2026 Stourbridge CC U23 Road Race: report and results
Luca Nicholson made it two wins from two in the Under-23 Open National Road Series on Sunday 14 June, the Velo Club Baracchi rider following his solo victory at Gilmorton with a perfectly timed sprint at the end of a rapid, interrupted Stourbridge CC round at Welland.
Three months in, it’s turning into quite the season for Luca Nicholson (Velo Club Barrachi), who has ridden just two rounds of the Under-23 Open National Road Series, and won both of them. Following his solo win in late March in a brutally attritional PB Performance race at Gilmorton, Sunday’s victory in the Stourbridge CC round of the series at Welland in Worcester called on different qualities: perfect timing and instinctive sprinting at the end of a very rapid 80 miles, run off in well under three hours.
Featured image: Josh Wheeler/JoWSportsMedia
Report
Following a fruitless early move by Elliott Colyer (AeroCLCTV) and Jamie Whitcher (Hubo-Scott), the race only really took shape after a half-hour halt with exactly two laps to go, when the race was stopped at the feed station on Castlemorton Common following a nasty crash involving two riders which held up the medical cover as the casualties were dealt with.
Image: Josh Wheeler/JoWSportsMedia
The race was restarted with three riders off the front, Whitcher, James Sawyers (Cycling Sheffield) and Jack Baldie (Pronto Bikes) and with a lap and a half – roughly 25 miles – to go, the trio had carved out just over a minute’s lead on an eight-rider chasing group that included Archie Wright (Ride Revolution Coaching), Oliver Gill (C’Chartres Cyclisme), Jake Lunt (360cycling), Will Pollard (PB Performance), Rory Gravelle (Tirol-KTM), George Stephen (BCC Race Team), Archie Wright (Aero CLCTV) and Denholm Elliott of Cycling Sheffield, with the peloton at a further 25 seconds.
Eight against three should have only gone one way, but while the peloton gave the eight chasers 30 seconds leeway, they never really closed on the three leaders, and approaching Upton upon Severn with three-quarters of the final lap gone, the peloton gradually chased down the chase group, with Nicholson eventually bridging.
Image: Josh Wheeler/JoWSportsMedia
The catch was made as the race turned left in Welland village to tackle the drag up through the feed station for the last turn, with a 56 second gap to the break, and at this point Nicholson set off in solo pursuit of the break.
“I’d gone from the bunch to the second group,” he explained, “but they caught us on the corner, then I moved across to a couple of chasers, and just drilled it. I knew I was racing for fourth, I didn’t think I would catch the first three.”
But when the trio took the final right turn to head up the 1.1kilometre climb to the finish outside the little church at Hollybush, there he was in their slipstream, and after Whitcher launched the sprint, Nicholson came round him to claim the win, “almost blacking out” with the effort, with Baldie finishing third. Behind, the bunch had closed as they raced up the hill, with Lewis Tinsley (BCC) and the front part of the peloton finishing on Sawyers’ heels.
Image: Josh Wheeler/JoWSportsMedia
“The overall in the series would be nice,” mused Nicholson as he waited for the prize presentation, and if he keeps up the form that has given him three Nat B wins this season – he added the Eastern Regional title a couple of weeks ago – you wouldn’t bet against it.
Three months in, it’s turning into quite the season for Luca Nicholson (Velo Club Barrachi), who has ridden just two rounds of the Under-23 Open National Road Series, and won both of them. Following his solo win in late March in a brutally attritional PB Performance race at Gilmorton, Sunday’s victory in the Stourbridge CC round of the series at Welland in Worcester called on different qualities: perfect timing and instinctive sprinting at the end of a very rapid 80 miles, run off in well under three hours.
Featured image: Josh Wheeler/JoWSportsMedia
Report
Following a fruitless early move by Elliott Colyer (AeroCLCTV) and Jamie Whitcher (Hubo-Scott), the race only really took shape after a half-hour halt with exactly two laps to go, when the race was stopped at the feed station on Castlemorton Common following a nasty crash involving two riders which held up the medical cover as the casualties were dealt with.
The race was restarted with three riders off the front, Whitcher, James Sawyers (Cycling Sheffield) and Jack Baldie (Pronto Bikes) and with a lap and a half – roughly 25 miles – to go, the trio had carved out just over a minute’s lead on an eight-rider chasing group that included Archie Wright (Ride Revolution Coaching), Oliver Gill (C’Chartres Cyclisme), Jake Lunt (360cycling), Will Pollard (PB Performance), Rory Gravelle (Tirol-KTM), George Stephen (BCC Race Team), Archie Wright (Aero CLCTV) and Denholm Elliott of Cycling Sheffield, with the peloton at a further 25 seconds.
Eight against three should have only gone one way, but while the peloton gave the eight chasers 30 seconds leeway, they never really closed on the three leaders, and approaching Upton upon Severn with three-quarters of the final lap gone, the peloton gradually chased down the chase group, with Nicholson eventually bridging.
The catch was made as the race turned left in Welland village to tackle the drag up through the feed station for the last turn, with a 56 second gap to the break, and at this point Nicholson set off in solo pursuit of the break.
“I’d gone from the bunch to the second group,” he explained, “but they caught us on the corner, then I moved across to a couple of chasers, and just drilled it. I knew I was racing for fourth, I didn’t think I would catch the first three.”
But when the trio took the final right turn to head up the 1.1kilometre climb to the finish outside the little church at Hollybush, there he was in their slipstream, and after Whitcher launched the sprint, Nicholson came round him to claim the win, “almost blacking out” with the effort, with Baldie finishing third. Behind, the bunch had closed as they raced up the hill, with Lewis Tinsley (BCC) and the front part of the peloton finishing on Sawyers’ heels.
“The overall in the series would be nice,” mused Nicholson as he waited for the prize presentation, and if he keeps up the form that has given him three Nat B wins this season – he added the Eastern Regional title a couple of weeks ago – you wouldn’t bet against it.
Results
Series standings
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