National Madison Champs Jan 28th 2012

Sigma Sport Specialized rider Tom Murray teamed up with Sky Pro Cycling rider Alex Dowsett to win the Silver medal in the National Madison Championships at Manchester Velodrome last Saturday.  In this event one rider races round the track while their team mate rests, then they relay each other into the race with a hand sling. Every 10 laps there is a sprint for points but teams can also gain laps on each other.  Only 3 teams were on the same lap by the end of the 50km race so it went down to points scored with the 100% Me team of Mark Christian & Simon Yates winning with 31 points, Murray & Dowsett scored 23 points & George Atkins & Owain Doull (100% Me) in 3rd with 9 points.

 

Mirfield youngster Jake Womersley (Sportscover RT) teamed up with Ollie Wood & matched Murray’s result in the Youth Madison Championships.  The 60 lap race was won by James Shaw & Fabio Close.

 

Abby Mae Parkinson (RST Racing Team-Trigon) teamed up with Melissa Lowther (Aire Valley RT) to take 3rd place in the Girls event.

 

 

The Chep UK team won the Future Stars competition in the Revolution track series on Saturday night at Manchester Velodrome.  This team is filled with the best young riders from Yorkshire, including several from Huddersfield, including Womersley, Parkinson & former Holme Valley Wheeler Jacob Scott (Planet X).  Scott had a great evening’s racing taking the win in the 5km Scratch & 3rd in the Points race.

 

 

Huddersfield Star Wheeler Ivan Boyes braved the snow over the Pennines to travel to Manchester for the First Division Track League last Friday.  Boyes best result was a win in the group 4 Points race.

UCI Masters Cyclo-Cross Champs

 

There’s not many local cycling clubs that can boast a World Champion as a member but Condor Road Club rider John Ginley acheived this feat at the recent UCI World Masters Cyclo-Cross Championships in Louisville, Kentucky.  Ginley won the Over 70s category from fellow Brit Mick Ives (Team Jewson) but his race was not without incident as his tubular tyre rolled off his wheel rim on the penultimate lap & had to swap onto an unfamiliar spare bike for the last lap.

 

Read more about John's exploits on the British Cycling website

 

 

Gabz Cullaigh won the 50 lap points race at last Tuesday’s Premier Track League at Manchester Velodrome.  The RST Racing Team rider also got 3rd in the 64 lap Scratch race & 4th in the Devil Race in Group 2.  Top Huddersfield Pro rider Tom Murray (Sigmasport Specialized) was riding in Group 1 & his best results were 2nd in the 40 lap Scratch race, 3rd in the 64 lap Scratch race & 4th in the 50 lap Points race.  Murray & Alex Dowsett (Team Sky) are one of the favourites for this Saturday’s National Madison Championships at Manchester. 

 

 

Former Kirklees Cycling Academy rider Josh Cutler (RST Racing Team-Trigon) had an eventful evening track racing at Manchester in the First Division last Friday.  Cutler won the 12 lap Scratch race in Group 3 before crashing heavily in the next event, despite this he bravely fixed his bike, got patched up by the first aiders & went on to win the 20 lap Scratch race & will be racing in Group 4 this Friday.

 

 

Huddersfield Star Wheelers Club Dinner & Trophy Presentation Evening will be held on Saturday February 11th at Bradley Park Golf Club.  Tickets cost £18 & are available from Try Cycling in Kirkburton or from Club President Paul Smith 07739 879221.

National Trophy Shrewsbury Jan 15th

Very brief report this week as I'm too busy messing about on water slides at Centre Parcs:-)

 

 

Newly crowned National Cyclo-Cross Champions Louise Robinson (Stourbridge CC) & Abby Mae Parkinson (RST Racing Team-Trigon) continued their good form in the last round of the National Trophy Series at Shrewsbury on Sunday.  Robinson was a clear winner in the Women’s race with a massive lead of 1 min 21 seconds over her club mate Isla Rowntree & would surely have finished higher up the overall series standings had she started her racing comeback earlier & ridden the first 3 rounds.  Parkinson’s win was her second of the series & she finished 4th overall, one place ahead of Holme Valley Wheeler Amira Mellor who was 6th on Sunday.

 

Jake Womersley (Sportscover Altura RT) has had a promising first season in the Junior ranks, he finished 7th place & 7th place overall & is sure to be higher up the rankings next year.

 

Full report on the British Cycling Site

 

 

Holme Valley Wheeler John Hick won the Veterans race at the Ilkley Go-Cross on Sunday, Graham Piccavey (Huddersfield Star Wheelers) had one of his best results of the season finishing in 14th place.  Luca Longo (Huddersfield Star Wheelers) won the Under 8s race.

