This weekend was the Yorkshire World Championships, one of my season targets. I was on some good form for it, finishing Ryedale GP and coming2nd in a 2/3/4 RR the previous week. A top 10 placing was my target.
The course was the same as BUCS RR, but one lap extra making eight, totalling 140km with over 2300m of climbing. One thing to note was the severity of the wind; with several long, open sections the wind was going to play a pivotal role. The field was moderately strong but headlined by two Wiggins riders (Joey Walker and Rob Scott) and Connor Swift (Madison Genesis). I had three other teammates which made things easier and not long after neutralised Archie went on a solo mission. I laughed to myself having done something similar in BUCS and just stayed sat in. Half a lap later a series of attacks allowed a group of maybe 10 riders to get away. Andy was in that group with Kieran chasing to bridge. With three teammates up the road I was safely tucked in. As the three pros were still in my group I anticipated things would come back together.
Low and behold, in an open crosswind section, the Wiggins boys threw down a monster move. Obviously, I couldn’t let it go so jumped straightonto it, just in front of Connor Swift. The pace was unreal, totally unsustainable and it was my five-minute peak for the race. We swept up Kieran in the process and split the field in two. With two teammates up the road I didn’t really want to work and I let them know, but sometimes in the crosswinds the only way to stick with it is to pull turns. I pulled through when needed to and we bridged to the break after an astonishing effort averaging nearly 50 kph.
It took a lot out of me; these guys weren’t hanging around. They knew exactly what effort to do and when to apply it. I’d made the front group with only 20-25 riders left after two laps! We had a “relatively easy” third lap until we hit the main climb. I was still feeling good and somehow with the aid of a great draft up the climb, ended up solo with a small gap and pushed on over the top hoping to get swallowed up quickly. I kept looking back thinking they’d chase me, but nothing came.
Now I was solo with 75km to go…
After a third of a lap solo, a lone rider bridged to me. Rob Scott from Wiggins. I had no idea what to do, I felt good but there was no way I could last 5 more laps in a two-up break. He pulled longer turns, but I did my fair share and after half a lap we got told we had a gap of 70 seconds!
I still had no idea what to do but we kept it sensible riding below threshold and fortunately for me, after just over 30 minutes in the break a splinter group joined us. In hindsight, I’d made the right call. It meant I didn’t have to do a second humongous effort to bridge across, and I had an excuse to rest for a bit.
I knew the next time up Bulmer Bank was about to kick off when all three pros got to the front on the descent before it. And kick off it did, they lay down a massive attack at the steepest point and I was getting distanced. Somehow, I managed to dig deep enough to hold onto the front group of 6. This group contained all three Pros, Andy, Dave Shackleton and Jake Tanner so it was THE move to be in.
Just when I thought I was safe in it, Connor Swift let a gap open, directly before a 90 degree corner. I was in last wheel, behind Andy. I figured out what was going on too late and as soon as we hit the cross wind section Connor lay down a massive attack to bridge to the lead 4 riders. Andy dropped the wheel and I couldn’t follow the move in that wind. I wasangry, I was strong enough to make the front group, but not smart enough to read the situation.
I made a call to not chase it and took it easy for a couple of km’s allowing myself to be swallowed up by a group of 9 behind. They were obviously tired by now and it showed. We tried to keep pulling turns and mainly did a respectable job, but riders did miss turns and broke the rhythm quite a bit.
The lead group of 5 pulled away from us but we had a 4 minute gap over our chasers so we were sprinting for 6th downwards. On the last lap, there were a series of attacks, with riders going solo and I was beginning to suffer from fatigue. The final time up Bulmer Bank was tough and I just hung onto the top 5 as the group split. We were all knackered and unfortunately it all came back together over the top.
With 4 km to go my friend Freddie tried to go into a gap that just wasn’t there. He got caught in the grass and came down in the road. I saw it happening and slowed down just enough so as the guy in front of me came down I could stop. I managed not to hit the deck but when I tried to restart, my chain was off so I had to dismount, put it back on and get going.
With this incident, the group had split in two, a four and a three. I put in a big effort, somehow bridged to the second group of three and immediately attacked them. It was the right move to make but not executed that well. They tucked in and counterattacked quickly, almost dropping me!
I just hung on and we raised the pace, trying to catch the lead group of 4. We caught them with 500m to go as they were caught behind a tractor. This outrageous behaviour from the farmer ruined our sprint and we all rolled across the line in astonishment that he’d pulled out when instructed not to.
Due to this incident, my group of 8 have all been given joint 6th place which I think is the fairest way to deal with it. My legs were ace and it was a great race. It turned out that Rob Scott, who I was in the two-up break with, went on to win!
