Pre-race favourites Frankie Hall and Matt King claimed very different victories to be crowned East Midlands divisional champions in the glorious Nottinghamshire sunshine on Sunday, with Sian Marsh claiming the West Midlands title courtesy of a second-place finish to Hall in the combined East Midlands and West Midlands women’s race.
Go to our stats hub to access all the latest results updates from a busy weekend of racing.
The women’s race – Hall dominates to be crowned Queen of the Midlands
Frankie Hall (Loughborough Lightning) made short work of dismantling the 20-rider field in place for the 52-mile race taking place in the morning as the heat began to build. 10 laps of the new Widmerpool circuit awaited them; a largely flat race with a shallow drag to the finish line the only real obstacle in the event promoted by the Yomp Bonk Crew and University of Nottingham CC.
Combining the East and West Midlands championships, Hall was after only one thing, the overall win, and set about it by taking up the pace on the front of the bunch in the early stages and leaving the race in pieces by the time she attacked with Sian Marsh (Team Boompods) with barely 20 miles gone.
Hall, with Marsh a few bike lengths behind. Image: Emma Wilcock
The pair worked well together but with around two laps to go, Hall dispatched Marsh, ratcheting up an advantage of over three minutes as she took the bell lap, the final five miles a ‘Royal’ procession for the new ‘Queen of the Midlands’ as she claimed a commanding victory after a rich run of form.
Best of the rest, and West Midlands champion, was Sian Marsh (Team Boompods) who rode clear of the peloton to solo to second place on the day, with Abbie Taylor (Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon) winning the bunch sprint to round out the podium.
Hall celebrated her win by riding the course anti-clockwise throughout the men’s race in the afternoon, putting in a big training day in pursuit of her goals later on in the season.
The Men’s Race – King fights back to claim East Midlands title
They say that great sportsmen never know when they are beaten and it seemed that pre-race favourite Matt King (X-Speed United) was reading from the book of champions prior to today’s race as he came from behind to pull off a magnificent win, overwhelming local rider Ollie Peckover (trainSharp Elite) by the smallest of margins right on the line at the end of the 83-mile race.
Hot conditions greeted the riders as they rolled through the start shortly after 1pm for the first of 16 laps.
The race start was greeted with the usual infernal pace and spicy attacks. Will Perrett (Embark Spirit BSS), Darren Rider (Private Member), Ben Chilton (Ribble Collective), Nathan Hardy (PB Performance) and Adam Kenway (Derby CC Webuycycle Huub RT) all tried their luck off the front in the early stages, although no move would stick until Sebastian Garry (Kalas Motip Race Team) and Pete Cocker (Richardsons Trek DAS) attacked together on the fourth lap. The pair piled on the pressure and extended their lead to 1:40 within a few miles. Only a monster turn by Sam Clark (trainSharp Elite) at the end of the fifth lap halted their charge as the peloton came dangerously close to splitting up the finishing climb.
The scorching conditions quickly took their toll on the riders as the afternoon sun beat down on the exposed circuit. A number of riders were forced to retire at around the 30-mile mark, suffering in the heat; the light breeze doing little to cool the peloton or break up the race during the exposed sections. In these times of aerodynamics and marginal gains, perhaps the biggest advantage gained today was by riders with two bottle cages attached to their frames; the cries of ‘water!’ getting louder and more desperate as the race went on. Riders even resorted to hanging tights filled with ice around their necks in an attempt to keep cool as the air temperature hit 31C.
A summer haze came across as the race reached halfway distance. By now a group of 11 riders had formed at the front with the likes of Ollie Peckover, early attacker Ben Chilton and Ali Slater (Clancy-Briggs Cycling Academy) joining Garry and Cocker as they held a slender advantage over 7 chasers, with private member Joseph Smith stranded between the two. The peloton were close behind with the race remaining very much in the balance at this point.
A lap later the picture became a little clearer with the leaders, minus Smith, who had failed in his attempt to bridge across, holding a 35-second advantage over a group led over the line by pre-race favourite Matt King. However, in the space of a lap, the advantage of the 11-rider lead group would edge to over one minute and the race seemed to be going away from King, who was doing the lion’s share of work as the chasing group swelled to 12 riders.
