Esme Wiley headed a London Academy one-two as she sprinted her way to a maiden Nat B victory as she claimed the glory at the Maria Thompson Memorial Road Race ahead of Georgia Huddleston and Millie Gage (Wolfix Strykr Le Col Race Team).
The race, organised by Kingston Wheelers, also played host to the final round of the British Women’s Team Cup with the overall title sealed by London Academy.
On a bright Surrey day, the final round of the British Women’s Team Cup rolled out with the perfect conditions for a title to be decided on the undulating, technical, Norwood Hill circuit.
From the word go, attacks were going off the front of the peloton with Rosie Simmons (Loughborough Lightning) powering ahead first as she looked to lead from the front. But the group wasn’t looking to let anyone take an early leap off into the distance, even when Duncan Murray Wines Road Race winner Flo Wiggins (London Academy) tried to up the pace; the peloton was resolute in its belief that they were going to let no one go solo.
There were a few other attacks, with a Jadan Vive Le Velo p/b Glasdon and a Paralloy RT rider both launching solo moves, and Rachel Chung (Rapha Cycling Club) and Harriet Moore (Raptor London) working together for a little time, but nothing ever stuck for any notable duration.
Moore and Chung launch an attack. Image: Mark James
Even London Academy with its numerical advantage, were really able to establish a stranglehold on the front of the race. Indeed, crossing the line with two laps to go, it was remarkable just how many different jerseys were represented at the front of a bunch that was still going along at a fair clip.
Indeed, apart from neutralising attacks, the shape of the bunch only particularly changed when riders started to lose their grip on the peloton which was putting out a fast pace on the steep Norwood Hill climb. But, as Wiley admitted to The British Continental after the race, that wasn’t through lack of trying from her team.
She said: “We came into the race leading the Team Cup so we were hoping to try and get someone away. We had a few attacks and stuff like that, but no one really wanted to go with it. It was a lot of people just trying to chase it down, so it ended up just sticking together.”
Come the final lap, it seemed destined that the large group was going to get its sprinting shape together and launch a mass attack to the line. And so, exactly that came to pass. With riders all winding up their legs and squeezing out every last watt they could muster, the group started to fracture and as the field closed in on the line it was Wiley, her team-mate Georgia Huddleston and Millie Gage (Wolfix Strykr Le Col Race Team) who were a length or so clear of the rest.
Wiley takes the win in a three-up sprint. Image: Mark James
On the lunge, it was Wiley who took the honours, with Huddleston just squeezing ahead of Gage by what must have been the width of a tyre at most.
After the finish, Wiley praised her London Academy squad for a finish plan executed to perfection: “The plan then was to get me into a good position for the finish, which ended up working quite well!
“I’ve won a couple of regional races this year, but yeah this is the first proper big win. It feels really good, it’s a nice way to end the season as well. I’ve done a lot of racing and I had my best Nat B result at the the last round of the Team Cup which was 10th so it’s nice to get a bit better than that!”
A one-two finish for London Academy ensured they won the British Women’s Team Cup title in style, having finished second last season behind Brother UK-On Form. They finished on 1590 points, with second place being a tie between FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing and Loughborough Lightning, both squads finishing on 1120.
London Academy celebrates winning the British Women’s Team Cup. Image: Mark James
Esme Wiley headed a London Academy one-two as she sprinted her way to a maiden Nat B victory as she claimed the glory at the Maria Thompson Memorial Road Race ahead of Georgia Huddleston and Millie Gage (Wolfix Strykr Le Col Race Team).
The race, organised by Kingston Wheelers, also played host to the final round of the British Women’s Team Cup with the overall title sealed by London Academy.
Featured Image: Mark James
Report
On a bright Surrey day, the final round of the British Women’s Team Cup rolled out with the perfect conditions for a title to be decided on the undulating, technical, Norwood Hill circuit.
From the word go, attacks were going off the front of the peloton with Rosie Simmons (Loughborough Lightning) powering ahead first as she looked to lead from the front. But the group wasn’t looking to let anyone take an early leap off into the distance, even when Duncan Murray Wines Road Race winner Flo Wiggins (London Academy) tried to up the pace; the peloton was resolute in its belief that they were going to let no one go solo.
There were a few other attacks, with a Jadan Vive Le Velo p/b Glasdon and a Paralloy RT rider both launching solo moves, and Rachel Chung (Rapha Cycling Club) and Harriet Moore (Raptor London) working together for a little time, but nothing ever stuck for any notable duration.
Even London Academy with its numerical advantage, were really able to establish a stranglehold on the front of the race. Indeed, crossing the line with two laps to go, it was remarkable just how many different jerseys were represented at the front of a bunch that was still going along at a fair clip.
Indeed, apart from neutralising attacks, the shape of the bunch only particularly changed when riders started to lose their grip on the peloton which was putting out a fast pace on the steep Norwood Hill climb. But, as Wiley admitted to The British Continental after the race, that wasn’t through lack of trying from her team.
She said: “We came into the race leading the Team Cup so we were hoping to try and get someone away. We had a few attacks and stuff like that, but no one really wanted to go with it. It was a lot of people just trying to chase it down, so it ended up just sticking together.”
Come the final lap, it seemed destined that the large group was going to get its sprinting shape together and launch a mass attack to the line. And so, exactly that came to pass. With riders all winding up their legs and squeezing out every last watt they could muster, the group started to fracture and as the field closed in on the line it was Wiley, her team-mate Georgia Huddleston and Millie Gage (Wolfix Strykr Le Col Race Team) who were a length or so clear of the rest.
On the lunge, it was Wiley who took the honours, with Huddleston just squeezing ahead of Gage by what must have been the width of a tyre at most.
After the finish, Wiley praised her London Academy squad for a finish plan executed to perfection: “The plan then was to get me into a good position for the finish, which ended up working quite well!
“I’ve won a couple of regional races this year, but yeah this is the first proper big win. It feels really good, it’s a nice way to end the season as well. I’ve done a lot of racing and I had my best Nat B result at the the last round of the Team Cup which was 10th so it’s nice to get a bit better than that!”
A one-two finish for London Academy ensured they won the British Women’s Team Cup title in style, having finished second last season behind Brother UK-On Form. They finished on 1590 points, with second place being a tie between FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing and Loughborough Lightning, both squads finishing on 1120.
Result
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