CiCLE Classic
The 10th edition of the ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic was held on Sunday in and around Melton Mowbray.
The thankfully dry conditions made for some exciting and chaotic racing; after a number of early moves were brought back English rider, Noémie Thomson (DAS-Hutchinson) attacked with 32km to go and was able to power away to victory after distancing Maddie Cooper (Handsling-Alba) and defending champion Lucy Gadd.
An early puncture would hit Melanie Rowe, but the Camsmajaco rider would power back on to the peloton and stay in the main group throughout – sitting on in the final selection of 10 behind Thomson and biding her time, while fellow Scot Morven Yeoman (DAS-Hutchinson) would keep the pressure on the front to try to dissuade further attacks.
In the sprint for second, Melanie Rowe would ride to a marvellous second place, just pipping Motherwell’s Yeoman to third.
Rowe, the first year junior, would take the Under-23 victory and now leads that classification in the National Road Series. There was a strong ride too from Daisy Taylor (Hera Project), making that group, to come home in 11th place.
It was however a more challenging day for Handsling-Alba, while Cooper was able to score sixth place, bad luck would beset the Scottish riders on the team.
A crash involving Anna Flynn and Beth Morrow would ruin their respective races. Flynn suffered a mechanical misfortune, while Morrow would chase back on with Arianne Holland who had suffered two punctures on the off road sectors. The duo were then caught behind another crash to rule them out of futher contention.
The junior open event saw more chaos in the morning.
Louis Thornley (Spokes RT-Oscar Onley Dev.) was strong throughout the early stages of the race but a dropped chain just before the crucial Somerberg off-road sector would hamper his race. Punctures would also badly affect some of the other Spokes and Scotland riders including Brodie Duncan.
However, there would be an excellent ride from Spokes’ Zach Barbour, the former Edinburgh RC rider managing to chase down moves from the lead group in the final, before coming home in eighth
Midwest Classic
Eilidh Shaw (UAE Development Team) rode to a strong sixth place at the Midwest Cycling Classic (1.1) in Belgium.
The peloton stayed together throughout and the Airdrie rider stayed in a strong position to sprint to sixth place and stay ahead of the small split in the peloton in the twisty final.
Kate Richardson was the top rider from Handsling-Alba, with the Glaswegian finishing in 32nd. The positives to take from the Scottish team was that all five of their riders finished in the front group, including Arabella Blackburn who made her debut at a UCI race.
Giro dell’Appennino
Lauren Dickson (FDJ United – Suez) was at forefront of racing at the Giro dell’Appennino (1.1) on Sunday. The Edinburgh rider was setting an extremely high tempo for her teammates and whittled the main group of contenders down to around 10 riders in the final 35km of racing.
The Scot stayed in contention on the final climb with 20km to go, but would lose time on the leaders on the descent – before coming across the line for a very creditable tenth place in Italy, and beating a few riders in the second group on the road in the sprint.
Ben Forsyth Race Day
The opening round of the Scottish Youth Circuit Series was held in Lochgelly.
At Fife Cycle Park, the Ben Forsyth Cup in the Youth A Open Race was won in a thrilling two-up sprint, with Shibden Apex RT’s Andrew Levinson getting the better of Reuben McLardie (Johnstone Jets). Falkirk Junior BC’s Gregor McNaught came in 32 seconds later while Edinburgh RC’s defending champion, Micah Myles, had to pull out with cramp in his last circuit race before concentrating on track sprinting.
Zara Main (Deeside Thistle CC) got the better of her closely matched rivals in a tight bunch finish ahead of ERC’s Lucy Sweeny and Izzy Barbour in the Youth A Female event. Eilidh Scally (Johnstone Jets) and Alex Mullen (Falkirk Junior BC) won out in the Youth B event.
Full results can be found here
Pic: Steve Murphy
Knockhill Mountain TT
Sticking in Fife, the Joe Wilson Cup was up for grabs at the opening time trial of the season organised by Dunfermline CC at the Knockhill Mountain Time Trial.
Oliver Pemberton (GTR-Return to Life) claimed the win with new course record of 54:33 over the 40km from Archie Findlay (Vanelli Project GO) with a 57:28, with Alastair McNicol (Dooley’s Cycles) rounding off the podium being the only other rider to break the hour mark in the Kingdom (58:46).