Race review: 2019 Beaumont Trophy

The race in brief

Rory Townsend (Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes) claimed his third National Road Series win of the season at one the UK’s most prestigious races on Sunday, the Beaumont Trophy.

The first half of the race was marked by a breakaway consisting of recent Richardsons-Trek RT recruit Isaac Mundy, Jordan Peacock (Spirit Tifosi), local rider Thomas Mein (Tarteletto – Isorex) and Rob Scott (Team Wiggins Le Col).

So far, so normal. Midway through, however, the race was halted after a tractor had inadvertently made its way onto the course, part blocking the road (more on this later). After some confusion and delay, the race was restarted. With less than 40 km to go, National Road Series leader Matt Holmes (Madison Genesis) attempted to bridge across to the break, but by 30 kms the race was all back together again.

Not long after, a group of seven formed involving John Archibald and Dan Bigham (both Ribble Pro Cycling), Pete Williams (SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling), Callum MacLeod and Townsend (both Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes), Damien Clayton (Andy Moore Autocentres Racing) and Mark Christian (Team Wiggins Le Col). The group maintained their lead over the bunch behind all the way to the finish.

With just under a kilometre to go Dan Bigham struck out early. But he was chased down and joined by Townsend and Williams. Townsend’s sprinting prowess again scored him a win, with Williams taking second and a fast finishing Clayton in third.

WATCH 📺 the final 1KM of the men’s Beaumont Trophy! 🏆

A group of seven managed to break away from the peloton and fought it out in a fast sprint to the finish line! 🙌🏁#BeaumontTrophy #NationalRoadSeries pic.twitter.com/1fXZbCXwHF

— HSBC UK | National Road Series (@NatRoadSeries) July 7, 2019

Talking points

#tractorgate. Social media was ablaze after the race with different versions of events about what happened when the tractor interrupted the race.

The view from some Madison Genesis riders was that they had split the field to form a lead group of 15-20 riders before the race had reached the tractor, and they continued to ride hard for several kilometres afterwards to solidify their advantage. It was only then they were told the race was being neutralised. The peloton was then brought back together for the restart – with no time advantage given to the riders in the lead split – much to the frustration of Madison Genesis.

The other view, put by riders both in the lead split and those caught in the bunch behind, is the race hadn’t split pre-tractor. Madison had put it in the gutter and strung the race out, but it was the tractor itself, as well as poorly positioned commissaires‘ bikes, that slowed – even halted – much of the bunch, causing the split. The commissaires then neutralised the riders in the bunch behind, but it was some time before the same was done for the lead riders.

Whatever the truth – and we’re very deliberately avoiding pronouncing our own judgements (!) – it clearly sounded pretty chaotic. Lessons will need to be learned in order to minimise the risk of similar events happening again. Anyway, with that out of the way, on to the more positive stuff…

Team of the season? It’s only July and there is plenty of the season left, but Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes already have a solid claim to ‘domestic team of the season’. Four National Road Series victories, a Tour of the Reservoir stage win, two National Circuit Series wins, the Tour Series, and three UCI race wins is an impressive haul and it’s hard to argue any domestic team comes close in terms of results.

Rory Townsend’s on fire. If Canyon are ‘team of the season’, then Townsend has to be a contender for domestic rider of the season. His palmares this season already includes three National Road Series wins and a Tour Series win. Even more impressively he’s bagged four UCI race podiums. He finished third in Classic Loire Atlantique (1.1), Heistse Pijl (1.1) and the Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic (1.2), and second in the Memorial van Coningsloo (1.2). It feels like only a matter of time until he grabs a first UCI win. A step up to Pro Continental level, or even the World Tour, is surely not out of the question for t24-year-old.

Damien who? Townsend’s success this season doesn’t end with his own results. His coached rider Damien Clayton took a surprise podium at Beaumont, racing smartly to finish third. This is only Clayton’s third full road racing season, his first with Andy Moore Autocentres Racing. He still holds down a full-time job too. He started the season with a bang, taking 2nd at the early season Perfs Pedal race and has ridden solidly all season in the National Road Series, often riding without teammates. His coach may not be the only rider stepping up a level next season.

Ribble revival. It’s probably fair to say that Ribble Pro Cycling had a relatively slow start to the National Road Series. The lowest-ranked Continental team in the series standings, they were still searching for their first big result this season. Things have turned around fast for them in the last two weeks however. John Archibald’s stunning performance at the nationals was followed by a strong performance by Archibald and his Huub-Wattbike partner Dan Bigham. Both made it into the final selection, with Bigham first to attack in the final kilometre only to just miss out on a podium place to Clayton.

The return of Alex Peters. The return of former Madison Genesis and Team Sky rider Alex Peters to elite-level racing was a welcome sight. The 25 year-old from London had taken time out from cycling for the last two years, but recently popped up to take a win a Hog Hill. By all accounts he had a strong ride at the Beaumont, almost bridging across solo to the winning move of the day. Let’s hope we see him with a race number on again soon.

What’s next?