The course was the same as BUCS RR, but one lap extra making eight, totalling 140km with over 2300m of climbing. One thing to note was the severity of the wind; with several long, open sections the wind was going to play a pivotal role. The field was moderately strong but headlined by two Wiggins riders (Joey Walker and Rob Scott) and Connor Swift (Madison Genesis). I had three other teammates which made things easier and not long after neutralised Archie went on a solo mission. I laughed to myself having done something similar in BUCS and just stayed sat in. Half a lap later a series of attacks allowed a group of maybe 10 riders to get away. Andy was in that group with Kieran chasing to bridge. With three teammates up the road I was safely tucked in. As the three pros were still in my group I anticipated things would come back together.
Low and behold, in an open crosswind section, the Wiggins boys threw down a monster move. Obviously, I couldn’t let it go so jumped straightonto it, just in front of Connor Swift. The pace was unreal, totally unsustainable and it was my five-minute peak for the race. We swept up Kieran in the process and split the field in two. With two teammates up the road I didn’t really want to work and I let them know, but sometimes in the crosswinds the only way to stick with it is to pull turns. I pulled through when needed to and we bridged to the break after an astonishing effort averaging nearly 50 kph.
It took a lot out of me; these guys weren’t hanging around. They knew exactly what effort to do and when to apply it. I’d made the front group with only 20-25 riders left after two laps! We had a “relatively easy” third lap until we hit the main climb. I was still feeling good and somehow with the aid of a great draft up the climb, ended up solo with a small gap and pushed on over the top hoping to get swallowed up quickly. I kept looking back thinking they’d chase me, but nothing came.
Now I was solo with 75km to go…
After a third of a lap solo, a lone rider bridged to me. Rob Scott from Wiggins. I had no idea what to do, I felt good but there was no way I could last 5 more laps in a two-up break. He pulled longer turns, but I did my fair share and after half a lap we got told we had a gap of 70 seconds!
I still had no idea what to do but we kept it sensible riding below threshold and fortunately for me, after just over 30 minutes in the break a splinter group joined us. In hindsight, I’d made the right call. It meant I didn’t have to do a second humongous effort to bridge across, and I had an excuse to rest for a bit.
I knew the next time up Bulmer Bank was about to kick off when all three pros got to the front on the descent before it. And kick off it did, they lay down a massive attack at the steepest point and I was getting distanced. Somehow, I managed to dig deep enough to hold onto the front group of 6. This group contained all three Pros, Andy, Dave Shackleton and Jake Tanner so it was THE move to be in.
Just when I thought I was safe in it, Connor Swift let a gap open, directly before a 90 degree corner. I was in last wheel, behind Andy. I figured out what was going on too late and as soon as we hit the cross wind section Connor lay down a massive attack to bridge to the lead 4 riders. Andy dropped the wheel and I couldn’t follow the move in that wind. I wasangry, I was strong enough to make the front group, but not smart enough to read the situation.
I made a call to not chase it and took it easy for a couple of km’s allowing myself to be swallowed up by a group of 9 behind. They were obviously tired by now and it showed. We tried to keep pulling turns and mainly did a respectable job, but riders did miss turns and broke the rhythm quite a bit.
The lead group of 5 pulled away from us but we had a 4 minute gap over our chasers so we were sprinting for 6th downwards. On the last lap, there were a series of attacks, with riders going solo and I was beginning to suffer from fatigue. The final time up Bulmer Bank was tough and I just hung onto the top 5 as the group split. We were all knackered and unfortunately it all came back together over the top.
With 4 km to go my friend Freddie tried to go into a gap that just wasn’t there. He got caught in the grass and came down in the road. I saw it happening and slowed down just enough so as the guy in front of me came down I could stop. I managed not to hit the deck but when I tried to restart, my chain was off so I had to dismount, put it back on and get going.
With this incident, the group had split in two, a four and a three. I put in a big effort, somehow bridged to the second group of three and immediately attacked them. It was the right move to make but not executed that well. They tucked in and counterattacked quickly, almost dropping me!
I just hung on and we raised the pace, trying to catch the lead group of 4. We caught them with 500m to go as they were caught behind a tractor. This outrageous behaviour from the farmer ruined our sprint and we all rolled across the line in astonishment that he’d pulled out when instructed not to.
Due to this incident, my group of 8 have all been given joint 6th place which I think is the fairest way to deal with it. My legs were ace and it was a great race. It turned out that Rob Scott, who I was in the two-up break with, went on to win!
