Monica Greenwood (DAS-Handsling) powered to her first National Circuit Series victory in the McLaren Automotive Women’s Grand Prix, outsprinting Amy Gornall (Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee) after the pair had attacked together two thirds of the way through an attritional race.

Finn Crockett and Harry Birchill made it a week to remember for Saint Piran, bringing home a one-two for the Cornish UCI team in the Sheffield Grand Prix infront of a raucous city centre crowd, the pair sprinting clear from a group of five who broke away early in the race.

Featured photo: SWpix.com. British Cycling National Circuit Series 2023 – McLaren Automotive Women’s Sheffield Grand Prix

The McLaren Automotive Women’s Grand Prix

Report

Warm evening sunshine blazed down on the Steel City, as criterium racing returned to Sheffield for the first time since 2019. Riders took on a new course, the cobbled climb of Norfolk Street now a long descent with a technical section through the city centre and a long drag to the finish the main obstacles facing the 79 strong field.

Corinne Side (Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee) looked to defend her series lead with teammate Jo Tindley in second, the former National Circuit Race Champion looking in brilliant form in Dudley last Friday, their squad leading the team classification by 79 points from UCI outfit DAS-Handling.

DAS-Handsling took control of the race on the first lap, the pace high enough to deter any attacks and create a small split in the bunch, riders suffering at the back of the race as the elastic effect took hold.

Lucy Lee (DAS-Handsling) was the first to go off the front, attacking up the finishing straight into a stiff headwind at the end of the third lap, the leading group reduced to a little over 20 riders with a ten second advantage over the peloton behind.

With Lee quickly reeled in, the gap to the peloton extended with the Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee team spread across the front of the leading group, which remained steady in composition with 15 minutes of the 50 completed. The defensive, tentative racing unusual for the riders assembled at the head of affairs.

Emma Jeffers (DAS-Handsling) attacked a lap later, last year’s standout junior demonstrating her power, quickly opening up a gap as the team looked to close the deficit in the team standings. Again, the move would be shortlived however, the leading group strung out for the first time in the race as the pace hotted up.
The status quo held for the next laps with Arianne Holland and Sophie Enever (Alba Development Road Team) producing impressive rides at the front, sharing the work with the familar sight of riders from DAS-Handsling and Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee.

Amy Gornall (Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee) kept the pace high as still no attacks emerged as the 9 lap board was produced, the technical nature of the city centre circuit coupled with an exposed road section proving tough to get away on.

Gornall then followed a huge acceleration from Monica Greenwood (DAS-Handsling) as the race sprung into life, their advantage around ten seconds after just one lap. Sammie Stuart (DAS-Handsling) and Jo Tindley (Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee) kept watch on the front of the bunch, discussions between the two teams taking place as they jostled for position.

Greenwood appeared to be doing the lion’s share of the work as the gap increased with 6 laps left to run, Sophie Enever (Alba Development Road Team) attempting to bridge across with a host of riders from the teams of Gornall and Greenwood jumping on her wheel.

DAS-Handsling almost blocked the road as the chasing group came around again, the pace slowing and the situation clearly one they were content with, five of their riders ready to fight it out for third place and make a large dent in the lead of Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee in the team standings.

The two leaders continued to work well together with only two laps to go, their advantage now unassailable with their teams of DAS-Handsling and Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee preparing at the head of the chasing group for a sprint finish. The excellent Sophie Enever in perfect position to spoil their plans.
As the bell tolled signalling the final lap, the leading duo continued to ride through the line together, followed some time later by a rampant bunch led by Lucy Lee.

It was Monica Greenwood who emerged onto the finishing straight first, unleashing a brilliant sprint to easily beat Amy Gornall to the line, Jo Tindley winning the bunch gallop for third.

The individual Series standings remain tight. Side still leads, just 8 points ahead of Tindley, with Isabel Darvill (Spectra-Cannondale) another 11 points behind. So it will be all to play for in the final round.

Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee now enjoy an 83 point lead over DAS-Handsling in the team standings, with Hutchinson-Brother UK a distant third.

The final round of the women’s National Circuit Series is the Schwalbe Newark Women’s Grand Prix on the 28 July.