The National Road Series continues this Sunday, 14 July, with the Stockton Grand Prix.

TV

Highlights of the Beaumont Trophy will be shown on Eurosport on Wednesday 10 July, 9.30pm.

Standings

Tour of Britain qualification standings here.

National Road Series standings here.

Results

Rank	#	Name	Team	Time
1	7	Rory Townsend	Canyon dhb P / B Bloor Homes	4:19:09
2	32	Peter Williams	SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling	st
3	50	Damien Clayton	Andy Moore Autocentres Racing	+2
4	18	Daniel Bigham	Ribble Pro Cycling	st
5	6	Callum Macleod	Canyon dhb P / B Bloor Homes	+4
6	17	John Archibald	Ribble Pro Cycling	st
7	33	Mark Christian	Team Wiggins Le Col	+6
8	37	Tom Pidcock	Team Wiggins Le Col	+24
9	136	Joseph Nally	Team Inspired	st
10	135	Jim Brown	Team Inspired	st
11	48	Scott Thwaites	Vitus Pro Cycling  p/b Brother	st
12	29	Jacob Scott	SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling	st
13	28	Ross Lamb	SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling	st
14	83	Tom Mazzone	Spirit Tifosi Racing Team	st
15	1	Matthew Bostock	Canyon dhb P / B Bloor Homes	st
16	73	Joseph Sutton	Richardsons-Trek RT	st
17	82	Leon Mazzone	Spirit Tifosi Racing Team	st
18	69	Isaac Mundy	Richardsons-Trek RT	st
19	40	Daniel Tulett	Team Wiggins Le Col	st
20	96	Joshua Price	Wales Racing Academy	st
21	91	Toby Jarvis	Team PB Performance	st
22	86	Jake Hales	Spirit Tifosi Racing Team	st
23	112	Alex Peters	BC Private Member	st
24	120	Russell Downing	Giordana Racing	st
25	81	George Clark	Spirit Tifosi Racing Team	st
26	3	Alexandar Richardson	Canyon dhb P / B Bloor Homes	st
27	68	Peter Cocker	Richardsons-Trek RT	st
28	64	Kieran Savage	Cycling Sheffield Giant Sheffie	st
29	53	Jonathan Fowles	Crimson Orientation Marketing R	st
30	98	William Roberts	Wales Racing Academy	st
31	147	Ben Turner	Corendon-Circus	st
32	93	Joseph Beckingsale	Wales Racing Academy	st
33	2	Daniel Pearson	Canyon dhb P / B Bloor Homes	st
34	70	Rhys Howells	Richardsons-Trek RT	st
35	106	William Orrell-Turner	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	st
36	101	David Duggan	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	st
37	21	Zeb Kyffin	Ribble Pro Cycling	st
38	74	Joe Evans	Saint Piran	st
39	31	George Wood	SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling	st
40	89	James Hill	Team PB Performance	st
41	133	Andrew Nichols	Team B38 / Cycles In Motion	st
42	77	Steve Lampier	Saint Piran	st
43	78	Oliver Maxwell	Saint Piran	st
44	107	Finn Crockett	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	st
45	121	James Noonan	Hopper Rollers	st
46	131	Thomas Mein	Tarteletto – Isorex	st
47	76	Cameron Jeffers	Saint Piran	st
48	20	Richard Jones	Ribble Pro Cycling	st
49	38	Jacques Sauvagnargues	Team Wiggins Le Col	st
50	54	Matt Hallam	Crimson Orientation Marketing R	st
51	8	Jacob Vaughan	Canyon dhb P / B Bloor Homes	st
52	24	Jacob Tipper	Ribble Pro Cycling	st
53	116	Richard McDonald	Bioracer- Moriarty Bikes	st
54	71	James Jenkins	Richardsons-Trek RT	st
55	23	Alex Dalton	Ribble Pro Cycling	st
56	134	Jude Taylor	Team B38 / Cycles In Motion	st
57	150	Eugene Cross	Team B38 / Cycles In Motion	+31
58	87	James Chapman	Team PB Performance	st
59	26	Tristan Robbins	SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling	st
60	12	Matthew Holmes	Madison Genesis	st
61	119	Neil Scott	Deeside Thistle CC	st
62	109	James Coates	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	st
63	62	Daniel Pullen	Cycling Sheffield Giant Sheffie	st
64	11	Joe Laverick	Madison Genesis	st
65	100	Samuel Tillett	Wales Racing Academy	st
66	16	Joey Walker	Madison Genesis	st
67	34	James Fouche	Team Wiggins Le Col	st
68	30	James Shaw	SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling	st
69	117	James Jobber	Brunei Continental Cycling Team	st
70	97	Joseph Rees	Wales Racing Academy	st
71	51	Dean Watson	Andy Moore Autocentres Racing	st
72	42	Adam Kenway	Vitus Pro Cycling  p/b Brother	st
73	65	Louis Szymanski	Cycling Sheffield Giant Sheffie	st
74	36	Ben Healy	Team Wiggins Le Col	+36