It was from the leading group that the pivotal attack of the race would go after a period of calm in proceedings; Ollie Peckover launched a blistering move on the finishing climb with Matt Lord (Richardsons Trek DAS) and the effervescent Sebastian Garry in his wheel. With no one else able to follow, the trio gained a solid 50-second lead with only 20 miles left to race. On hearing news of the attack from the chasing group, Matt King upped the pace, dropping some of his passengers and catching the remnants of the former leading group to create a group of nine in pursuit of the trio out front.
With two laps to race, Garry and Peckover remained out front, although their advantage had been cut to just 15 seconds over a trio of Adam Lewis (Saint Piran) Matt King and Joseph Smith, who caught a second wind after failing to bridge to the leaders earlier in proceedings. King, now plying his trade in Europe following the demise of Ribble Weldtite last year, had been riding like a man possessed on the front of the group in the previous laps, having dropped the six other riders previously in his company as well as Matt Lord, who was shuffled from the leaders down to the third group on the road in the space of five miles. It was the first time Saint Piran’s Lewis had shown himself all day and it seemed he had timed his move to perfection as the chasers looked to finally be catching Peckover and Garry; the latter having spent the vast majority of his day at the front of the race.
There was to be more drama for King, who dropped his chain and had to chase back onto the leading group as they took the bell lap, shortly after the two leading groups had merged to create a box office, 12-minute, five-way game of poker in the blazing sun on the final lap. The race would have left a mark on all of them, but who would have the most left on the kick to the line, if it would even come down to that? Behind, the race had clearly got the better of some of the riders, the next group on the road containing Will Perrett and Ali Slater pedestrian compared to the verve of the leaders, with the four of them still on course for a top ten finish.
Emerging at the bottom of the finishing climb for the final time were Peckover and King, the two former teammates ready to battle it out for the win. Leading out the sprint was Peckover and he looked to have the race in the bag with 200m to go, opening up a number of bike lengths between him and his new adversary. However, King took another lesson from the school of never giving up and powered home in the closing metres, pipping a tied-up and crestfallen Peckover by half a wheel in what was a fantastic finish to an enthralling race – King only leading for the final metres of the 83 miles.
Rounding out the podium was University of Nottingham CC alumnus Garry, who came home clear of Lewis and finally Smith who rounded out the top five.
Pre-race favourites Frankie Hall and Matt King claimed very different victories to be crowned East Midlands divisional champions in the glorious Nottinghamshire sunshine on Sunday, with Sian Marsh claiming the West Midlands title courtesy of a second-place finish to Hall in the combined East Midlands and West Midlands women’s race.
Go to our stats hub to access all the latest results updates from a busy weekend of racing.
Race preview here.
Featured image: Emma Wilcock
The women’s race – Hall dominates to be crowned Queen of the Midlands
Frankie Hall (Loughborough Lightning) made short work of dismantling the 20-rider field in place for the 52-mile race taking place in the morning as the heat began to build. 10 laps of the new Widmerpool circuit awaited them; a largely flat race with a shallow drag to the finish line the only real obstacle in the event promoted by the Yomp Bonk Crew and University of Nottingham CC.
Combining the East and West Midlands championships, Hall was after only one thing, the overall win, and set about it by taking up the pace on the front of the bunch in the early stages and leaving the race in pieces by the time she attacked with Sian Marsh (Team Boompods) with barely 20 miles gone.
The pair worked well together but with around two laps to go, Hall dispatched Marsh, ratcheting up an advantage of over three minutes as she took the bell lap, the final five miles a ‘Royal’ procession for the new ‘Queen of the Midlands’ as she claimed a commanding victory after a rich run of form.
Best of the rest, and West Midlands champion, was Sian Marsh (Team Boompods) who rode clear of the peloton to solo to second place on the day, with Abbie Taylor (Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon) winning the bunch sprint to round out the podium.
Hall celebrated her win by riding the course anti-clockwise throughout the men’s race in the afternoon, putting in a big training day in pursuit of her goals later on in the season.
The Men’s Race – King fights back to claim East Midlands title
They say that great sportsmen never know when they are beaten and it seemed that pre-race favourite Matt King (X-Speed United) was reading from the book of champions prior to today’s race as he came from behind to pull off a magnificent win, overwhelming local rider Ollie Peckover (trainSharp Elite) by the smallest of margins right on the line at the end of the 83-mile race.
Hot conditions greeted the riders as they rolled through the start shortly after 1pm for the first of 16 laps.