Results

Rank	#	Name	Team	Time
1	16	Monica Greenwood	DAS – Handsling Bikes	49:48
2	46	Amy Gornall	Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee	st
3	49	Jo Tindley	Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee	+44
4	54	Isabel Darvill	Team Spectra Cannondale	st
5	17	Emma Jeffers	DAS – Handsling Bikes	st
6	9	Libby Smithson	AWOL OShea	st
7	47	Corinne Side	Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee	st
8	22	Sammie Stuart	DAS – Handsling Bikes	st
9	44	Robyn Clay	Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee	st
10	18	Lucy Lee	DAS – Handsling Bikes	st
11	27	Samantha Fawcett	Hutchinson – Brother UK	st
12	19	Sophie Lewis	DAS – Handsling Bikes	st
13	50	Jayati Hine	Team Boompods	st
14	5	Amelia Tyler	Alba Development Road Team	st
15	2	Sophie Enever	Alba Development Road Team	st
16	31	Sannah Zaman	Hutchinson – Brother UK	st
17	20	Francesca Hall	DAS – Handsling Bikes	st
18	3	Arianne Holland	Alba Development Road Team	st
19	79	Georgina Oakley		st
20	53	Xan Crees	Team Spectra Cannondale	st
21	43	Anya Tamplin	Loughborough Lightning	+52
22	74	Amy Perryman	TEKKERZ CC	+57
23	71	Erin Avill	Storey Racing	+1:08
24	13	Harriet Graham	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing	+1 Lap
25	12	Lotty Dawson	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing	+1 Lap
26	59	Maddie Heywood	FTP – Fulfil The Potential – Racing	+1 Lap
27	51	Gemma Mitchell	Team Boompods	+1 Lap
28	32	Emily Chilton	Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon	+1 Lap
29	6	Evie White	Alba Development Road Team	+1 Lap
30	60	Elizabeth Sanders	FTP – Fulfil The Potential – Racing	+1 Lap
31	37	Philippa Draper	Loughborough Lightning	+1 Lap
32	36	Abbie Taylor	Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon	+1 Lap
33	10	Ellen Bennett	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing	+1 Lap
34	70	Annamarie Lipp	Saint Piran WRT	+1 Lap
35	15	Georgia Lancaster	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing	+1 Lap
36	63	Rebecca Hair	LAKA Pedal Mafia RT	+1 Lap
37	73	Alderney Baker	Team Empella	+1 Lap
38	42	Alice Lethbridge	Loughborough Lightning	+1 Lap
39	35	Louise Scupham	Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon	+1 Lap
40	65	Lucy Neatham	LDN-Academy	+1 Lap
41	21	Beth Morrow	DAS – Handsling Bikes	+1 Lap
42	64	Isabella Johnson	LAKA Pedal Mafia RT	+1 Lap
43	48	Millie Skinner	Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee	+1 Lap
44	24	Charlotte Berry	Hutchinson – Brother UK	+1 Lap
45	45	Lucy Ellmore	Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee	+1 Lap
46	7	Connie Hayes	AWOL OShea	+1 Lap
47	72	Nicola Soden	Tactic UK WRT	+1 Lap
48	11	Lily Brindle	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing	+4 Laps
49	1	Daisy Barnes	Alba Development Road Team	+4 Laps
50	33	Lola Ellis	Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon	+5 Laps
51	39	Rosie Allen	Loughborough Lightning	+5 Laps
52	68	Sarah Briggs	RFDA	+5 Laps
53	62	Lindsay Toy	JRC INTERFLON Race Team	+5 Laps
54	61	Evelyn Field	JRC INTERFLON Race Team	+5 Laps
55	67	Shona Mosley	Lincoln Wheelers CC	+6 Laps
	34	Beth Harley-Jepson	Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon	DNF
	52	Lauren Robinson	Team Boompods	DNF
	77	Lauren Langham	Wahoo – Le Col	DNF
	4	Victoria Smith	Alba Development Road Team	DNS
	8	Francesca Morgans-Slader	AWOL OShea	DNS
	14	Hope Inglis	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing	DNS
	23	Sophie Thackray	DAS – Handsling Bikes	DNS
	25	Tiffany Keep	Hutchinson – Brother UK	DNS
	26	Sian Botteley	Hutchinson – Brother UK	DNS
	28	Heather Mayer	Hutchinson – Brother UK	DNS
	29	Tamsin Miller	Hutchinson – Brother UK	DNS
	30	Dannielle Watkinson	Hutchinson – Brother UK	DNS
	38	Madeleine Gammons	Loughborough Lightning	DNS
	40	Amber Harding	Loughborough Lightning	DNS
	41	Emily Kay	Loughborough Lightning	DNS
	55	Lucy Nelson	Team Spectra Cannondale	DNS
	56	Gabriella Butler	AWOL Worx Galliard	DNS
	57	Caitlin Dimbleby	Le Col Race Team	DNS
	58	Abi Smith	EF Education-TIBCO-SVB	DNS
	66	Emily Proud	Le Col Race Team	DNS
	69	Sophie Holmes	Saint Piran WRT	DNS
	75	Amelia Cebak	Tofauti Everyone Active	DNS
	76	Mari Porton	Tofauti Everyone Active	DNS
	78	Florence Howden		DNS

