Elena Day (Team Spectra Cannondale P/B DAS) took her first National Trophy victory as British Cycling’s premier cyclocross series got underway with a bang in South Shields.

Former British champion Thomas Mein (Hope Factory Racing) took his second win at Gypsies Green in as many years, as he used his strength and stamina to prevail by almost 20 seconds over Toby Barnes (Ribble-Verge Sport).

Reports

Women’s elite race

It was last year’s Series champion Alderney Baker (Team Empella) who made the quickest of starts around a damp Tyneside course, with Ruby James (Hope Factory Racing) going along with her as the pack quickly strung out over a fast but hilly course centred around the old velodrome.

A lap later, James put the hammer down as she was joined by under-23 Elena Day (Spectra Cannondale p/b DAS) and the duo broke clear from Baker to lead the 32-rider field. Expertly negotiating the sand traps, Day surged ahead of James before the halfway mark. 

Faster lap after lap compared to everyone trying to chase her, Day took the win by more than 30 seconds. Baker overhauled James to finish second, with James rounding out the podium.

With her win, Day also topper the under-23 category, with Keira Bond (Unattached) and Hope Inglis (Brother UK-Orientation Marketing) taking the remaining under-23 podium places.

Men’s elite race

Oliver Akers (Ribble-Verge Sport) started the first men’s National Trophy race with a point to prove as he stepped up to the senior category after his triumph in last year’sjJunior series. 

He fought through the sand a wheel ahead of fellow North Easterner Thomas Mein as both looked to make a winning start to the 2023-24 season and was keeping pace with his more experienced rival as the race climbed away from the beach and up to the technical sections in the second-half of the course.

Despite a valiant effort from Akers, however, Mein’s stamina proved too much to handle and as the pair went through the switchbacks the Hope Factory Racing rider pulled clear and continued at a rapid pace – tackling the sandy climb without hesitation. 

As Mein powered clear, Toby Barnes (Ribble-Verge Sport) did the best he could to marshal a response – his last two laps a handful of seconds faster than than anyone else out on course – but it was too little, too late. Mein, who finished third in last year’s National Trophy, took the win by 19 seconds over Barnes.

Dan Barnes (Team Spectra Cannondale P/B DAS) took third, winning the under-23s category in the process, while Tom Couzens (Montezuma’s Race Team) was fourth.

Callum Laborde (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) and Simon Wyllie (Team Spectra Cannondale P/B DAS) rounded out the under-23 podium. 

The next round of the National Trophy Series is on 14 October in Thornton in Craven. 

Results

Women’s race

#	Name		Team	Category	Time	Place overall	Place in Category
1	Elena Day		Team Spectra Cannondale P/B DAS	FU23	48:32.3	1	1
2	Alderney Baker		Team Empella	FS	49:09.4	2	1
3	Ruby James		Hope Factory Racing	FS	49:19.1	3	2
4	Keira Bond		Unattached	FU23	49:39.3	4	2
5	Hope Inglis		Brother UK-Orientation Marketing	FU23	49:39.7	5	3
6	Ceris Styler		Backstedt Bike Performance JRT	FV40	49:49.0	6	1
	Ffion Gilbert		Unattached	FS	50:47.4	7	3
7	Ishbel Strathdee		Unattached	FS	51:11.7	8	4
8	Amy Perryman		TEKKERZ CC	FS	51:28.8	9	5
9	Kacey Eyeington		Derwentside CC	FU23	51:51.3	10	4
10	Victoria Peel		Hope Factory Racing	FS	51:54.2	11	6
11	Phoebe Roche		Saint Piran WRT	FU23	52:13.3	12	5
12	Roisin Lally		Loughborough Lightning	FU23	52:23.3	13	6
13	Christina Wiejak		Saint Piran WRT	FS	52:38.1	14	7
14	Lotta Mansfield		Montezuma’s Race Team	FU23	52:52.2	15	7
15	Madeline Cooper		Montezuma’s Race Team	FU23	53:07.9	16	8
16	Amy Drysdale		Army Cycling Union	FS	53:32.0	17	8
17	Heather Robinson		Hetton Hawks Cycling Club	FU23	54:03.2	18	9
18	Cassandra Mackintosh		Unattached	FS	54:40.5	19	9
19	Beatrix Kiehlmann		Royal Albert CC	FU23	54:40.6	20	10
20	Katie Hadnum		Reifen Racing	FU23	55:24.7	21	11
21	Emma Jane Hornsby		LDN-Academy	FS	55:46.0	22	10
22	Elizabeth McKinnon		Unattached	FU23	55:58.3	23	12
23	Olivia Fawcett		Unattached	FS	47:39.6	24	11
24	Amy Mourne		Unattached	FU23	49:04.7	25	13
25	Shona Hornsby		Unattached	FU23	38:21.1	26	14
26	Lucy Dalgleish		Unattached	FU23	39:14.6	27	15
27	Florence Lissaman		Newark Castle CC	FU23	DNF	100	100
28	Freya Whiteside		Unattached	FU23	DNF	101	101

