Miriam Jessett secured Loughborough’s second successive win at the BUCS road race championships on a hot day at the Upper Denby circuit in Yorkshire. In the open race, Ed Morgan (Swansea) bested Joseph Smith to deny Loughborough a another victory.
Miriam Jessett emulated Frankie Hall’s 2023 win to take Loughborough’s second successive women’s road race victory at the BUCS Road Race Championships.
This year’s BUCS road race championships took place on the attritional Upper Denby circuit in Yorkshire, organised once again by the Yomp Bonk Crew. Facing 6.5 laps of the circuit, the women’s race opened the championships.
The race was a cagey affair, the riders perhaps wary of the heat and the challenging parcours. The race remained all together until two laps to go when Jessett and Keira Bond (Sheffield) attacked and established a lead of a minute and a half over the bunch over the course of the next lap and a half.
Hannah Clough (Nottingham) led the response from the peloton, riders gradually slipping behind as the pressure grew, but there was no catching Jessett and Bond, who stayed clear until the finish.
Jessett outpowered Bond on the final rise to the line to take another Loughborough BUCS win. Lotty Dawson (Nottingham) won the sprint from the bunch to take third.
“Coming into the finish I knew I needed to launch my sprint as soon as I saw the cottage next to the finish,” Jessett told The British Continental after the race, taking some helpful advice from her housemate Ben Bright.
“Winning on my dad’s birthday was rather special, racing alongside my Loughborough teammates. Olivia Kelly is my teammate and housemate, it was her first road race and she finished in the bunch,” Jessett added proudly.
Open race
The open race started in frenzied fashion, with attacks and punctures aplenty, before a group of five established the first break of the day after 45 minutes of racing.
The quintet, made up of Tom Heal (Kingston), Sam Carrotte (Aberdeen), Will Lowden (Cambridge), Conor Williams (Southampton) and Ollie Hurdle (Southampton), collaborated well and established a handsome lead of three minutes.
Behind, the racing was aggressive, causing the peloton to split. Eventually, there was a regrouping, with around 40-45 riders left in the bunch, with the five leaders still out front.
With around five laps to go there was an attack from George Stephens (Nottingham) who went clear. Behind, the Loughborough team led out Joseph Smith and Matt Lord ahead of the circuit’s main climb up to Upper Denby. Driving the pace hard on the ascent, Smith and Lord went clear of the peloton, bringing Ed Morgan (Swansea) with them.
They soon caught Stephens and began motoring to catch the leaders. Putting in a superlative effort, they reduced the deficit to two one minute with two laps left and by the bell it was just 30 seconds. With the peloton minutes behind, the winner looked certain to come from one of the two duelling groups.
The catch was made with only two kilometres remaining. Hurdle attacked immediately, with Smith, Morgan and Lowden quick to pursue. The trio reeled in Hurdle and then with 400 metres left Smith decided to go early. Morgan jumped across, opening up his own sprint 150 metres from the line, coming round Smith to take the victory.
Miriam Jessett secured Loughborough’s second successive win at the BUCS road race championships on a hot day at the Upper Denby circuit in Yorkshire. In the open race, Ed Morgan (Swansea) bested Joseph Smith to deny Loughborough a another victory.
Featured image: Emma Wilcock
Report
Women’s race
Miriam Jessett emulated Frankie Hall’s 2023 win to take Loughborough’s second successive women’s road race victory at the BUCS Road Race Championships.
This year’s BUCS road race championships took place on the attritional Upper Denby circuit in Yorkshire, organised once again by the Yomp Bonk Crew. Facing 6.5 laps of the circuit, the women’s race opened the championships.
The race was a cagey affair, the riders perhaps wary of the heat and the challenging parcours. The race remained all together until two laps to go when Jessett and Keira Bond (Sheffield) attacked and established a lead of a minute and a half over the bunch over the course of the next lap and a half.
Hannah Clough (Nottingham) led the response from the peloton, riders gradually slipping behind as the pressure grew, but there was no catching Jessett and Bond, who stayed clear until the finish.
Jessett outpowered Bond on the final rise to the line to take another Loughborough BUCS win. Lotty Dawson (Nottingham) won the sprint from the bunch to take third.
“Coming into the finish I knew I needed to launch my sprint as soon as I saw the cottage next to the finish,” Jessett told The British Continental after the race, taking some helpful advice from her housemate Ben Bright.
“Winning on my dad’s birthday was rather special, racing alongside my Loughborough teammates. Olivia Kelly is my teammate and housemate, it was her first road race and she finished in the bunch,” Jessett added proudly.
Open race
The open race started in frenzied fashion, with attacks and punctures aplenty, before a group of five established the first break of the day after 45 minutes of racing.
The quintet, made up of Tom Heal (Kingston), Sam Carrotte (Aberdeen), Will Lowden (Cambridge), Conor Williams (Southampton) and Ollie Hurdle (Southampton), collaborated well and established a handsome lead of three minutes.
Behind, the racing was aggressive, causing the peloton to split. Eventually, there was a regrouping, with around 40-45 riders left in the bunch, with the five leaders still out front.
With around five laps to go there was an attack from George Stephens (Nottingham) who went clear. Behind, the Loughborough team led out Joseph Smith and Matt Lord ahead of the circuit’s main climb up to Upper Denby. Driving the pace hard on the ascent, Smith and Lord went clear of the peloton, bringing Ed Morgan (Swansea) with them.
They soon caught Stephens and began motoring to catch the leaders. Putting in a superlative effort, they reduced the deficit to two one minute with two laps left and by the bell it was just 30 seconds. With the peloton minutes behind, the winner looked certain to come from one of the two duelling groups.
The catch was made with only two kilometres remaining. Hurdle attacked immediately, with Smith, Morgan and Lowden quick to pursue. The trio reeled in Hurdle and then with 400 metres left Smith decided to go early. Morgan jumped across, opening up his own sprint 150 metres from the line, coming round Smith to take the victory.
Results
Women’s race
Open race
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