19-year-old Eilidh Shaw (Alba Development Road Team) continued her remarkable breakthrough season with her maiden National Circuit Series victory, beating WorldTour rider Alex Morrice (CANYON//SRAM) and junior Lucy Benezet-Minns (Tofauti Everyone Active) in a three-up sprint.

In the open race, Rob Scott put on a circuit racing masterclass to take a dominant solo triumph, his second win of the 2024 National Circuit Series, putting his Tekkerz CC team 2-1 up in their Series battle with Ribble Rebellion.

Report

The Parcours Guildford Women’s Grand Prix

After the hilly opening rounds of the National Circuit Series up in Yorkshire, the Series moved south on Wednesday night for a shorter, flatter, more technical circuit featuring a cobbled climb on the finish line.

From the outset, the typical strategy was evident, with no early attacks to test the riders’ resolve. Instead, defending champion Alex Morrice (CANYON // SRAM Racing Team) surged to the front, joined by Eilidh Shaw (Alba Development Road Team), Danni Watkinson (Jadan Vive Le Velo Glasdon), and Lucy Glover (Shibden Apex RT), setting a high tempo that began stringing out the peloton early on.

Making significant moves was local rider Emily Proud (Le Col Race Team) – on her comeback from Covid – who moved from the bottom-end of the top 20 to sixth, and then onto the front as she took long turns in the opening third of the 50-minute race.

While there were no big attacks, the pace at the front was relentless, gradually thinning the group. After 20 minutes, the lead group was reduced to 19 riders, all within just over four seconds of each other.

The race was enlivened – for all the wrong reasons – just before halfway when the British-Bolivian rider Floren Scrafton (FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing) clipped the curb going into the fast right-hander after the hairpin, having found her initial racing line cut off as riders squabbled for the optimal position ahead. Leaving Scrafton with nowhere to go, she went down, with Alice Colling (Shibden Apex RT) also caught up. Both riders were fortunately unharmed – with Scrafton putting in a great recovery to 13th – but the incident caused a split in the lead group.

Quite quickly, a select group of ten pulled a gap of almost five seconds on a chase headed by Lucy Harris (Pro-Noctis – 200 Degrees Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting Ltd). For a time, you would have been excused for thinking that this ten were building an insurmountable lead, but as lapped riders started to inter-mingle with the leaders the deficit would yo-yo – stretching out to as much as 10 seconds, before shrinking to just a handful.

With the speed ramping up, what proved to be the decisive move was made with 10 minutes to go as Morrice and Shaw put in a significant dig up the cobbled climb to leave junior Lucy Benezet-Minns (Tofauti Everyone Active) and Beth Morrow (Alba Development Road Team) as a lone pair of chasers, having also gapped Isabel Darvill (Doltchin-O’Shea), Glover, Proud, Corinne Side (Unattached), and Shaw’s teammate Keira Bond. 

Morrice was left to do most of the work, with Shaw happy to sit on the back wheel and preserve her energy. There was, though, a late addition to the lead group as Minns put in a remarkable lap to bridge over a five-second gap and create a trio at the front.

Despite Morrice’s efforts, Shaw remained steadfastly on her wheel, only taking a slight turn on the downhill from the hairpin on the final lap. Morrice attacked going into the penultimate left turn and took a slight lead on the final climb, but Shaw’s conserved energy paid off. She powered up the cobbles to cross the line with half a second to spare. Morrice secured second place, while Minns finished third.

Fifth place for Darvill moves her to the top of the individual standings in the National Circuit Series, just two points ahead of Side, who was sixth, and 20 points in front of Watkinson, who finished 15th.

With three riders in the top ten, Alba Development Road Team move up to second place in the team standings, closing the gap to leaders DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK to 73 points with four rounds remaining.

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The Cycling Exchange Guildford Open Grand Prix

In stark contrast to the steady, intense buildup of the women’s race, the open race started with an explosion of energy, marked by relentless attacks from the very beginning.

