Ed Morgan (Wales Racing Academy) and Sammie Stuart (DAS-Handsling) battled torrential conditions to take the victories in the final round of Cold Dark North’s Proper Northern Road Race Series at Aughton.
All photos credit Ellen Isherwood/@lancsracingscene
Report
A yellow weather warning for rain greeted the riders at HQ in North Lancashire on Sunday for the final round of this year’s Proper Northern Road Race Series at Aughton. It wasn’t the wettest ever Cold Dark North Race in the summer, but it was certainly close. In the torrential rain, all day, first the men and then the women did battle for the healthy prize pot for both this round and the overall series. (Only those that competed in the final round were eligible for Series prizes.)
Men’s race
The Aughton circuit is arguably the least savage of the ones used by CDN in the Series and the rolling parcours suits organised breakaways and has a milder uphill finish than its predecessors at Capernwray and Oakenclough. After two laps of the scheduled 10.5 the men were all still together – with several riders trying to escape off the front – including National Circuit Series leader Ben Chilton of Ribble Collective and Tom Martin of Wheelbase Castelli.
On Lap 3 there were more attacks from the peloton, Chris Booth of Giant Kendal making moves amongst others. It was on Lap 4 that the race winning break occurred with Chilton, Ed Morgan (Wales Racing Academy) and Jenson Young (ROKiT-SRCT) attacking on the fast descent through Aughton Village and escaping never to be seen again by the peloton.
By 4 laps to go, the three leaders had built up over two minutes’ lead on the chasing pack in the incessant rain and despite the best efforts of a well organised chase they came to the final straight with well over a minute advantage. Around the final bend together, it was Morgan that jumped first and had enough to hold on for a win by five bike lengths from Chilton with Young in third. Ben Pease (Moonglu) rolled in 4th ahead of Tobias Bartlett (Doddington Cycling Club) in a small break ahead of the peloton!
The KOM on the day was taken by Morgan, with Moonglu the leading team and Maxwell Hereward (360 Cycling) finishing as leading junior. The Combativity Award was well won by Kev Dennison (Private Member) who battled solo, behind the bunch for over 10 laps but never gave up in the deluge!
The Men’s Proper Northern Road Races Series was won by Ed Morgan with Tom Martin clinging on for the overall KOM and his team Wheelbase Castelli taking the honours for the Series too.
Women’s race
After a very swift turn around it was the women’s turn and a slightly diminished field set off into a fractionally milder “mizzle”. That quickly changed though and the rain started beating down again mid-way through the first lap. It took until Lap 3 of 7 for the peloton to split and the attacks to start to stick.
During lap 4, Jay Hine of Team Boompods put in a huge effort to build up nearly a minute lead on the pack. The gap was attacked by Lucy Harris (AWOL- O’Shea) and Maddie Heywood (FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing) and by the start of the penultimate lap they were all back together and by the bell a group of 7 had pulled clear with 25 seconds on the remaining field.
That group included last year’s winner Sammie Stuart (DAS-Handsling), Kate Richardson (Lifeplus Wahoo), Harris, Annamarie Lipp (Saint Piran WRT), Tamsin Miller (Hutchinson-Brother UK), Sophie Enever and Amelia Tyler (both Alba Development) and it seemed certain that they would contest the final spoils.
In the end it was Stuart, Richardson, Tyler and Miller who sprinted for the podium and finished in that order with no time gaps between them. An excellent finish to a lively race. It was Freya Whiteside of Shibden Hope Tech Apex that was the leading junior and Sammie Stuart collected the QOM prize. The Combativity award went to Harris for her efforts in pulling back the solo breakaway leader.
Enever and Tyler’s efforts together with Daisy Barnes saw Alba scoop the team prize ahead of Boompods. In the final series standings, it was Sammie who swept the QOM and Individual prizes with Freya Whiteside on the top step for Juniors and Team Boompods retained their overall prize from last year.
Cold Dark North would like to thank all those riders, officials, volunteers and supporters that have taken part in this year’s series but most of all to our sponsors Ribble Cycles, together with WHeelbase, Fell Brewery, Become Wild Edale and Atkinson’s Coffee. Without them, this simply wouldn’t happen.
Results
Men’s race
| Pos | Name | Team |
| 1 | Edward Morgan | Wales Racing Academy |
| 2 | Ben Chilton | Ribble Collective |
| 3 | Jenson Young | ROKiT-SRCT |
| 4 | Ben Pease | Moonglu Race Team |
| 5 | Tobias Bartlett | Doddington Cycling Club |
| 6 | Logan Maclean | Chambery Cyclisme Formation |
| 7 | Matthew Lord | Richardsons Trek DAS |
| 8 | Jacob Smith | Wheelbase CabTech Castelli |
| 9 | Thomas Mitchell | Dolan Ellesse Race Team |
| 10 | Josh Housley | Derby CC Webuycycle Huub RT |
| 11 | James Wordsworth | Cycling Sheffield |
| 12 | Ben Mewes | Moonglu Race Team |
| 13 | George Peden | Team PB Performance |
| 14 | Matthew Warhurst | ROKiT-SRCT |
| 15 | Tom Martin | Wheelbase CabTech Castelli |
| 16 | Marinus Petersen | Kalas Motip Race Team |
| 17 | Christopher Booth | Giant Kendal-Sidas Uk |
| 18 | Daniel McDermott | Moonglu Race Team |
| 19 | Carl Potter | Tactic Sport UK Race Team |
| 20 | Maxwell Hereward | 360cycling |
| 21 | George Radcliffe | Bialini Gomola CCN |
| 22 | Alexander Foster | Innovation Racing |
| 23 | Ben Etherington | BCC Race Team |
| 24 | Joe Howcroft | Otley CC |
| 25 | Adam Bent | Eiser Hirumet |
| 26 | Joe Boothroyd | Giant Kendal-Sidas Uk |
| 27 | Carl Stubbs | Moonglu Race Team |
| 28 | Jude Davison | Cog Set Papyrus Racing Club |
| 29 | Kevin Moore | Paceline Cycles North |
| 30 | Jack Moore | Gala Cycling Club |
| 31 | Richard Butler | Giant Kendal-Sidas Uk |
| 32 | Kevin Dennison | |
Women’s race
| Pos | Name | Team |
| 1. | Sammie Stuart | DAS – Handsling Bikes |
| 2. | Kate Richardson | Lifeplus Wahoo |
| 3. | Amelia Tyler | Alba Development Road Team |
| 4. | Tamsin Miller | Hutchinson-Brother UK |
| 5. | Annamarie Lipp | |
| 6. | Lucy Harris | AWOL- O’Shea |
| 7. | Sophie Enever | Alba Development Road Team |
| 8. | Lauren Robinson | Team Boompods |
| 9. | Jayati Hine | Team Boompods |
| 10. | Maddie Heywood | FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racin… |
| 11. | Lucy Neatham | LDN-Academy |
| 12. | Jemma Speers | |
| 13. | Gemma Mitchell | Team Boompods |
| 14. | Natalie Stevenson | Glasgow Ivy CC |
| 15. | Lauren Langham | Wahoo – Le Col |
| 16. | Daisy Barnes | Alba Development Road Team |
| 17. | Harriet Wilson | Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon |
| 18. | Victoria Smith | Alba Development Road Team |
| 19. | Freya Whiteside | Shibden Hope Tech Apex |
| 20. | Jamie Leigh Lloyd | Liverpool Braveheart Bicycle C… |
| 21. | Maisy Vasic | Brother UK-Orientation Marketi… |
