Race Report
With the top 3 from 2018 all now racing as 1st cats, there would be a new winner of the race this year
Despite the overnight rain and the murky conditions the rain held off for both stageson Saturday and we were rewarded with new best times on both the Prologue Hill Climb and on the Road Bike ‘10’ mile time trial. The Hill Climb up Colehill saw Kevin Chant (Wightllink- Wight Mountain CRT) clocking 1 min 43 secs up a grippy lane where you never have the right gear: He was followed home by James Bevan (Army CU) in 1 min 46s and Ben Millar (unattached) in 1 min 47s.
The afternoon’s 10 mile ‘road bike only’ time trial saw Paul Burton (Paceline RT) set the early marker time of 20 mins 46 secs but in the end it was only good enough for third with Stephen Swindley of Royal Navy & Royal Marines CA clocking 20 mins 34 secs to beat last year’s ‘record’ time of Tom Temple, as did Chris Owram (PDQ Cycle Coaching) only 1 sec back. Ed Slot (Sotonia CC) and Jon Woolrich (Velo Sport Jersey) also breaking the 21 minute barrier.
Sunday’s Stage 3 road race was run on the ‘revived’ West Holme circuit, travelling along Bindon Lawn into Wool and then up the long drag to Newtown Hill, followed by the fast descent from Lulworth Camp into East Lulworth before heading back towards West Holme. With a number of riders further back on GC after Day 1, chancing their arm to force a breakaway early on, the race was lively from the start. Patrick Rucki (Sotonia), Oliver Winwood-Bratchell (VC Venta) & John Pritchard (unattached) being amongst the first to force a meaningful break: this built to over a minute and they were joined by Callum Dunford (Jam Cycling) George Skinner & Nick Tyrie (Primera) and Charlie Shields (Bath CC). Dunford suffered an untimely puncture and had to ‘pack’ but the break maintained its minute gap for the first four of the six laps but began to break up by the final ‘prime’ and were being reeled in and eventually caught by the bunch. After a flurry of attacks, on the penultimate ascent of Newtown Hill, Brook Elgie & Ed Slot (Sotonia) along with Oliver Winwood Bratchell, tried to force another break, gaining a small advantage over the field. Winwood Bratchell’s constant attacking cost him dearly by the end but earned him the most aggressive rider prize from the Commissairs ( the money is with your team mates!) They were caught and the race was essentially together leaving Wool for the last few mile to the finish. George Jones (Bikestrong-KTM) launched the first meaningful attack on the run to the finish but Newtown Hill is steep enough to mean a gap is not beyond closing and to make the line judges task easier than normal – and it was James Bevan (Army CU) who proved strongest and crossed the line first, followed by Ben Millar (unattached) and Stephen Swindley (RN&RM CA) only a couple of seconds back in third, doing enough to secure his victory overall. The rest of the remaining 30 strong were not far behind but Newton Hill spread them over 30 seconds.
Chris Owram finished 8th and did enough to maintain his second place overall from Day 1, while Kevin Chant (Wightlink-Wight Mountain CRT) finished a place in front of him and managed to pull out the few seconds he need to dislodge Paul Burton (Paceline RT) from his third spot on GC.
Full race results will be published on the BC website
Final GC
1 Stephen Swindley Royal Navy & Royal Marines CA 02:55:21
2 Christopher Owram PDQ Cycle Coaching 02:55:35
3 Kevin Chant Wightlink 02:55:42
4 Paul Burton Paceline RT 02:55:44
5 Ed Slot Sotonia CC 02:55:50
6 Jon Woolrich Velo Sport Jersey 02:55:57
7 Ben Millar unatt 02:56:05
8 Samuel Wadsley Primera-TeamJobs 02:56:07
9 Jonathan Gates Royal Air Force CA 02:56:1010
10 George Jones BIKESTRONG-KTM 02:56:25
11 George Skinner Primera-TeamJobs 02:56:27
12 James Bevan Army Cycling Union 02:56:27
13 Gareth Thomas Paceline RT 02:56:30
14 Nicholas Tyrie Primera-TeamJobs 02:56:34
15 Tom Clements PSUK Cycle Race Team 02:56:38
16 James Horton VC St Raphael 02:56:44
17 James Veal Wightlink,Wight Mountain CRT. 02:56:51
18 Ben Williams I-Team Cyclists Club 02:56:55
19 Patrick Rucki Sotonia CC 02:56:57
20 Pat Wright Paceline RT 02:56:59
21 Mark Greenwood Army Cycling Union 02:57:09
22 Julian Lockwood Primera-TeamJobs 02:57:13
23 Olly Wilkins VeloVitesse 02:57:18
24 Oliver Winwood Bratchell Velo Club Venta 02:57:19
25 James Peckham Sotonia CC 02:57:23
26 Clint Oliver Wightlink,Wight Mountain CRT. 02:57:28
27 Brook Elgie Sotonia CC 02:57:49
28 Graham Biles Mud, Sweat n Gears CC 02:58:07
29 Joseph Clark I-Team Cyclists Club 02:58:09
30 Joe Colley Royal Air Force CA 02:58:18
31 Russell Speight Sotonia CC 02:58:27
32 John Pritchard 02:59:48