Rob Scott set the pace from the start, driving the action at the front with Will Roberts (Saint Piran) also making attempts to break clear, but the peloton remained tightly packed, riding aggressively over the cobbles.

The first to try a move were Toby Barnes (Spectra Racing) and William Truelove (THRIVA-SRCT) who attacked out of the hairpin. They gained a couple of seconds over a pack headed by Tom Couzens (Ribble Rebellion). But their brief stint at the front lasted all of a few minutes before they were swallowed back into the peloton. 

With 40 minutes remaining, Scott launched a decisive attack from the hairpin, aided by his TEKKERZ CC teammate Alec Briggs, who disrupted the chase from the pack. Scott’s lead quickly extended beyond 10 seconds and remained stable, as disorganised attempts to close the gap failed to gain momentum. Couzens made a valiant effort to bridge the gap, but while he distanced himself from the 14-rider chase group, he couldn’t significantly cut into Scott’s lead.

Despite the presence of strong riders in the chase group, no one was able or willing to commit to a concerted effort to close the gap. Barnes managed to bridge to Couzens, however, forming a two-rider chase, but soon found himself alone as Couzens dropped back having been caught up in a lapped rider hitting the floor.

As the chase behind well and truly gave up with under 10 minutes go, Scott and Barnes found themselves comfortably taking first and second with the focus instead shifting to who would end up in third. 

For the longest time, Foran CT’s Ryan Christensen and Dom Jackson were putting in massive efforts on the front as the team looked to secure itself a result that feels like it’s been coming for some time with Jackson taking 13th at the National Road Championships road race. 

However, as the pace continued to rise, it looked as though the pair’s early exertions had taken too much out of their legs and coming round the final two 90-degree corners for the last time it was a battle between Briggs and Truelove for the third spot on the podium.

Briggs’ effort was clearly visible as he powered his way up cobbles moistened by spitting rain in the last half-a-dozen laps and he pipped the Thriva-SRCT rider to the line by two-tenths of a second – relegating Truelove to his second fourth place of the series, after also missing out on the podium at Otley. 

Scott’s second win in succession extends his lead in the individual National Circuit Series standing to 32 points over Matt Bostock (Ribble Rebellion) – who was 17th on the night – with Briggs moving into third, just four points behind. Ribble Rebellion are ahead in the team classification, however, sitting on 335 points, a lead of 37 over TEKKERZ CC. 

