Emma Jeffers prevailed over Sammie Stuart in a closely-fought sprint to take her second Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series win of the year for Jadan – Vive Le Velo in the Grand Final in Manchester, while Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Red Chilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen confirmed themselves as the overall victors in the team competition.

In the men’s race, Matt Bostock soloed to his second win of the 2022 Tour Series, sealing a dominant night for his WiV SunGod team, as they sealed the overall team win and Bostock secured the Freewheel.co.uk sprints competition.

Report

Women’s race

The final women’s race of the 2022 series proved to be a tense affair, with the square 1 kilometre circuit around Deansgate promoting fast, compact racing, making it difficult to create a breakaway.

With Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Red Chilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen wrapping up the team competition at the last round in Barking, much of the race action was focused itself around the fascinating fight between Jo Tindley (Pro-Noctis) and Sammie Stuart (Team Brother UK – LDN) for the Freewheel.co.uk sprint competition. 

At the first of the intermediate sprints, Stuart – looking to close down a nine-point gap to Tindley – took the win but with her rival just behind, she trimmed the deficit to only eight points.

As the leaders shaped up to battle for the second sprint, a big crash coming out of the second corner splintered the peloton with Stuart, Tindley, Jeffers, and Lee Boon (Torelli-Cayman Islands-Scimitar) finding themselves alone at the front. Sportingly, however, they didn’t force the issue and were joined back up by what was still a reduced lead group of about 20 riders.

Tindley’s teammates then worked to control matters, with Amy Gornall and Lucy Ellmore, in particular, seeking to counterbalance the threat posed by the powerful Stuart. 

That worked perfectly. Tindley extended her points advantage by winning the second sprint, and then secured victory in the overall competition with a powerful charge to the line in the third of the sprints – bursting clear of Stuart on both occasions. 

With the sprint and team competitions decided, the peloton switched focus to the individual win on the night. Perhaps buoyed by the team’s victory in Barking, Team Boompods’ Lucy Harris put in a strong attack with just over a lap to go, taking the bell just a few seconds ahead of the hard-chasing bunch behind.

She was caught, however, leaving the reduced bunch to fight it out in what was going to be an explosive bunch sprint. 

And what a sprint it proved to be. Stuart was the first to make her intentions clear as she attacked coming out of the second corner and up the back straight. The sheer speed dropped quite a few off the back, but Jeffers, Harris and Tindley all clung on at the rear wheel of the Clacton winner as she surged forward. 

Coming out the final corner, Stuart had a slight advantage, but Jeffers displayed her frighteningly strong sprint – all the more impressive given she was on junior gears – and pulled out from behind Stuart on the run to the line, eventually pulling past her to take her second win of the series.

Team Boompods won the team competition on the night, enabling them to edge ahead of Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus to second place overall in the team competition, behind series winners Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Red Chilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen.

Men’s race

With competition tight in both the teams and sprint competitions – with WiV SunGod and Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling having stakes in both heading into the Manchester final – the evening was perfectly set up for a final dual between the defending champions Ribble Weldtite and the winners in 2018 and 2019, Wiv SunGod.

On the night, however, WiV SunGod started the Series as they started, repeating of the kind of all-conquering performance they had delivered in the opening round in Guisborough.

From the start, all five of the team’s yellow leaders’ jerseys were visible right at the sharp end as they set a high tempo straight away, forcing their rivals to immediately step on the gas or risk falling off the back of the group.

Ribble Weldtite demonstrated they weren’t prepared for WiV SunGod to have it all their own way – despite Matt King having a minor crash on the sighting lap – with Harry Tanfield putting in a great sprint at the first intermediate sprint, only narrowly missing out to competition leader Bostock.

WiV SunGod quickly turned the screw once again. Ollie Wood attacked off the front with 20 minutes gone and with his teammates controlling things at the front of the chasing pack, he’d gained more than 25 seconds at the halfway mark of the race. A huge effort from Harry Tanfield, in particular, helped to gradually reel him back in to what was by then a very select leading group.

No sooner had he been caught, than Matt Gibson took his turn to clip off the front. While he didn’t stay out for as long as his teammate Wood, it all played a big part in tiring the legs of the chasers behind – led predominantly by Max Walker (Trinity Racing) and Joe Holt (Wales Racing Academy).

With legs burning, Bostock took his opportunity as he powered off the front with 43 minutes completed. Holt and Walker – with Wood acting as a spoiler – countered, keeping Bostock within a dozen seconds, but the 24-year-old was unfazed. 

Being shouted encouragement from a clearly delighted Tim Elverson from his position in the pits just before the finish line, Bostock was metronomic in his ride, claiming the final Freewheel.co.uk sprint as he extended his lead to almost half a minute.