 

Full results on the YCCA site

National Cyclo-Cross Champs 2011/12

Huddersfield riders were on the top step of the podium at the National Cyclo-Cross Championships in Ipswich last weekend.  Abby-Mae Parkinson (RST Racing Team-Trigon) won the Under 16 Girl's race & Louise Robinson (Stourbridge CC) won the Veteran Women's race.

Parkinson was out in front from the beginning of her event with team mate Grace Garner, on the 2nd lap she broke clear & finished the race with a comfortable lead of 45 seconds from Garner in 2nd & Jessica Wilkinson (Birkenhead North End CC) in 3rd.  Holme Valley Wheeler Amira Mellor finished in 6th place.

Robinson, orginally from Mirfield, finished an impressive 5th place overall in the Womens race to take the Veterans prize with club mate Isla Rowntree was 2nd in this category.  This result is particularily noteworthy as Robinson has only come back to the sport relatively recently following her win in the 3 Peaks Cyclo-Cross race in September.

Also in action was Robinson's nephew Jake Womersley (Sportscover Altura RT) riding in a highly competitive Junior race.  Womersley was in a 3 way battle for the Bronze Medal with Joe Moses (Paul Milnes RT) & Tom Armstrong (Wheelbase.co.uk/Cannondale), unluckily Womersley pulled his foot out of his pedal & lost out to Moses & Armstrong in the sprint finish to get 5th place, still a brilliant result as he will still has another crack at the National title next year at Bradford before he moves up to the Senior ranks.  National Champion of 2010 Hugo Robinson (X RT/Elmy Cycles) retained his title with Alex Welburn (Cycle Shack/Forme Coaching) in 2nd place.

See full report on British Cycling website

The previous Monday the last Yorkshire Points Cyclo-Cross event took place at a water logged Centre Vale Park in Todmorden.  In the Under 16 Girls race Amira Mellor showed great form in winning ahead of Abby-Mae Parkinson on a very tough course which had several extremely muddy sections where riding was impossible & a steep cobbled climb.

Kirklees Cycling Academy riders Henry Hollyman & Adam Fortune were 1st & 3rd Boy in the Under 10s race.  Luca Longo (Huddersfield Star Wheelers) was 2nd in the Under 8s with Nathan Fortune (Kirklees Cycling Academy) in 3rd.

John Hick (Holme Valley Wheelers) was 8th in the Veterans race which was won by Chris Young (Wheelbase.co.uk/Cannondale), Young took the overall series win from his brother Mike in 2nd place.

Jake Womersley was the highest placed Huddersfield rider in the Senior/Junior race in 8th place & 3rd placed Junior.  Jack Clarkson (Hope Factory Racing) from Halifax dominated the race winning by over 2 minutes from Lewis Craven (Wheelbase.co.uk/Cannondale).

See report on BC site including some great photos of extremely muddy riders.

Former Holme Valley Wheelers Jacob Scott (Planet X) & Gabriel Cullaigh (RST Racing Team-Trigon) were in the thick of the action at Saturday's Revolution Track event at Manchester Velodrome, both Scott & Cullaigh were riding for the Chep UK team for the evening.  Scott's best result of the night was 3rd in the Elimination race which was won by Jake Ragan (Max Gear Racing).  In the 20 lap points race Chris Lawless (Max Gear Racing) & James Owen (Howies) broke clear of the bunch, Cullaigh bravely bridged the gap from the bunch to join the leaders & won enough points in the sprints to take a well deserved 3rd place.  Lawless, who is current National Circuit Race Champion, took the win.

Highlights of this event are on ITV 4 tonight at 7pm.

Waky Tri Cyclo Cross 18th December

The penultimate round of the Yorkshire Points Cyclo-Cross Series took place at a frozen Thornes Park, Wakefield on Sunday.  Once again the Under 12 riders from Huddersfield were in good form. In the Under 8s race, Hannah Whitworth (Huddersfield RC) was first Girl, Dylan Boyes (Huddersfield Star Wheelers) was 4th Boy & the winner was Nathan Fortune (Pedalsport CC).  Ava Oxley riding for the promoting club, Wakefield Tri Club, was the winner in the Under 10s, Adam Fortune (Kirklees Cycling Academy) was first Boy & club mate Henry Hollyman was 2nd.  Holme Valley Wheeler Tom Ford was 3rd Boy.

The Under 12s race was a ding dong battle between Matt Taylor & Jenson Young with only 1 second in it at the finish line, Taylor got the win & his best result of the season.  Not far behind the Pedalsport CC duo was Mason Hollyman (Kirklees Cycling Academy) in 3rd with Holme Valley riders Jim Brown & Jack Ford in 4th & 5th.