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Results

The Parcours Guildford Women’s Grand Prix

Rank	#	Name	Team	Time
1	6	Eilidh Shaw	Alba Development Road Team	48:51
2	1	Alex Morrice	CANYON // SRAM Racing Team	st
3	53	Lucy Benezet Minns	Tofauti Everyone Active	+2
4	5	Beth Morrow	Alba Development Road Team	+16
5	56	Isabel Darvill	Doltcini – OShea	+24
6	69	Corinne Side		st
7	49	Megan Anderson	Team Boompods	+26
8	2	Keira Bond	Alba Development Road Team	st
9	63	Lucy Glover	Shibden Apex RT	st
10	59	Emily Proud	Le Col Race Team	st
11	20	Lucy Harris	Pro-Noctis – 200º Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting Ltd	+30
12	37	Grace Reynolds	Brother UK – On Form	+32
13	58	Floren Scrafton	FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing	+43
14	75	Amy Perryman	TEKKERZ CC	+47
15	42	Dannielle Watkinson	Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon	+52
16	54	Becky Gardiner	Tofauti Everyone Active	+1:07
17	74	Alderney Baker	Team Empella	st
18	64	Samantha Fawcett	Spectra Racing	st
19	36	Electra Morris	Brother UK – On Form	st
20	52	Sian Marsh	Team Boompods	st
21	21	Maddie Heywood	Pro-Noctis – 200º Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting Ltd	+1:21
22	16	Sophie Thackray	DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK	st
23	38	Amelia Staunton	Brother UK – On Form	st
24	55	Mari Porton	Tofauti Everyone Active	st
25	17	Sannah Zaman	DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK	st
26	26	Jayati Hine	Loughborough Lightning	st
27	61	Charlotte Deykin	Peterborough Cycle Hub	st
28	44	Anastasia Bowler	Saint Piran WRT	st
29	24	Penny Colloff	Loughborough Lightning	st
30	73	Sasha Halsey	London Dynamo	st
31	10	Sian Botteley	DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK	+1:31
32	76	Elizabeth Sanders	FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing	+1:48
33	46	Sophie Holmes	Saint Piran WRT	+1 Lap
34	19	Lucy Ellmore	Pro-Noctis – 200º Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting Ltd	+1 Lap
35	71	Rebecca Hair	FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing	+1 Lap
36	67	Alisha Wells	Nouvelles Cycling x Prendas	+1 Lap
37	60	Erin Avill	Nouvelles Cycling x Prendas	+1 Lap
38	47	Emma McDonald	Saint Piran WRT	+4 Laps
39	15	Darcie Richards	DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK	+4 Laps
40	32	Ellen Bennett	Brother UK – On Form	+4 Laps
41	45	Katie-Anne Calton	Saint Piran WRT	+4 Laps
42	40	Emily Chilton	Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon	+4 Laps
43	48	Ailsa McLagan	Saint Piran WRT	+4 Laps
44	35	Ellen Inglis	Brother UK – On Form	+4 Laps
45	13	Charlotte Hodgins-Bryne	DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK	+4 Laps
46	30	Georgia Lancaster	Loughborough Lightning	+4 Laps
47	72	Freya Whiteside	Nouvelles Cycling x Prendas	+4 Laps
48	7	Millie Skinner	Alba Development Road Team	+4 Laps
49	39	Grace Ward	Brother UK – On Form	+4 Laps
50	31	Georgina Oakley	Loughborough Lightning	+4 Laps
51	33	Lily Brindle	Brother UK – On Form	+5 Laps
52	43	Hannah Bayes	Saint Piran WRT	+5 Laps
53	77	Louise Davidson	London Academy	+5 Laps
54	50	Bethany Bennett	Team Boompods	+5 Laps
55	25	Philippa Draper	Loughborough Lightning	+5 Laps
56	34	Rebecca Carter	Brother UK – On Form	+6 Laps
57	78	Alice Butcher	Wolfox x Pedal Mafia RT	+6 Laps
	8	Victoria Smith	Alba Development Road Team	DNF
	28	Alice Lethbridge	Loughborough Lightning	DNF
	41	Bex Clowes	Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon	DNF
	62	Alice Colling	Shibden Apex RT	DNF
	3	Caitlin Dimbleby	Alba Development Road Team	DNS
	4	Arianne Holland	Alba Development Road Team	DNS
	9	Amelia Tyler	Alba Development Road Team	DNS
	11	Robyn Clay	DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK	DNS
	12	Frankie Hall	DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK	DNS
	18	Bexy Dew	Pro-Noctis – 200º Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting Ltd	DNS
	23	Jo Tindley	Pro-Noctis – 200º Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting Ltd	DNS
	27	Olivia Kelly	Loughborough Lightning	DNS
	29	Roisin Lally	Loughborough Lightning	DNS
	57	Libby Smithson	Doltcini – OShea	DNS
	65	Megan Barker	TEKKERZ CC	DNS
	68	Bee Townsend	Nouvelles Cycling x Prendas	DNS
	22	Lowri Richards	Pro-Noctis – 200º Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting Ltd	DSQ
	51	Rebecca Babbage	Team Boompods	DSQ
	66	Charlotte Berry	The Phoenix Collective	DSQ

