Damien Clayton (Le Col Race Team) and Shibden Apex RT’s Imogen Wolff are the overnight leaders of the Peaks 2 Day p/b Giant Sheffield after overcoming challenging weather conditions to win the opening road stages on Saturday.
Stage 1 of the women’s race, a road bike time trial, was cancelled due to forecasted snow.
Stage 2
The hail and rain that had been present all morning finally relented, providing somewhat better conditions for a women’s peloton that had been chomping at the bit to get started after the TT cancellation.
With less distance to cover than the open race, it was all a matter of who had the best legs, most stamina, and an ability to not be demoralised by the crosswinds that were causing the pack to splinter.
Right from the gun, some of the contenders later in the race were already coming to the fore with Junior Trofeo Alfredo Binda winner Imogen Wolff (Shibden Apex RT) and Morven Yeoman (DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK) up at the sharp-end of a large bunch that started to increasingly thin out with the effort being put through the pedals.
Come the first prime, it was Wolff a couple of seconds ahead of Yeoman with Loughborough Lightning’s Lucy Harris – fresh off a top ten at the Women’s CiCLE Classic last weekend – heading a small group including Lucy Gadd (Le Col Race Team), Abi Plowman (Alba Development Road Team) and Matilda McKibben (Doltcini – O’Shea) who were able to manoeuvre themselves into a small breakaway.
On the bell lap, the effort – and conditions – conspired to thin down the group even further with Wolff, Gadd and Yeoman pulling clear of Plowman, who had become the lone chaser, and ensure that the winner was realistically going to be whoever had enough fuel in the tank to sustain themselves to the flag.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wolff used the same form that powered her to a masterful win in Italy to also prevail closer to home. Yeoman was 17 seconds behind in second, with Gadd rounding out the top three ahead of tomorrow’s closing road race.
Open race
Stage 1
With the snow that caused the women’s stage 1 time trial to be axed finally falling during the opening stage of the race, a test of endurance became more of a feat of perseverance with Saint Piran’s James McKay telling The British Continental that the strong winds made the stage a ‘hard, hard ride’.
That difficulty became obvious from the very first lap with a group of about two-dozen breaking clear of a peloton being splintered by sleet – Clayton saying after that he’d “never had sleet in my face that hurt that much” – as well as strong crosswinds at the top of the climb.
With weather, topography and mechanicals piercing the ambitions of many, Clayton and Matthew Lord (Richardsons Trek DAS) tried to seize the day and took off down the road. Working together, Lord took the prime on lap 2 – with Clayton in his wheel – but with plenty of laps still to go, there was a desire from both to not burn too many matches and were joined by the pack behind to create a leading group of 12 or so riders.
Patience proved key, and when the next prime took place – with four laps to go – Clayton was at the sharp-end of a quintet which included Clayton Velo Spring Classic winner Tyler Hannay (Saint Piran), Tom Martin (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli), Jordan Giles (Richardsons Trek DAS), and Spectra Racing’s new signing Edward Morgan.
But with wind howling, and sunshine spreading across the full circuit, an additional four found extra motivation to join the front and make it a lead nine with just two laps remaining and a two-minute gap to the chasing Cycling Sheffield pair of David Hird and Matt Warhurst.
However, a bigger game was afoot and as the field heard the bell that was the trigger for Martin to launch an attack off the front, with Clayton the only one able to follow his move.
The pair worked well together for a time, but with Clayton realising Martin was starting to flag, the Le Col Race Team rider put in his decisive final dig heading into the crosswind section just after the lap’s toughest climb to win by 90 seconds.
He told The British Continental: “Tom attacked with like a lap and a half to go in a really, really good place. He was kind of like towards the back and then hitting with speed and I just followed. Then, I thought he was soft tapping so I was waiting for him on climbs, which isn’t normally the case. It’s normally the other way round.
“I know Tom really well and he’s a beast, so I thought it’s the perfect situation. I can do more work on the flats and downhills, and he can do the majority of stuff on the hills but he was, like, really struggling. I was like, ‘mate, we’ve got to go’ and basically dropped him in the crosswind section and then just rode on my own for the final lap.”
USKIS Saint Piran’s Huw Buck Jones finished runner-up, with Jacob Smith (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) taking third, just four seconds down. Hannay and Joseph Smith (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) passed Martin on the final tour to take fourth and fifth, with Martin ending the stage sixth.
Results
Provisional results after day one, Saturday 23 March.
Damien Clayton (Le Col Race Team) and Shibden Apex RT’s Imogen Wolff are the overnight leaders of the Peaks 2 Day p/b Giant Sheffield after overcoming challenging weather conditions to win the opening road stages on Saturday.
