The B-side: a closer look at National B road racing
This is the fourth of our previews of the weekend’s races, focusing on the London Dynamo Summer Road Race. Read our Crimson Performance Road Race preview here, our Severn Bridge Road Race preview here, and our Women’s CiCLE Classic preview here.
What is it?
A National B road race run by London Dynamo, a large cycling club based in south west London and Surrey. The Summer Road Race is the flagship race of the many events they organise throughout the year.
The race takes place in West Sussex, just west of Horsham, taking in the picturesque villages of Plaistow, Kirdford, and Ifold. These are roads yours truly knows well, having grown up nearby.
Tom Hargreaves (Nuun-SigmaSport-London) won the last edition of the race in 2019. Some youngster called Ben Tulett was 4th that day.
A women’s Regional A road race takes place on the same day as part of the same event.
The route
The route takes in 8 laps of the 15.4 km Kirdford Circuit, with a total race distance of 123.7 km. The race rolls out from the HQ in Loxwood, heading south until riders join the circuit just east of Ifold. The course then runs anti-clockwise around the circuit.
The course is pretty flat, with just over 100 m of elevation per lap. It will therefore be tough for riders to get away, meaning this could be a one for the sprinters. That said, the finish is on a small climb a few hundred metres beyond Ifold, which might also act as launchpad for riders to get away on each lap.
Riders to watch
This race may have less caché than the other two men’s National B road races taking place this weekend (the prestigious Severn Bridge RR and the Crimson Performance RR), but it still boasts an eyecatching field.
ProTeam rider Alex Richardson (Alpecin-Fenix) is now set to take part, having withdrawn his entry for the Severn Bridge Road Race. Unfortunately, Tom Fitzpatrick (EuroCyclingTrips – CMI Pro Cycling) has had to withdraw from the race through injury.
Local team Nuun-Sigma Sports-London RT field a strong line-up, including new signing Edmund Bradbury, back from retirement. This will be the former JLT Condor rider’s first road race since the Tour of Almaty in 2019.
Our journal contributor James Jenkins also lines up. We’ve rated James highly now well for a while, and he’s capable of winning a race like this on his day. He’s joined by Richardsons-Trek teammates Aaron Freeman and William Scott. The men in orange have one of the strongest line-ups alongside Bradbury’s Nuun-Sigma Sports-London team.
Elsewhere on the startlist, fast-finishing Saint Piran’s Stephen Bradbury rides and will be a threat. Under-23 rider Samuel Painter (TBW23 Stuart Hall Cycling) will be one to keep an eye on, having finished second at the Chitterne Road Race. And it will be interesting to see how crit specialist Alec Briggs (Tekkerz CC) gets on, making what will be a rare road race appearance.
Timings
Date: Sunday, 27 June 2021
Start 9:30
Provisional startlist
| # | Name | Team / Club |
| 1 | Alexandar Richardson | Alpecin-Fenix |
| 2 | Andrew Taylor | DAP Cycling Club |
| 3 | Timothy Lynch | London Dynamo |
| 4 | Chris McNamara | Nuun-Sigma Sports-London RT |
| 5 | Barnabas Purbrook | Nuun-Sigma Sports-London RT |
| 6 | Ken Buckley | Nuun-Sigma Sports-London RT |
| 7 | Edmund Bradbury | Nuun-Sigma Sports-London RT |
| 8 | James Jenkins | Richardsons-Trek RT |
| 9 | William Scott | Richardsons-Trek RT |
| 10 | Stephen Bradbury | Saint Piran |
| 11 | Alec Briggs | TEKKERZ CC |
| 14 | Dominic Schils | Velo Schils – Interbike RT |
| 21 | Tobias Dahlhaus | Foran CCC |
| 22 | Joe Hill | UpShift Nutrition Race Team |
| 31 | Kevin Nelson | Crawley Wheelers Race Team |
| 33 | Daniel Shoobridge | Nopinz Motip Race Team |
| 34 | Ian Vagg | Project 51 |
| 35 | Frank Kilsby | TAAP Cervelo |
| 36 | Tom Elwood | Team LDN – Brother UK |
| 37 | Neil Phillips | TEKKERZ CC |
| 38 | Jamie Francis | UpShift Nutrition Race Team |
| 41 | Will Auty | 4T+ Cyclopark |
| 42 | Cai Davies | BIKESTRONG-KTM |
| 43 | Jordan Calcutt | Dulwich Paragon CC |
| 44 | Thomas Quaid | Foran CCC |
| 45 | George Nemilostivijs | GFTL |
| 47 | James Knighton | London Dynamo |
| 48 | Warren Jesse | Meudon Pedal Heaven Le Col RT |
| 49 | James Bonham | Paceline RT |
| 50 | Paul Burton | Paceline RT |
| 51 | Mark Gower | Precise Performance RT |
| 52 | Paul Barnard | Precise Performance RT |
| 53 | Peter Merritt | TBW23 Stuart Hall Cycling |
| 54 | Philip Glowinski | VC Londres |
| 55 | Noah Phillips | VC Londres |
| 56 | Joshua Denton | VC Meudon |
| 57 | Harry Green | Wheelsuckers |
| 60 | Travis Bramley | Nopinz Motip Race Team |
| 61 | Lawrence Coyle | Precise Performance RT |
| 62 | Cameron Preece | Precise Performance RT |
| 63 | Isaac Wright | Project 51 |
| 64 | Aaron Freeman | Richardsons-Trek RT |
| 65 | Oliver Hurdle | Southampton University Road Club |
| 66 | James Nicholson | TAAP Cervelo |
| 67 | Samuel Painter | TBW23 Stuart Hall Cycling |
| 68 | Kishan Bakrania | TBW23 Stuart Hall Cycling |
| 69 | Haben Gebrehiwet | Tottenham CC |
| 80 | Stephen Maxwell | Dulwich Paragon CC |
| 81 | Benje Haston | London Dynamo |
| 82 | Ben Chapman | London Dynamo |
| 83 | Joseph Murray | London Dynamo |
| 84 | Lee Davies | London Dynamo |
| 85 | Martyn Townsend | London Dynamo |
| 86 | Kierhan Brown | Paceline RT |
| 87 | Simon Carter | Paceline RT |
| 88 | Peter Hargreaves | VC Londres |
| 90 | James Brown | G!RO Cycles |
| 91 | Joseph Martin | Crawley Wheelers Race Team |
| 92 | Alex Raynard | Lifting Gear Prod- CyclesInMotion |
| 93 | Irfan Zaman | Panagua CC |