He ultimately won by about a dozen seconds, having just slowed to a more comfortable place in the closing laps.

With the counter-attack having been reeled in, teammates Wood and Gibson completed at 1-2-3 for the WiV SunGod team to emphatically seal the team title.

Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling finished second overall in the team competition, with Wales Racing Academy the top elite level team in third.

Results

Women’s results

Individual classification

Rank	#	Name	Team	Laps	Time	Behind
1	40	Emma Jeffers	Jadan – Vive Le Velo	43	1:08:01.289
2	23	Sammie Stuart	Team LDN – Brother UK	43	1:08:01.423	+0.134
3	50	Lucy Harris	Team Boompods	43	1:08:01.980	+0.557
4	15	Jo Tindley	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	43	1:08:02.180	+0.200
5	124	Kate Richardson	Alba Development Road Team	43	1:08:02.820	+0.640
6	5	Beth Morrow	CAMS – Basso	43	1:08:02.839	+0.019
7	71	Frankie Hall	Loughborough Lightning	43	1:08:03.868	+1.029
8	113	Sophie Holmes	Datalynx – Parenesis Cycling	43	1:08:04.260	+0.392
9	14	Isabel Darvill	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	43	1:08:04.554	+0.294
10	82	Frankie Morgans Slader	AWOL O’Shea	43	1:08:05.030	+0.476
11	123	Sophie Enever	Alba Development Road Team	43	1:08:05.186	+0.156
12	49	Monica Greenwood	Team Boompods	43	1:08:05.344	+0.158
13	95	Lee Boon	Torelli – Cayman Islands – Scimitar	43	1:08:05.510	+0.166
14	87	Liv Bent	AWOL O’Shea	43	1:08:06.036	+0.526
15	42	Amy Graham	Team Boompods	43	1:08:06.175	+0.139
16	51	Amira Mellor	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	43	1:08:06.335	+0.160
17	122	Sophie Lankford	Alba Development Road Team	43	1:08:08.714	+2.379
18	93	Kim Cadzow	Torelli – Cayman Islands – Scimitar	43	1:08:09.616	+0.902
19	16	Lucy Ellmore	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	43	1:08:09.784	+0.168
20	77	Sophie Coldwell	Loughborough Lightning	43	1:08:12.446	+2.662
21	12	Bexy Dew	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	43	1:08:15.076	+2.630
22	55	Gaby Shaw	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	43	1:08:15.397	+0.321
23	57	Sam Fawcett	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	43	1:08:25.420	+10.023
24	92	Holly Breck	Torelli – Cayman Islands – Scimitar	43	1:08:26.883	+1.463
25	107	Elizabeth Sanders	Saint Piran WRT	43	1:08:30.564	+3.681
26	11	Amy Gornall	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	43	1:08:39.188	+8.624
27	33	Suzetta Guerrini	Jadan – Vive Le Velo	42	1:08:25.308	+1 Lap
28	58	Xan Crees	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	42	1:09:10.129	+44.821
29	25	Danni Watkinson	Team LDN – Brother UK	40	1:05:33.374	+2 Laps
30	73	Emily Tillett	Loughborough Lightning	39	1:04:03.516	+1 Lap
31	64	Maddy Verdegal	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing	39	1:04:04.069	+0.553
32	37	Louise Scupham	Jadan – Vive Le Velo	39	1:04:04.184	+0.115
33	98	Annamarie Lipp	Torelli – Cayman Islands – Scimitar	39	1:04:04.470	+0.286
34	106	Gwenno Hughes	Saint Piran WRT	39	1:04:04.905	+0.435
35	94	Caoimhe OBrien	Torelli – Cayman Islands – Scimitar	39	1:04:05.572	+0.667
36	103	Christina Wiejak	Saint Piran WRT	39	1:04:05.781	+0.209
37	46	Sian Hanna Marsh	Team Boompods	39	1:05:02.464	+56.683
38	24	Heather Mayer	Team LDN – Brother UK	39	1:05:34.858	+32.394
39	125	Beth Maciver	Alba Development Road Team	39	1:05:38.264	+3.406
40	65	Ellen Bennett	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing	38	1:04:03.515	+1 Lap
41	112	Isabella Johnson	Datalynx – Parenesis Cycling	38	1:04:04.418	+0.903
42	111	Nicola Soden	Datalynx – Parenesis Cycling	38	1:04:04.853	+0.435
43	28	Lauren Higham	Team LDN – Brother UK	38	1:04:05.091	+0.238
44	6	Ella Barnwell	CAMS – Basso	38	1:04:06.753	+1.662
45	102	Sophie Earl	Saint Piran WRT	38	1:05:02.858	+56.105
46	68	Ellen Inglis	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing	37	1:04:07.863	+1 Lap
47	74	Flora Knight	Loughborough Lightning	37	1:04:56.193	+48.330
48	88	Maisy Vasic	AWOL O’Shea	37	1:04:56.368	+0.175
49	119	Laura Cheesman	Datalynx – Parenesis Cycling	37	1:05:28.985	+32.617
50	36	Karolina Chudzikiewicz	Jadan – Vive Le Velo	33	1:05:08.704	+4 Laps
DNF	84	Charlotte Broughton	AWOL O’Shea	27	0:43:54.890
DNF	62	Daisy Barnes	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing	27	0:44:07.363
DNF	8	Sophie Thackray	CAMS – Basso	17	0:27:31.571
DNF	53	Becks Durrell	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	15	0:23:42.764
DNF	7	Sophie Lewis	CAMS – Basso	15	0:23:43.139
DNF	118	Megan Anderson	Datalynx – Parenesis Cycling	15	0:23:46.040
DNF	121	Victoria Smith	Alba Development Road Team	15	0:23:54.002
DNF	29	Sian Botteley	Team LDN – Brother UK	15	0:25:34.746
DNF	81	Maddie Wadsworth	AWOL O’Shea	9	0:14:11.084
DNF	104	Madeleine Gammons	Saint Piran WRT	7	0:11:19.415
DNS	3	Katie Scott	CAMS – Basso	0
DNS	31	Polly Burge	Jadan – Vive Le Velo	0
DNS	45	Mary Wilkinson	Team Boompods	0