Bike Box Alan Men’s Grand Prix

Report

Alec Briggs (Tekkerz CC) made the most of his grid position, using a front row start to string out the field in the opening technical city centre section, the elastic stretched straight from the gun. The peloton were almost riding single file as they completed the first lap, Callum Laborde (Wheebase-Cabtech-Castelli) taking over from Briggs, almost sprinting through the line with every rider feeling the electric pace.

Somehow the race remained intact until the third lap, Jacob Scott (Bolton Equities – Black Spoke) leading an elite group of four with James Hartley (Cycling Sheffield), Harry Birchill (Saint Piran) and series leader Ben Chilton (Ribble Collective) closely followed by Toby Barnes (Dolan Ellesse Race Team) and Finn Crockett (Saint Piran), the Wheelbase CabTech Castelli drilling it on the front of the bunch as they looked to bring Matt Fox, winner at Ilkley and second in the series back into contention.

The pace continued to be infernal 15 minutes in, a leading group of five establishing a sizeable gap over the Wheelbase CabTech Castelli led peloton, Hartley the only casualty of the original aggressors as Scott continued to press the accelerator pedal.

Leon Mazzone (Saint Piran) was doing his best to disrupt the chase as the main group was decimated to only 20 riders, Briggs the last man in a group dominated by Wheelbase CabTech Castelli and Saint Piran riders.

James McKay (Cycling Sheffield) attacked from the chasing group over the drag to the finish line two laps later, unleashing his trademark sprint to get a gap over the swarm of green Wheelbase CabTech Castelli jerseys who were steadfast in their pursuit at the head of the group.

With McKay back in the group, the race seemed to settle for the first time 25 minutes in, the five man leading group working well with a 25 second advantage; Wheelbase CabTech Castelli riding towards the back of the chasing group, a group of individual riders including Briggs and Isaac Mundy (Private Member) taking the reins.

With the leading group of Scott, Chilton, Barnes, Birchill and Crockett working well out front, a desperate Briggs was asking for a time check as the cohesion in the chasing group disappeared. Their race was now for sixth place as they drifted over 30 seconds behind, not helped by original aggressor George Wood again trying his hand off the front.As dusk descended over the city the alliance between

The leading quintet held firm, the pace pedestrian in the chasing group as the riders waited to make their move for the minor places; the leading group lapping them not entirely out of the equation.

Wheelbase CabTech Castelli suffered some bad luck with Jacob Smith suffering an untimely mechanical with 6 laps to go, taking their number down to four in the chasing group as they looked to consolidate their lead in the team standings.
As the gap stretched to a mammoth 1′ 20″ with two laps to go, the leading five were still sharing the work load evenly, waiting for the attacks to start, Saint Piran holding the advantage of having two riders. As the bell sounded the status quo remained, the might of Saint Piran assembling at the front of the chasing group.

Finn Crockett sprinted to his first win in Saint Piran colours, the quintet fighting out the uphill finish with Harry Birchill making it a one-two for the Cornish team. Series leader Chilton grabbed a valuable podium to extend his lead with Toby Barnes and Jacob Scott rounding out the top 5. 

Alec Briggs used his impressive sprint to claim 6th from the chasing group, followed by Matt Fox in 7th, keeping his series hopes alive. 9th placed Callum Laborde made it a good night for the Wheelbase CabTech Castelli team who remain leaders of the team classification, 50 points ahead of the Saint Piran. Chilton is the individual Series leader, just 11 points in front of Fox.

The next round of the Series is the Fort Vale Colne Grand Prix on 26 July.

