Genuinly don't think I've ever raced as well as I did today, I was on such a day and my form was unreal. Leading up to this race my teammate Isaac Peatfield was 2nd overall in the national series and we were all in to get him the win. I was given the role of road captain and was to be Isaac's bodyguard.
I've done Beaumont Trophy twice before, I've finished both times so know it well. It's 185km on grippy roads of Northumberland. We were to ascend the Ryals (a top another 100 climb), it's not too hard but has two tough sections at the top and is exposed to wind over the top.
The race started pretty much as badly for us as possible. Jake Scott (leader of the national series) made the breakaway. None of Crimson made it, Ribble had a rider there so they didn't have to chase and before we knew it the break had a 3 minute lead.
We hit the descent before the Ryals for the first time and I managed to sneak to the front on the inside and met Isaac. I said "get on my wheel and I'll get you to the front". I did just that and kept going. Isaac slotted in about 5th wheel and I got to about 3rd. My teammate Ed Beecher was on the front and as Tom Gloag attacked on the right with a Ribble rider I jumped across solo to join them.
I honestly felt so good. I let the Ribble guy suffer and I moved alongside Tom Gloag and twisted the screw. I was doing like 600w on the steep bit and it genuinely didn't feel that hard. Tim Gloag was breathing heavy so I pressed on. We were approaching the top and Rob Scott from Canyon had joined us and attacked on my right. I followed him and when he pulled off, I drove it again. There was a shout from behind saying "Jude rail it" or something like that. I realised it way my teammate Adam Mitchell so I just went for it. I absolutely buried myself. I did 450w for the 5 minute climb.
I was caning it over the top of the descent with no idea what was going on behind. I knew it was a tailwind so the climb would be hard for non climbers and it's so hard to chase with limited draft. But when I looked back I did not expect there to be only 15 people left...
I was absolutely buzzarding that I'd managed pretty much single-handedly split a prem like that. The group that had made it was top caliber too. We had Alex Richardson, Steve Lampier, Rob Scott, Matt Gibson, Adam Mitchell and a few others I didn't recognise. The bad thing was Isaac had missed it but so had Alex Peters from Swift Carbon. We railed it for the next 15km and actually brought the gap to the break back to 90s. Once we passed the feed zone we started to splinter. Everyone kept attacking trying to reduce our numbers and make a more cohesive chase. I just kept following and chasing the leaders. I didn't want the top guys to get away from me and make to the break.
It was actually so hard following everything but with all our playing around we got brought back. I assume Swift Carbon were chasing for Alex Peters but couldn't be sure. It had been 35 minutes from the start of the attack to now and I'd averaged 340W and 370np, pretty tough for the first hour of a prem.
Once caught, I sat back for a bit, found Isaac and kept him safe. Irritatingly about this point the group split again and none of us were in it. I could see Adam and Isaac chasing about 5 seconds back. I couldn't let this happen so moved up on the outside, got on the front and bridged the gap with Isaac. He was the only guy to follow me so I was pleased I got him into the front group with him doing no work. I actually don't know how I could keep doing it after that breakaway.
Eventually our group swelled, and the chasers caught us but the key thing was keeping Isaac in a place without working. Not a lot happened from there until the Ryals. The gap to the break went back to 3 minutes as no one really chased. I kept to the back of the peloton and just rested.
We appeared to cruise up the Ryals until I got to the top to find it had split and I was in the second group. It didn't matter to me as I could see Isaac in the front. I let everyone else chase and it it came back together. I found Alex Peters and just marked him through the feedzone. It turned out this was a fantastic call because he was attacking and the group split. I can't quite remember exactly what was going on but I know I was in the front group closing gaps to Matt Gibson and Alex Richardson again. But unfortunately I couldn't keep that up any more. Again, I sat back and recovered. This was actually catastrophic!
The group kept attacking and eventually it split again with the best riders in an attack off the front. Alex Peters, Alex Richardson and Matt Gibson were all there but none of us. When I realised what had happened, I got back on the front to chase.
With help from some others we kept the gap from becoming ridiculous. I was pulling really long hard turns to keep them close. I'd recovered quite a lot so could pull big turns but annoyingly a group attacked past me and got away! We got to the base of the Ryals again, I found Isaac, moved him up and said I wouldn't go too hard...
We could see all the breaks ahead of us now and the chase to get them back was on. We rode the climb hard. My group was splitting like mad but I was right at the front. I was going hard, at over 400w and Isaac was suffering right on my wheel. I said, I'll keep it constant on here to save him and then rail it over the top. I did just that; we ascended in tandem and my chase carried on.
There were 2 groups ahead, one at about 15s and one at 45s or so. Both these gaps were bridgeable and I just buried myself. I said to both Adam and Isaac "I'm going to bury myself until I blow". I was railing it. I did get quite a bit of help but I was pulling the biggest turns just burying it until I couldn't anymore. Eventually we brought back the first group and then a few kilometres later we caught the big front group of favourites.
However I think the actual favourites had attacked out of there on the Ryals and were bridging to the break. We got told they had 2 minutes which would be tough to bring back. For this 15 minute chase I did 320W average and 350NP which I was really pleased with.
I was on my last dregs of energy now, I gave Isaac my remaining gels and sat right at the back hanging on. After a few more k's I felt better and Isaac asked me to chase. So I did. But it wasn't my best, I could barely do 300W now. So far I'd averaged 255W and 320NP for 3.5 hours. It was a big day for me. But I just wanted to give everything for Isaac. I really enjoyed having a role with tangible goals and when I had such great legs, it was brilliant to carry out my duty! Hilariously I did that last turn, recovered and still had enough legs to do one final pull!
Now that was actually it. I sat at the back waiting to get spat. I'd done 155km now at full gas and was genuinely worried I would have to walk up the Ryals. Fortunately I didn't but the pace was a tad hot for me. Maybe I could have stayed with it if I'd started at the front and slipped back but I'd had enough now. I crested, found my team car, got a tow, some food, a telling off from a commissare and then rode to the start at an easy pace waving to the crowds.
I had a great race. I was on a fantastic day, my form was the best it's ever been and I was actually the instigator of part of the race. Unfortunately it didn't work out in the end. Jake Scott won the race and Finn Crocket beat Isaac in the sprint knocking him down to 4th overall. That's still a phenomenal result and we gave it our all!