WeBuyCycle Crit League Round 3 Race Report

April 6, 2026

3 weeks in a row…. you’d think we’re mad…

Women’s 2/3/4

And thats not the end of the madness, there was no wind at Darley. Yes, you heard that right, no wind at Darley. Once we got over that shock, the day started with the Women’s 234 race.

Or so we thought, it was hard to tell at times as there was no wind to remove the early fog. It did make it a little tricky to see what was happening outside of the finish straight, but I’m led to believe it was an attacking race although the conditions meant it was always going to be easy job for the peloton to catch lone breakaway riders.

This left a sprint finish for the line after Abbie ‘shades of prime Pendleton’ cleaned up all the primes. Imogen Sutton finally beat Abbie (Jadan Glasdon pb Vive le Velo) into second, with Jessica Bufton from Velotik Development Academy, claiming third.

Open 4th Category

Without previous winners Thomson and Simmutch (moved up to Cat 3 and to start a TV detective series), who would emerge as the new Cat 4 favourite…

The Uni of Notts team performed well despite their internal sabotage. With Ben Chesterfield scooping a few primes before Dominic Bottomley and Tom McGuiness sprinted to 2nd and 4th respectively in the bunch sprint.

Taking the spoils was Pyers Lockwood (would also make for a great name if he ever invents a carpenters tool) who must now go on to terrorise Cat 3 alongside local Mickleover rider Stan Jackson who took third!

Cat 3/4

The Cat 34s were again out in force, 49 riders rocked up to the start line, 48 of them determined not to let Kieran Friend get a solo breakaway win.

Despite his best efforts, alongside numerous other optimistic / adventurous / down right crazy riders. the lack of wind, and now a fully visible track, meant a breakaway was always going to be a monumental effort which did in fact lead to Erica’s favourite race finish, a mass bunch sprint while screaming hold your line!

Best of the bunch were Shicheng Fan (Loughborough University), Joseph Turnbull (Moonglu Spatzwear) and Tom Harris

E123

If you thought I’d finished with the shocks, you’re mistaken. So make sure you’re seated.. no it’s got nothing to do with Kenway taking up triathlons, the biggest shock was that the largest field of the day was the E123 race, with 54 taking the start line.

We’ve always had big Cat 3 & 4 fields, and we know there’s often clashes with more prestigious races, but it really does mean a lot to us to see so many quality riders at our Darley Moor events.

It’s so great for the younger talent coming up to be able to see, learn and test themselves against big strong fields, that they will inevitably have to go on to face in national and international races. It’s also brilliant for the spectators to hear the whoosh of carbon fly past every 3 mins.

Anyway, enough gushing, back to the race. Pace was consistently fast, the bunch was strung out for the whole race but the elastic never snapped. I even heard people saying they missed the wind…

I’ll tell you who didn’t miss the wind, the wattbombs of the group! Ewan Mackie maintained his lead in the Sprint Comp by claiming 2 of the 3 primes and fastest up the sprint finish was Jim Brown of L3gion of LA fame, quickly followed by Tim Charles (Uni of Notts) and Elijah Kwon (Edinburgh Bike Fitting RT)

Masters 40+ (Cat 3/4)

Our young at heart racers were again treated to the best weather of the day, but still no wind so the racing played out in a similar vein.

Many break attempts, quickly hauled back in, before another valiant effort was launched and dashed.

Ultimately leading to a bunch sprint, with Ant Ryder (Velo Bavarian Race Team) claiming the spoils and taking the top spot in the We Buy Cycle overall standing.

Just behind him and making the podium was South Normantons Lee Tunnicliffe and the RAFs Steve Young.