2024 Peaks 2 Day p/b Giant Sheffield: preview and startlist
Featured Image: Emma Wilcock
Report
Women’s race
Stage 1
Stage 1 of the women’s race, a road bike time trial, was cancelled due to forecasted snow.
Stage 2
The hail and rain that had been present all morning finally relented, providing somewhat better conditions for a women’s peloton that had been chomping at the bit to get started after the TT cancellation.
With less distance to cover than the open race, it was all a matter of who had the best legs, most stamina, and an ability to not be demoralised by the crosswinds that were causing the pack to splinter.
Right from the gun, some of the contenders later in the race were already coming to the fore with Junior Trofeo Alfredo Binda winner Imogen Wolff (Shibden Apex RT) and Morven Yeoman (DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK) up at the sharp-end of a large bunch that started to increasingly thin out with the effort being put through the pedals.
Come the first prime, it was Wolff a couple of seconds ahead of Yeoman with Loughborough Lightning’s Lucy Harris – fresh off a top ten at the Women’s CiCLE Classic last weekend – heading a small group including Lucy Gadd (Le Col Race Team), Abi Plowman (Alba Development Road Team) and Matilda McKibben (Doltcini – O’Shea) who were able to manoeuvre themselves into a small breakaway.
On the bell lap, the effort – and conditions – conspired to thin down the group even further with Wolff, Gadd and Yeoman pulling clear of Plowman, who had become the lone chaser, and ensure that the winner was realistically going to be whoever had enough fuel in the tank to sustain themselves to the flag.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wolff used the same form that powered her to a masterful win in Italy to also prevail closer to home. Yeoman was 17 seconds behind in second, with Gadd rounding out the top three ahead of tomorrow’s closing road race.
Open race
Stage 1
With the snow that caused the women’s stage 1 time trial to be axed finally falling during the opening stage of the race, a test of endurance became more of a feat of perseverance with Saint Piran’s James McKay telling The British Continental that the strong winds made the stage a ‘hard, hard ride’.
That difficulty became obvious from the very first lap with a group of about two-dozen breaking clear of a peloton being splintered by sleet – Clayton saying after that he’d “never had sleet in my face that hurt that much” – as well as strong crosswinds at the top of the climb.
With weather, topography and mechanicals piercing the ambitions of many, Clayton and Matthew Lord (Richardsons Trek DAS) tried to seize the day and took off down the road. Working together, Lord took the prime on lap 2 – with Clayton in his wheel – but with plenty of laps still to go, there was a desire from both to not burn too many matches and were joined by the pack behind to create a leading group of 12 or so riders.
Patience proved key, and when the next prime took place – with four laps to go – Clayton was at the sharp-end of a quintet which included Clayton Velo Spring Classic winner Tyler Hannay (Saint Piran), Tom Martin (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli), Jordan Giles (Richardsons Trek DAS), and Spectra Racing’s new signing Edward Morgan.
But with wind howling, and sunshine spreading across the full circuit, an additional four found extra motivation to join the front and make it a lead nine with just two laps remaining and a two-minute gap to the chasing Cycling Sheffield pair of David Hird and Matt Warhurst.
However, a bigger game was afoot and as the field heard the bell that was the trigger for Martin to launch an attack off the front, with Clayton the only one able to follow his move.
The pair worked well together for a time, but with Clayton realising Martin was starting to flag, the Le Col Race Team rider put in his decisive final dig heading into the crosswind section just after the lap’s toughest climb to win by 90 seconds.
He told The British Continental: “Tom attacked with like a lap and a half to go in a really, really good place. He was kind of like towards the back and then hitting with speed and I just followed. Then, I thought he was soft tapping so I was waiting for him on climbs, which isn’t normally the case. It’s normally the other way round.
“I know Tom really well and he’s a beast, so I thought it’s the perfect situation. I can do more work on the flats and downhills, and he can do the majority of stuff on the hills but he was, like, really struggling. I was like, ‘mate, we’ve got to go’ and basically dropped him in the crosswind section and then just rode on my own for the final lap.”
USKIS Saint Piran’s Huw Buck Jones finished runner-up, with Jacob Smith (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) taking third, just four seconds down. Hannay and Joseph Smith (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) passed Martin on the final tour to take fourth and fifth, with Martin ending the stage sixth.
Results
Provisional results after day one, Saturday 23 March.
Women’s race
Stage 2
General classification
As Above.
Standings after stage 2.
Open race
Stage 1
General classification
As Above
Standings after stage 1.
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