Team classification

Round

Rank	Team	Time	Points
1	Team Boompods	3:24:13.499	10
2	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	3:24:16.518	9
3	Alba Development Road Team	3:24:16.720	8
4	Torelli – Cayman Islands – Scimitar	3:24:42.009	7
5	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	3:24:47.152	6
6	Loughborough Lightning	3:26:54.037	5
7	Jadan – Vive Le Velo	3:28:42.801	4
8	Saint Piran WRT	3:29:50.038	3
9	Team LDN – Brother UK	3:30:48.233	2
10	AWOL O’Shea	3:31:39.277	1
11	Datalynx – Parenesis Cycling	3:33:05.277	0
12	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing	3:37:39.414	0
13	CAMS – Basso	3:49:48.904	0

Overall

Rank	Team	Points
1	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	66
2	Team Boompods	49
3	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	49
4	Alba Development Road Team	38
5	Jadan – Vive Le Velo	36
6	Torelli – Cayman Islands – Scimitar	33
7	CAMS – Basso	29
8	Team LDN – Brother UK	28
9	Datalynx – Parenesis Cycling	17
10	Loughborough Lightning	17
11	Saint Piran WRT	13
12	AWOL O’Shea	9
13	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing	1

Sprint classification

Round

Rank	#	Name	Team	Points
1	23	Sammie Stuart	Team LDN – Brother UK	17
2	15	Jo Tindley	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	16
3	40	Emma Jeffers	Jadan – Vive Le Velo	11
4	50	Lucy Harris	Team Boompods	3
5	16	Lucy Ellmore	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	3
6	5	Beth Morrow	CAMS – Basso	3
7	71	Frankie Hall	Loughborough Lightning	2
8	7	Sophie Lewis	CAMS – Basso	2
9	49	Monica Greenwood	Team Boompods	2
10	124	Kate Richardson	Alba Development Road Team	1

Overall

Rank	#	Name	Team	Points
1	15	Jo Tindley	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	90
2	23	Sammie Stuart	Team LDN – Brother UK	82
3	40	Emma Jeffers	Jadan – Vive Le Velo	48
4	71	Frankie Hall	Loughborough Lightning	34
5	7	Sophie Lewis	CAMS – Basso	26
6	16	Lucy Ellmore	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	23
7	124	Kate Richardson	Alba Development Road Team	19
8	33	Suzetta Guerrini	Jadan – Vive Le Velo	13
9	77	Sophie Coldwell	Loughborough Lightning	13
10	1	Megan Barker	CAMS – Basso	11
11	41	Ellen McDermott	Team Boompods	9
12	113	Sophie Holmes	Datalynx – Parenesis Cycling	8
13	54	Charlotte Berry	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	5
13	48	Emma Matthews	Team Boompods	5
15	5	Beth Morrow	CAMS – Basso	4
16	51	Amira Mellor	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	4
17	84	Charlotte Broughton	AWOL O’Shea	3
17	50	Lucy Harris	Team Boompods	3
19	92	Holly Breck	Torelli – Cayman Islands – Scimitar	3
19	34	Beth Harley- Jepson	Jadan – Vive Le Velo	3
19	13	Corinne Side	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	3
22	49	Monica Greenwood	Team Boompods	3
23	94	Caoimhe OBrien	Torelli – Cayman Islands – Scimitar	2
23	22	Lucy Lee	Team LDN – Brother UK	2
23	118	Megan Anderson	Datalynx – Parenesis Cycling	2
26	53	Becks Durrell	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	1
26	11	Amy Gornall	Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes	1