Matt Taylor's Dad Chris Taylor (Pedalsport CC) was in fine form in the Veterans race leading from start to finish from club mate Mike Young in second.  Holme Valley Wheeler John Hick had a great result in 4th place despite crashing on a slippery banking.  Hick's club mate Steve Rimmer finished in 20th closely followed by Tim Beachill (Huddersfield RC) in 21st, Graham Piccavey (Huddersfield Star Wheelers) was 28th.

Last race of the day was the Senior & Juniors which was won by Rob Watson (Paul Milnes RT), Noel Clough (Wheelbase) was only 10 seconds back in 2nd & Jack Clarkson (Hope Factory Racing) in 3rd a further 17 seconds adrift.  Holme Valley Wheeler Lee Brown was 23rd.

Abby Mae Parkinson (RST Racing Team-Trigon) & Amira Mellor (Holme Valley Wheelers) spent the weekend in Belgium as part of a team of youngsters funded by the Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross Association, the Keith Edwards Cyclo-Cross Trust & the Dave Rayner Fund.  Cyclo-Cross is massive in Belgium so it was a great experience for all the riders.  In an extremely muddy race at Lichtervelde, about 30km south of Brugesk, Parkinson was 2nd & Mellor 4th

National Trophy Dec 12th

Here's what I sent to the paper last week had a few problems logging into my blog so bit late posting this.

The penultimate round of the National Trophy Cyclo-Cross series was held at a very muddy Peel Park in Bradford on Sunday.  From the first race onwards the course was treacherous with riders struggling to stay upright.

Best result of the day from the Huddersfield riders was a creditable 5th place for Abby Mae Parkinson (RST Racing Team-Trigon) in the Under 16 Girls race, won by Sarah Lomas (Matlock CC).  Holme Valley Wheeler's Amira Mellor was 7th place.  In the overall standings Mellor is now in 5th place with Parkinson catching up in 6th.

In the Junior race, series leader Joe Moses (Paul Milnes RT) relished the conditions & dominated the race, winning by 1min 19sec from National Champion Hugo Robinson (X RT/Elmy Cycles).  Jake Womersley, now riding for BBMBikes.com, had one of his better results of the season finishing in 8th place.

The Women's race was a close affair with Louise Robinson (Stourbridge CC), originally from Mirfield, battling it out with Annie Last (Boardman Elite), after 35 minutes of racing Last just pipped Robinson by 6 seconds for the win.

Kirklees Cycling Academy's Adam Fortune took the win in the Under 10 Boys race with club mate Henry Hollyman in 2nd.  Henry's brother Mason was 4th in the Under 12s race & Ruby & Dylan Boyes were 3rd place in their races the Under 12 Girls & Under 8 Boys.  Huddersfield Road Club's Hannah Whitworth was first Under 8 Girl.

Next event on the Cyclo-Cross calendar is the Yorkshire Points race at Thornes Park, Wakefield on Sunday.  As normal the Youth race is the first event of the day at 11am.

In the last Premier Division Track League event of 2011 at Manchester Velodrome former Holme Valley rider Gabz Cullaigh was once again in the thiick of the action racing in Group 1 last Tuesday.   Cullaigh won the Devil race, was 3rd in the 40 lap Scratch race & was 4th in the 50 Lap Points race.

Lee Brown (Holme Valley Wheelers) showed off his sprinting prowess in the last First Division event on Friday Night winning the 1km race.

North of England Cyclo-Cross Champs Dec 4th

Winter finally arrived for the North of England Cyclo-Cross Championships at Barnard Castle last Sunday.  Freezing cold winds & sleet & snow showers were the order of the day, the course had been used for a race the previous day & was covered in 2-3 inches of mud.

Hartshead youngster Abby-Mae Parkinson (RST Racing Team-Trigon) took her 2nd win in as many weeks in the Under 16 Girls race over 3 minutes ahead of her nearest rival Jessica Wikinson (Birkenhead CC). 

Jake Womersley (Aire Valley RT) was in the thick of the action in the Juniors race, Joe Moses (Paul Milnes RT) won by over 30 seconds but it was very close for the podium positions with Womersley just fading in the closing stages of the 45 minute race finishing in 4th place.

National Champion Paul Oldham (Hope Factory Racing) took the win in the Seniors event with team mate Jack Clarkson, from Halifax, showing some good form in 2nd place.

It was a slightly surprising result in the Veterans race with Noel Clough (Wheelbase) getting the better of team mate Chris Young, former Holme Valley Wheeler Richard Binks (Clay Cross RT) struggled with the conditions and finished in 19th place.  Graham Piccavey (Huddersfield Star Wheelers) was 29th.

The next big event on the Cyclo-Cross calendar is the National Trophy event at Peel Park, Bradford this Sunday.  Races start at 10.30am with the Veteran 40-49 category & finish with the Seniors/Under 23 race at 2.30pm.