Results

Rank	#	Name	Team	Time
1	23	Finn Crockett	Saint Piran	49:58
2	22	Harry Birchill	Saint Piran	st
3	68	Ben Chilton	Ribble Collective	st
4	61	Toby Barnes	Dolan Ellesse Race Team	st
5	57	Jacob Scott	Bolton Equities Black Spoke Pro Cycling	st
6	33	Alec Briggs	TEKKERZ CC	+58
7	50	Matthew Fox	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	st
8	25	Leon Mazzone	Saint Piran	st
9	48	Callum Laborde	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	st
10	83	Isaac Mundy		st
11	58	Alistair Slater	Clancy Briggs Cycling Academy	st
12	74	Daniel Barnes	Team Spectra Cannondale	st
13	7	George Kimber	Embark Spirit BSS	st
14	35	Benjamin Tuchner	TEKKERZ CC	st
15	26	William Roberts	Saint Piran	st
16	2	James McKay	Cycling Sheffield	st
17	51	Tim Shoreman	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	st
18	3	George Wood	Cycling Sheffield	st
19	18	David Hird	ROKiT – SRCT	st
20	47	Aaron King	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	st
21	27	Bradley Symonds	Saint Piran	st
22	32	Kieran Riley	Team PB Performance	+4 Laps
23	16	Josh Price	ROKiT – SRCT	+4 Laps
24	59	Josh Housley	Derby CC Webuycycle Huub RT	+4 Laps
25	63	Alex Beldon	MAS Design – Fensham Howes	+4 Laps
26	17	Scott Redding	ROKiT – SRCT	+4 Laps
27	14	Joseph Beckinsale	ROKiT – SRCT	+4 Laps
28	49	Thomas Armstrong	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	+4 Laps
29	11	Cameron McLaren	Kalas Motip Race Team	+4 Laps
30	6	Dean Watson	Embark Spirit BSS	+4 Laps
31	40	Ben Bright	Wales Racing Academy	+4 Laps
32	64	Daniel McDermott	Moonglu Race Team	+4 Laps
33	30	Liam Flannery	Team PB Performance	+4 Laps
34	66	Nicholas Cooper	Nordic Sports Academy S. C.	+4 Laps
35	5	Michael Chadwick	Embark Spirit BSS	+4 Laps
36	53	Euan Cameron	A.Fawcett Racing	+4 Laps
37	43	William Harding	Wales Racing Academy	+4 Laps
38	4	James Wordsworth	Cycling Sheffield	+4 Laps
39	29	Tom Charles	Team PB Performance	+4 Laps
40	42	Spencer Davies	Wales Racing Academy	+4 Laps
41	19	Matthew Warhurst	ROKiT – SRCT	+4 Laps
42	80	Isaac Lawrence	0503	+4 Laps
43	56	Jack Hartley	BCC Race Team	+4 Laps
44	1	James Hartley	Cycling Sheffield	+4 Laps
45	34	Olivier Mangham	TEKKERZ CC	+5 Laps
46	52	Louis Moore	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	+5 Laps
47	73	Harvey Stroh	TAAP Endura	+5 Laps
48	13	David Roper	Kalas Motip Race Team	+5 Laps
49	78	Freddy Pett	Wold Top The Edge Pactimo	+5 Laps
50	82	William Abbott		+5 Laps
51	62	Sean Dawson	INFLITE	+5 Laps
52	39	Matt Webster	trainSharp Elite	+5 Laps
53	55	David Bolland	Army Cycling Union	+5 Laps
54	72	James Brown	Sn Vitae Bim Bam Coaching RT	+5 Laps
55	65	Ben Pease	Moonglu Race Team	+6 Laps
	15	Matthew Ellis	ROKiT – SRCT	DNF
	21	Jenson Young	ROKiT – SRCT	DNF
	38	Tim Torrie	trainSharp Elite	DNF
	46	Ed Morgan	Wales Racing Academy	DNF
	54	Joshua Jones	ALL IN Racing	DNF
	71	Angus Hawkins	Ride Revolution Coaching	DNF
	77	Ashley Marshall	Vocation Cycling	DNF
	79	Cavan Walker	Wold Top The Edge Pactimo	DNF
	81	Joe Shillabeer	0503	DNF
	8	Sebastian Gary	Kalas Motip Race Team	DNS
	9	Harry Green	Kalas Motip Race Team	DNS
	10	William Jewitt	Kalas Motip Race Team	DNS
	20	Tom Williams	ROKiT – SRCT	DNS
	24	Tom Mazzone	Saint Piran	DNS
	28	William Tidball	Saint Piran	DNS
	31	Tom Palfrey	Team PB Performance	DNS
	36	Jacob Vaughan	TEKKERZ CC	DNS
	37	Ollie Peckover	trainSharp Elite	DNS
	41	Huw Buck Jones	Wales Racing Academy	DNS
	44	Griff Lewis	Wales Racing Academy	DNS
	45	Fred Meredith	Wales Racing Academy	DNS
	75	Joe Pidcock	Trinity Racing	DNS
	76	Harry Johnson	VC St Raphael	DNS
	84	Joseph Smith		DNS
	12	Vaughn Pretorius	Kalas Motip Race Team	DSQ
	60	Tobias Bartlett	Doddington Cycling Club	DSQ
	67	Sam Andrews	PDQ Cycle Coaching	DSQ
	69	Joshua Horsfield	Ribble rechrg Race Team	DSQ
	70	Hugo Lutz Atkinson	Ribble rechrg Race Team	DSQ