The Cycling Exchange Guildford Open Grand Prix

Rank	#	Name	Team	Time
1	71	Robert Scott	TEKKERZ CC	49:26
2	32	Toby Barnes	Spectra Racing	+23
3	40	Alec Briggs	TEKKERZ CC	+28
4	48	William Truelove	THRIVA-SRCT	st
5	35	Harry Macfarlane	TAAP Kalas	st
6	25	Tom Couzens	Ribble Rebellion	st
7	54	David Hird	Cycling Sheffield	st
8	50	Thomas Armstrong	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	st
9	1	Ryan Christensen	Foran CT	+33
10	52	Callum Laborde	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	+36
11	2	Dom Jackson	Foran CT	+37
12	26	Cole Davis	Ribble Rebellion	+44
13	19	William Roberts	Saint Piran	+1:02
14	53	Joseph Smith	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	+1:04
15	38	Alfie Amey	TEKKERZ CC	+1:14
16	39	Oscar Amey	TEKKERZ CC	+1:16
17	23	Matthew Bostock	Ribble Rebellion	+1:17
18	20	Cai Davies	Richardsons Trek DAS	st
19	44	Ben Bright	THRIVA-SRCT	+1:20
20	69	Adam Howell	VC Meudon	st
21	27	Max Rushby	Ribble Rebellion	+1:26
22	43	Joseph Beckingsale	THRIVA-SRCT	+1 Lap
23	28	Jake Hales	Ride Revolution Coaching	+3 Laps
24	46	Josh Price	THRIVA-SRCT	+4 Laps
25	64	Thomas Heal	Stolen Goat Race Team	+4 Laps
26	13	Luke Barfoot	Primera-TeamJobs	+4 Laps
27	33	Simon Wyllie	Spectra Racing	+4 Laps
28	11	William Jewitt	Mud Dock Racing	+4 Laps
29	68	James Somerfield	TRASH MILE	+4 Laps
30	61	Frank Longstaff	Schils –  Doltcini Racing Team	+4 Laps
31	3	Robin Mould	Foran CT	+4 Laps
32	62	Kieran Riley	Spellman – Dublin Port Cycling Team	+4 Laps
33	21	Jordan Giles	Richardsons Trek DAS	+4 Laps
34	58	Tom Cullen	Otley CC	+4 Laps
35	30	Matthew Wilson	Ride Revolution Coaching	+5 Laps
36	41	Joe Holt	TEKKERZ CC	+5 Laps
37	37	Jamie Pullen	TAAP Kalas	+5 Laps
38	36	Cameron McLaren	TAAP Kalas	+5 Laps
39	76	Dylan Belton Owen	VC Londres	+5 Laps
40	7	Dan Galpin	HUUB BCC Race Team	+5 Laps
41	45	Jake Jackson	THRIVA-SRCT	+5 Laps
42	6	Benjamin Flatau	HUUB BCC Race Team	+5 Laps
43	8	Sebastian Garry	HUUB BCC Race Team	+6 Laps
44	16	Matthew Gilmour	Primera-TeamJobs	+6 Laps
45	72	Tom Smith	Velo Club Venta	+6 Laps
46	29	Blake Roberts	Ride Revolution Coaching	+6 Laps
47	5	Matthew Brown	HUUB BCC Race Team	+6 Laps
48	78	Charlie Parry	Mud Dock Racing	+7 Laps
49	12	Felix Skelton	Mud Dock Racing	+7 Laps
50	74	Owain Williams	London Dynamo	+8 Laps
	4	Charles Page	Foran CT	DNF
	9	Zak Machin	HUUB BCC Race Team	DNF
	10	Joshua Horsfield	Mud Dock Racing	DNF
	14	Guido Blee	Primera-TeamJobs	DNF
	15	Thomas Doig	Primera-TeamJobs	DNF
	17	Harry Birchill	Saint Piran	DNF
	18	Dylan Hicks	Saint Piran	DNF
	22	Conor McGoldrick	Richardsons Trek DAS	DNF
	24	Jim Brown	Ribble Rebellion	DNF
	31	Daniel Barnes	Spectra Racing	DNF
	34	James Ambrose Parish	TAAP Kalas	DNF
	42	Benjamin Tuchner	TEKKERZ CC	DNF
	47	Scott Redding	THRIVA-SRCT	DNF
	49	Tom Williams	THRIVA-SRCT	DNF
	51	Aaron King	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	DNF
	55	Declan Egan	Kingston Wheelers CC	DNF
	56	Reece Pittman	Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club	DNF
	57	Benjamin Hellebo	London Dynamo	DNF
	59	Ben Marsh	PROJECT 1 Cycling Team	DNF
	63	Ross Fawcett	Stolen Goat Race Team	DNF
	65	Tobi Ng	Team PB Performance	DNF
	66	Mak Larkin	trainSharp Development Team	DNF
	67	Robyn Llewellyn	TRASH MILE	DNF
	73	Benjamin Fish	TAAP Kalas	DNF
	75	Tom Lightfoot	Ride Revolution Coaching	DNF
	77	Alexander Stanley	VC Meudon	DNF
	60	Mohammad Ganjkhanlou	Reading CC	DSQ

