounced on the cobbles of the climb and searched for grip, Thomas Moses held a slender six second lead. He had pushed his body to the limit, but could he hold on to claim a magnificent victory in this years Lincoln Grand Prix. As the cheers went up from the crowd it was an exhausted Yanto Barker for Team Raleigh who had dug deep and found a few ounces of energy to cross the line first in front of Mike Northey. As a consolation for Thomas Moses, he had done enough to win the Michealgate Trophy and the Under Twenty Three competition.
The race had took just over four hours and thirty seven minutes to complete the one hundred and twenty one miles, and had been one of the closest races for several years.
Final result 1st Yanto Barker 2nd Mike Northey 3rd Marcin Bialoblocki.
Spring Cup – So Far!
Tour of the Reservoir
Round One Series Leaders
- Alex Peters
- Peter Hawkins
- Yanto Barker
- Graham Briggs
- Marcin Bialoblocki
Cycle Wiltshire Grand Prix Result
- Marcin Bialoblocki Velosure Giordana
- Dean Downing NFTO Pro Cycling
- Hugh Wilson NFTO Pro Cycling
- Tom Scully Madison Genesis
- Yanto Barker Team Raleigh
- Jack Pullar Starley Primal
- Graham Briggs Rapha Condor JLT
- Sam Williams NFTO Pro Cycling
- Steve Lampier Velosure Giordana
- Evan Oliphant Team Raleigh
Round Two Series Leaders
- Marcin Bialoblocki Velosure Giordana 69
- Yanto Barker Team Raleigh 69
- Graham Briggs Rapha Condor JLT 57
- Alex Peters Madison Genesis 56
- Peter Hawkins Madison Genesis 52
The Lincoln Grand Prix 2014 Results
1 24 Yanto Barker Team Raleigh 04:37:47
2 3 Mike Northey Madison Genesis 1sec
3 35 Marcin Bialoblocki Velosure Giordana Racing Team
4 17 Thomas Moses Rapha Condor JLT U23 35sec
5 34 Nathan Edmondson Velosure Giordana Racing Team 37sec
6 14 Adam Blythe NFTO Pro Cycling 01:56
7 6 Liam Holohan Madison Genesis 02:02
8 63 Jack Pullar Starley Primal Pro Cycling 02:09
9 25 Mark Christian Team Raleigh 02:23
10 23 Evan Oliphant Team Raleigh 05:03
11 4 Alex Peters Madison Genesis U23 05:13
12 7 Tom Stewart Madison Genesis 06:02
13 15 James McCallum NFTO Pro Cycling 06:15
14 49 Peter Williams HARIBO Beacon Cycling Team 06:21
15 16 Joshua Hunt NFTO Pro Cycling 06:37
16 128 Kit Gilham KTM road-and-trail.com
17 172 Declan Byrne Bafuet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek U23
18 53 Dexter Gardias Metaltek-Kuota Racing Team 06:45
19 31 Brad Morgan Velosure Giordana Racing Team
20 147 Robert Moore Pedal Heaven Colbornes RT
21 88 Jozef Metelka Spirit Bikes Racing Team 06:48
22 92 Conor Ryan BH-Solidor-WAM Youth U23 06:50
23 154 Rhys Howells Richardsons-Trek RT
24 51 Will Bjergfelt Metaltek-Kuota Racing Team 06:57
25 26 George Atkins Team Raleigh 07:00
26 130 Harry Tanfield KTM road-and-trail.com U23 07:11
27 150 Gruffudd Lewis Pedal Heaven Colbornes RT 07:17
28 70 Tom Barras Wheelbase Altura MGD
29 60 Will Fox Starley Primal Pro Cycling 07:20
30 64 George Pym Starley Primal Pro Cycling U23 07:21
31 27 Ian Wilkinson Team Raleigh 07:23
32 45 Jacob Scott HARIBO Beacon Cycling Team U23
33 8 Scott Davies Madison Genesis U23
34 156 Luke Ryan Richardsons-Trek RT 07:25
35 166 Christopher Dredge Spirit Bikes Racing Team U23 07:27
36 73 Adam Duggleby Wheelbase Altura MGD 07:32
37 2 Peter Hawkins Madison Genesis 07:40
38 54 Chris Bartlett Metaltek-Kuota Racing Team 07:54
39 11 Dean Downing NFTO Pro Cycling 08:03
40 1 Thomas Scully Madison Genesis 08:36
41 127 Hamish Graham Green Jersey RT U23 14:00
UNDER 23 AWARD
SPONSORED BY UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN
THE THREE BEST PLACED RIDERS UNDER 23 YEARS OF AGE
1 17 Thomas Moses Rapha Condor JLT U23
2 4 Alex Peters Madison Genesis U23
3 172 Declan Byrne Bafuet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek U23
THE BRIAN COSSAVELLA MICHAELGATE TROPHY
SPONSORED BY: UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN
TROPHY SPONSORED BY: UNIVERSAL CYCLE CENTRE
POINTS
1 17 Thomas Moses Rapha Condor JLT 24
2 24 Yanto Barker Team Raleigh 8
3 34 Nathan Edmondson Velosure Giordana Racing Team 7
4 35 Marcin Bialoblocki Velosure Giordana Racing Team 5
5 9 Jon Mould NFTO Pro Cycling 5
6 23 Evan Oliphant Team Raleigh 2
7 19 Graham Briggs Rapha Condor JLT 1
LAP RESULTS
FINISH LINE 1st PASS POINTS
1 17 Thomas Moses Rapha Condor JLT 3
2 23 Evan Oliphant Team Raleigh 2
3 19 Graham Briggs Rapha Condor JLT 1
FINISH LINE 2nd PASS POINTS
1 17 Thomas Moses Rapha Condor JLT 3
2 9 Jon Mould NFTO Pro Cycling 2
3 35 Marcin Bialoblocki Velosure Giordana Racing Team 1
FINISH LINE 3rd PASS POINTS
1 17 Thomas Moses Rapha Condor JLT 3
2 34 Nathan Edmondson Velosure Giordana Racing Team 2
3 35 Marcin Bialoblocki Velosure Giordana Racing Team 1
FINISH LINE 4th PASS POINTS
1 17 Thomas Moses Rapha Condor JLT 3
2 9 Jon Mould NFTO Pro Cycling 2
3 24 Yanto Barker Team Raleigh 1
FINISH LINE 5th PASS POINTS
1 17 Thomas Moses Rapha Condor JLT 3
2 34 Nathan Edmondson Velosure Giordana Racing Team 2
3 9 Jon Mould NFTO Pro Cycling 1
FINISH LINE 6th PASS POINTS
1 17 Thomas Moses Rapha Condor JLT 3
2 34 Nathan Edmondson Velosure Giordana Racing Team 2
3 24 Yanto Barker Team Raleigh 1
FINISH LINE 7th PAS POINTS
1 17 Thomas Moses Rapha Condor JLT 3
2 24 Yanto Barker Team Raleigh 2
3 34 Nathan Edmondson Velosure Giordana Racing Team 1
FINISH LINE 8th PASS POINTS
1 17 Thomas Moses Rapha Condor JLT 3
2 35 Marcin Bialoblocki Velosure Giordana Racing Team 2
3 24 Yanto Barker Team Raleigh 1
FINISH POINTS
1 24 Yanto Barker Team Raleigh 3
2 3 Mike Northey Madison Genesis 2
3 35 Marcin Bialoblocki Velosure Giordana Racing Team 1
A special thanks to Ian Emmerson, for Media Access and Press Information.
British Cycling Official Results
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