National Circuit Series standings

Women’s

Individual

Rank	Name		Team		Points
1	Corinne Side		Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee		206
2	Jo Tindley		Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee		198
3	Isabel Darvill		Team Spectra Cannondale		187
4	Robyn Clay		Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee		169
5	Monica Greenwood		DAS – Handsling Bikes		152
6	Sammie Stuart		DAS – Handsling Bikes		138
7	Lucy Lee		DAS – Handsling Bikes		138
8	Amy Gornall		Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee		126
9	Bexy Dew		Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee		123
10	Emily Proud		Le Col Race Team		117
11	Emma Jeffers		DAS – Handsling Bikes		115
12	Samantha Fawcett		Hutchinson – Brother UK		111
13	Jayati Hine		Team Boompods		107
14	Francesca Hall		DAS – Handsling Bikes		102
15	Millie Couzens		Fenix-Deceuninck		94
16	Libby Smithson		AWOL OShea		92
17	Lucy Glover		Shibden Hope Tech Apex		92
18	Sophie Lewis		DAS – Handsling Bikes		79
19	Harriet Graham		Brother UK – Orientation Marketing		76
20	Maddie Heywood		FTP – Fulfil The Potential – Racing		76

Team

Rank	Team		Points
1	Pro-Noctis – Heidi Kjeldsen – 200 Degrees Coffee		614
2	DAS – Handsling Bikes		531
3	Hutchinson – Brother UK		277
4	Team Boompods		243
5	Alba Development Road Team		222
6	Loughborough Lightning		176
7	Shibden Hope Tech Apex		130
8	Brother UK – Orientation Marketing		122
9	Team Spectra Cannondale		117
10	Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon		81
11	AWOL OShea		50
12	LDN-Academy		35
13	Saint Piran WRT		32
14	Tofauti Everyone Active		28
15	Wahoo – Le Col		7

Men

Individual

Rank	Name	Team	Points
1	Ben Chilton	Ribble Collective	195
2	Matthew Fox	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	184
3	Alec Briggs	TEKKERZ CC	143
4	Callum Laborde	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	141
5	David Hird	ROKiT – SRCT	133
6	Jim Brown	Cross Team Legendre	132
7	Cai Davies	Kalas Motip Race Team	128
8	George Kimber	Embark Spirit BSS	115
9	Tim Shoreman	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	108
10	Leon Mazzone	Saint Piran	108
11	Daniel Barnes	Team Spectra Cannondale	94
12	Tom Couzens	Ribble Collective	89
13	Harry Birchill	Saint Piran	88
14	Josh Price	ROKiT – SRCT	86
15	William Truelove	ROKiT – SRCT	74
16	Ed Morgan	Wales Racing Academy	73
17	Joseph Smith		72
18	Toby Barnes	Dolan Ellesse Race Team	72
19	Finn Crockett	Saint Piran	72
20	Ollie Peckover	trainSharp Elite	72

Team

Rank	Team	Points
1	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	447
2	Saint Piran	397
3	ROKiT – SRCT	353
4	Wales Racing Academy	261
5	Kalas Motip Race Team	221
6	TEKKERZ CC	168
7	Team PB Performance	160
8	Cycling Sheffield	127
9	trainSharp Elite	113
10	Trinity Racing	78
11	Richardsons Trek DAS	64
12	Embark Spirit BSS	57
13	Team Spectra Cannondale	34
14	Moonglu Race Team	18
15	Ribble rechrg Race Team	5