National Circuit Series standings

Women

Individual

Rank	Name	Team			Points
1	Isabel Darvill	Doltcini – OShea			120
2	Corinne Side				118
3	Dannielle Watkinson	Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon			100
4	Robyn Clay	DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK			82
5	Frankie Hall	DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK			78
6	Eilidh Shaw	Alba Development Road Team			71
7	Beth Morrow	Alba Development Road Team			66
8	Amy Perryman	TEKKERZ CC			63
9	Megan Anderson	Team Boompods			60
10	Lucy Glover	Shibden Apex RT			56
11	Millie Couzens	Fenix-Deceuninck			50
12	Alice Colling	Shibden Apex RT			48
13	Alex Morrice	CANYON // SRAM Racing Team			48
14	Mari Porton	Tofauti Everyone Active			47
15	Lucy Benezet Minns	Tofauti Everyone Active			46
16	Cat Ferguson	Shibden Apex RT			46
17	Samantha Fawcett	Spectra Racing			46
18	Xan Crees	Spectra Racing			44
19	Alderney Baker	Team Empella			44
20	Anna Flynn	Spectra Racing			44

Team

Rank	Team		Points
1	DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK		289
2	Alba Development Road Team		216
3	Tofauti Everyone Active		167
4	Pro-Noctis – 200º Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting Ltd		160
5	Team Boompods		124
6	Shibden Apex RT		119
7	Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon		113
8	Loughborough Lightning		83
9	Brother UK – On Form		74
10	Saint Piran WRT		67
11	Spectra Racing		59
12	FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing		51
13	Doltcini – OShea		39
14	Nouvelles Cycling x Prendas		12
15	London Academy		10

Open

Individual

Rank	Name	Team	Points
1	Robert Scott	TEKKERZ CC	148
2	Matthew Bostock	Ribble Rebellion	116
3	Alec Briggs	TEKKERZ CC	112
4	Toby Barnes	Spectra Racing	92
5	Callum Laborde	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	90
6	William Truelove	THRIVA-SRCT	88
7	Harry Macfarlane	TAAP Kalas	87
8	Oliver Rees	Sabgal/Anicolor	86
9	William Roberts	Saint Piran	82
10	Jim Brown	Ribble Rebellion	80
11	David Hird	Cycling Sheffield	79
12	Thomas Armstrong	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	78
13	Cole Davis	Ribble Rebellion	77
14	Joseph Smith	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	76
15	Thomas Heal	Stolen Goat Race Team	70
16	Bjoern Koerdt	CC Etupes	67
17	Max Rushby	Ribble Rebellion	64
18	Tom Couzens	Ribble Rebellion	58
19	Cai Davies	Richardsons Trek DAS	49
20	Jake Hales	Ride Revolution Coaching	48

Team

Rank	Team	Points
1	Ribble Rebellion	335
2	TEKKERZ CC	298
3	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	266
4	Spectra Racing	164
4	Saint Piran	164
6	THRIVA-SRCT	143
7	Ride Revolution Coaching	106
8	Foran CT	74
9	Cycling Sheffield	73
10	TAAP Kalas	67
11	HUUB BCC Race Team	64
12	Primera-TeamJobs	59
13	Richardsons Trek DAS	44
14	Mud Dock Racing	13
15	360cycling	7