The race start was greeted with the usual infernal pace and spicy attacks. Will Perrett (Embark Spirit BSS), Darren Rider (Private Member), Ben Chilton (Ribble Collective), Nathan Hardy (PB Performance) and Adam Kenway (Derby CC Webuycycle Huub RT) all tried their luck off the front in the early stages, although no move would stick until Sebastian Garry (Kalas Motip Race Team) and Pete Cocker (Richardsons Trek DAS) attacked together on the fourth lap. The pair piled on the pressure and extended their lead to 1:40 within a few miles. Only a monster turn by Sam Clark (trainSharp Elite) at the end of the fifth lap halted their charge as the peloton came dangerously close to splitting up the finishing climb.
The scorching conditions quickly took their toll on the riders as the afternoon sun beat down on the exposed circuit. A number of riders were forced to retire at around the 30-mile mark, suffering in the heat; the light breeze doing little to cool the peloton or break up the race during the exposed sections. In these times of aerodynamics and marginal gains, perhaps the biggest advantage gained today was by riders with two bottle cages attached to their frames; the cries of ‘water!’ getting louder and more desperate as the race went on. Riders even resorted to hanging tights filled with ice around their necks in an attempt to keep cool as the air temperature hit 31C.
A summer haze came across as the race reached halfway distance. By now a group of 11 riders had formed at the front with the likes of Ollie Peckover, early attacker Ben Chilton and Ali Slater (Clancy-Briggs Cycling Academy) joining Garry and Cocker as they held a slender advantage over 7 chasers, with private member Joseph Smith stranded between the two. The peloton were close behind with the race remaining very much in the balance at this point.
A lap later the picture became a little clearer with the leaders, minus Smith, who had failed in his attempt to bridge across, holding a 35-second advantage over a group led over the line by pre-race favourite Matt King. However, in the space of a lap, the advantage of the 11-rider lead group would edge to over one minute and the race seemed to be going away from King, who was doing the lion’s share of work as the chasing group swelled to 12 riders.
It was from the leading group that the pivotal attack of the race would go after a period of calm in proceedings; Ollie Peckover launched a blistering move on the finishing climb with Matt Lord (Richardsons Trek DAS) and the effervescent Sebastian Garry in his wheel. With no one else able to follow, the trio gained a solid 50-second lead with only 20 miles left to race. On hearing news of the attack from the chasing group, Matt King upped the pace, dropping some of his passengers and catching the remnants of the former leading group to create a group of nine in pursuit of the trio out front.
With two laps to race, Garry and Peckover remained out front, although their advantage had been cut to just 15 seconds over a trio of Adam Lewis (Saint Piran) Matt King and Joseph Smith, who caught a second wind after failing to bridge to the leaders earlier in proceedings. King, now plying his trade in Europe following the demise of Ribble Weldtite last year, had been riding like a man possessed on the front of the group in the previous laps, having dropped the six other riders previously in his company as well as Matt Lord, who was shuffled from the leaders down to the third group on the road in the space of five miles. It was the first time Saint Piran’s Lewis had shown himself all day and it seemed he had timed his move to perfection as the chasers looked to finally be catching Peckover and Garry; the latter having spent the vast majority of his day at the front of the race.
There was to be more drama for King, who dropped his chain and had to chase back onto the leading group as they took the bell lap, shortly after the two leading groups had merged to create a box office, 12-minute, five-way game of poker in the blazing sun on the final lap. The race would have left a mark on all of them, but who would have the most left on the kick to the line, if it would even come down to that? Behind, the race had clearly got the better of some of the riders, the next group on the road containing Will Perrett and Ali Slater pedestrian compared to the verve of the leaders, with the four of them still on course for a top ten finish.
Emerging at the bottom of the finishing climb for the final time were Peckover and King, the two former teammates ready to battle it out for the win. Leading out the sprint was Peckover and he looked to have the race in the bag with 200m to go, opening up a number of bike lengths between him and his new adversary. However, King took another lesson from the school of never giving up and powered home in the closing metres, pipping a tied-up and crestfallen Peckover by half a wheel in what was a fantastic finish to an enthralling race – King only leading for the final metres of the 83 miles.
Rounding out the podium was University of Nottingham CC alumnus Garry, who came home clear of Lewis and finally Smith who rounded out the top five.
Results
Women’s race
Men’s race
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