Men’s results

Individual classification

Rank	#	Name	Team	Laps	Time	Behind
1	15	Matthew Bostock	Wiv SunGod	49	1:07:27.756
2	18	Oliver Wood	Wiv SunGod	49	1:07:39.255	+11.499
3	14	Matthew Gibson	Wiv SunGod	49	1:07:39.530	+0.275
4	9	Harry Tanfield	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	49	1:07:39.612	+0.082
5	8	Charlie Tanfield	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	49	1:07:39.989	+0.377
6	25	Joseph Beckingsale	Wales Racing Academy	49	1:07:40.656	+0.667
7	66	Max Walker	TRINITY Racing	49	1:07:40.707	+0.051
8	54	Leon Mazzone	Saint Piran	49	1:07:40.896	+0.189
9	74	Tom Couzens	Embark – BikeStrong	49	1:07:41.906	+1.010
10	52	Charles Page	Saint Piran	49	1:07:46.746	+4.840
11	19	Reece Wood	Wiv SunGod	49	1:07:52.348	+5.602
12	21	Joe Holt	Wales Racing Academy	49	1:08:17.397	+25.049
13	13	Jim Brown	Wiv SunGod	45	1:03:40.868	+4 Laps
14	27	William Truelove	Wales Racing Academy	45	1:03:41.061	+0.193
15	58	Bradley Symonds	Saint Piran	45	1:03:41.294	+0.233
16	6	Ollie Peckover	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	45	1:03:41.419	+0.125
17	34	Freddie Scheske	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	45	1:03:41.504	+0.085
18	43	Benjamin Tuchner	TEKKERZ	45	1:03:41.536	+0.032
19	4	Cameron Jeffers	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	45	1:03:41.663	+0.127
20	128	Matti Dobbins	05/03	45	1:03:41.698	+0.035
21	76	Cai Davies	Embark – BikeStrong	45	1:03:41.838	+0.140
22	33	Dan Barnes	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	45	1:03:41.887	+0.049
23	112	Oliver Maxwell	SRCT Muc-off	45	1:03:42.464	+0.577
24	31	Ben Chilton	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	45	1:03:43.256	+0.792
25	98	Kiaan Watts	Global 6 Cycling	45	1:03:43.330	+0.074
26	55	William Bjergfelt	Saint Piran	45	1:03:43.607	+0.277
27	84	Toby Jarvis	Team PB Performance	45	1:03:43.731	+0.124
28	101	Matt Witts	Nopinz Motip Race Team	45	1:03:43.872	+0.141
29	38	Travis Bramley	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	45	1:03:43.959	+0.087
30	117	Scott Redding	SRCT Muc-off	45	1:03:44.066	+0.107
31	94	Ukko Peltonen	Global 6 Cycling	45	1:03:44.900	+0.834
32	81	James Bentley	Team PB Performance	45	1:03:45.187	+0.287
33	116	Thomas Lowther	SRCT Muc-off	45	1:03:45.265	+0.078
34	78	David Hird	Embark – BikeStrong	45	1:03:45.590	+0.325
35	122	Joe Shillabeer	05/03	45	1:03:45.609	+0.019
36	23	Edward Morgan	Wales Racing Academy	45	1:03:45.722	+0.113
37	115	Elliot Barrat	SRCT Muc-off	45	1:03:46.198	+0.476
38	107	Dan Shoobridge	Nopinz Motip Race Team	45	1:03:48.357	+2.159
39	41	Alec Briggs	TEKKERZ	45	1:04:30.776	+42.419
40	29	William Roberts	Wales Racing Academy	44	1:03:41.267	+1 Lap
41	72	James Bevan	Embark – BikeStrong	44	1:03:43.079	+1.812
42	53	Tom Mazzone	Saint Piran	44	1:03:52.881	+9.802
43	42	Jon Mould	TEKKERZ	43	1:03:40.600	+1 Lap
44	5	Matt King	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	43	1:03:47.540	+6.940
45	100	Xeno Young	Global 6 Cycling	43	1:03:58.051	+10.511
46	123	Harry Jukes	05/03	43	1:04:24.816	+26.765
47	80	James Satoor	Embark – BikeStrong	43	1:04:24.817	+0.001
48	103	Dave Roper	Nopinz Motip Race Team	42	1:03:41.984	+1 Lap
49	113	Matthew Warhurst	SRCT Muc-off	42	1:03:58.383	+16.399
50	90	Chris Walkinshaw	Team PB Performance	41	1:03:30.957	+1 Lap
51	88	Max Sillifant	Team PB Performance	41	1:04:31.132	+1:00.175
DNF	121	Harrison Hunter	05/03	19	0:28:02.836
DNF	85	Kieran Riley	Team PB Performance	11	0:14:42.650
DNF	99	Alex Williams	Global 6 Cycling	1	1:29.524
DNS	36	Mikey Mottram	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	0
DNS	44	Noah Hobbs	TEKKERZ	0
DNS	62	Cameron Mason	TRINITY Racing	0
DNS	102	Cameron McLaren	Nopinz Motip Race Team	0