Men’s race

#	Name		Team	Category	Time	Place overall	Place in Category
1	Thomas Mein		Hope Factory Racing	OS	00:56:52	1	1
2	Toby Barnes		Ribble – Verge Sport	OS	00:57:11	2	2
3	Daniel Barnes		Team Spectra Cannondale	OU23	00:57:37	3	1
4	Tom Couzens		Montezuma’s Race Team	OS	00:57:51	4	3
4	Callum Laborde		Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	OU23	00:57:58	5	2
5	Joseph Beckingsale		Montezuma’s Race Team	OS	00:58:01	6	4
6	Simon Wyllie		Team Spectra Cannondale	OU23	00:58:23	7	3
7	Joe Coukham		Ribble – Verge Sport	OS	00:58:24	8	5
8	Oliver Akers		Ribble-Verge Sport	OU23	00:58:58	9	4
9	Giles Drake		Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	OS	00:59:00	10	6
10	Ben Chilton		Ribble Collective	OU23	00:59:43	11	5
11	Joseph Smith		Unattached	OU23	00:59:52	12	6
12	Paul Oldham		Hope Tech Factory Racing	OV40	00:59:59	13	1
13	Matthew Ellis		ROKiT-SRCT	OS	01:00:11	14	7
14	Lewis Martin		Studio Velo	OS	01:00:15	15	8
15	Jamie Gostick		Team PB Performance	OU23	01:00:42	16	7
16	Kishan Bakrania		Unattached	OS	01:00:46	17	9
17	Nicholas Craig		SCOTT Racing	OV50	01:00:58	18	1
18	Benjamin Bright		Wales Racing Academy	OU23	01:01:02	19	8
19	Joe Brookes		Halesowen A & CC	OU23	01:01:02	20	9
20	Oliver Halliday		Unattached	OU23	01:01:07	21	10
21	Thomas Crapper		Magspeed Racing	OU23	01:01:43	22	11
22	Joshua Jones		ALL IN Racing	OS	01:02:24	23	10
23	Steven James		Hope Factory Racing	OS	01:02:36	24	11
24	George Thompson		Rose Race Team	OS	01:02:36	25	12
25	Sullivan Berry		ROTOR Race Team	OU23	01:02:54	26	12
26	Grant Scott		Ronde Cycling Club	OS	01:03:05	27	13
27	Scott Chalmers		Magspeed Racing	OS	01:03:13	28	14
28	Reuben Oakley		ROTOR Race Team	OU23	01:03:25	29	13
29	Neil Scott		Deeside Thistle CC	OS	01:03:52	30	15
30	David Earth		Rose Race Team	OV40	01:04:03	31	2
31	Otto Chilton		Derby CC Webuycycle RT	OU23	00:56:21	32	14
32	Jack Jee		LVC Racing	OU23	00:56:22	33	15
33	Robin Godden		Hope Factory Racing	OS	00:56:59	34	16
34	Dan Clark		Magspeed Racing	OS	00:57:00	35	17
35	Raphael Tabiner		Tofauti Everyone Active	OU23	00:57:05	36	16
36	James Elves		Reifen Racing	OU23	00:57:17	37	17
37	Ian Lee		Royal Air Force CA	OS	00:48:09	38	18
38	Cameron Hall		Aylsham Road Club	OS	00:48:12	39	19
39	James Edmond		Unattached	OS	00:48:16	40	20
40	Jack Parnaby		Shibden Cycling Club	OU23	00:48:18	41	18
41	Oscar Pratt		Unattached	OU23	00:48:28	42	19
42	Sam Chatwin		Army Cycling Union	OV40	00:40:18	43	3
43	Leo Law		Lakes RC	OU23	00:40:19	44	20
44	William Lezard		Magspeed Racing	OS	00:40:24	45	21
45	Ethan Grimshaw		Cookson Cycles	OU23	00:40:25	46	21
46	Stephen Lee		Derwentside CC	OS	00:40:27	47	22
47	Travis Harkness		Unattached	OU23	00:40:28	48	22
48	Sebastian Bacon		Wolverhampton Wheelers	OS	00:40:28	49	23