Team classification

Round

Rank	Team	Time	Points
1	Wiv SunGod	3:22:46.541	10
2	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	3:24:40.702	9
3	Saint Piran	3:24:48.607	8
4	Wales Racing Academy	3:25:18.764	7
5	Embark – BikeStrong	3:26:29.105	6
6	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	3:28:05.904	5
7	SRCT Muc-off	3:28:11.511	4
8	Global 6 Cycling	3:31:41.666	3
9	TEKKERZ	3:32:09.780	2
10	05/03	3:32:11.160	1
11	Nopinz Motip Race Team	3:33:11.408	0
12	Team PB Performance	3:34:43.380	0

Overall

Rank	Team	Points
1	Wiv SunGod	66
2	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	62
3	Wales Racing Academy	50
4	Saint Piran	48
5	Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	35
6	TRINITY Racing	26
7	TEKKERZ	26
8	Embark – BikeStrong	21
9	Team PB Performance	19
10	Nopinz Motip Race Team	12
11	Global 6 Cycling	8
12	05/03	7
13	SRCT Muc-off	5

Sprint classification

Round

Rank	#	Name	Team	Points
1	15	Matthew Bostock	Wiv SunGod	18
2	18	Oliver Wood	Wiv SunGod	11
3	9	Harry Tanfield	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	6
4	8	Charlie Tanfield	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	6
5	19	Reece Wood	Wiv SunGod	5
6	21	Joe Holt	Wales Racing Academy	4
7	14	Matthew Gibson	Wiv SunGod	4
8	66	Max Walker	TRINITY Racing	3
9	29	William Roberts	Wales Racing Academy	2
10	52	Charles Page	Saint Piran	1

Overall

Rank	#	Name	Team	Points
1	15	Matthew Bostock	Wiv SunGod	101
2	9	Harry Tanfield	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	71
3	16	Thomas Mein	Wiv SunGod	23
4	14	Matthew Gibson	Wiv SunGod	23
5	8	Charlie Tanfield	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	22
6	18	Oliver Wood	Wiv SunGod	18
7	67	Luke Lamperti	TRINITY Racing	18
8	12	Jacob Scott	Wiv SunGod	15
9	6	Ollie Peckover	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	14
10	19	Reece Wood	Wiv SunGod	14
11	66	Max Walker	TRINITY Racing	12
12	3	Finn Crockett	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	11
13	26	Owain Roberts	Wales Racing Academy	8
14	61	Sam Culverwell	TRINITY Racing	8
15	13	Jim Brown	Wiv SunGod	7
16	17	Rory Townsend	Wiv SunGod	7
17	54	Leon Mazzone	Saint Piran	7
18	69	Blake Quick	TRINITY Racing	5
19	21	Joe Holt	Wales Racing Academy	5
19	1	Stuart Balfour	Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling	5
21	30	Joshua Tarling	Wales Racing Academy	4
22	52	Charles Page	Saint Piran	4
23	98	Kiaan Watts	Global 6 Cycling	4
23	29	William Roberts	Wales Racing Academy	4
25	85	Kieran Riley	Team PB Performance	3
26	44	Noah Hobbs	TEKKERZ	2
26	27	William Truelove	Wales Racing Academy	2
26	25	Joseph Beckingsale	Wales Racing Academy	2
29	65	Oliver Rees	TRINITY Racing	1

Featured photo: Will Palmer/SWpix.com – 24/05/2022 – Cycling – Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series – Round 7 Grand Final: Manchester – Women’s Race.