I don’t know how he’s doing it, but AI Bas did it again. Glorious sunshine and no wind. After a few days of ridiculous heat, the temperature dropped enough for what could only be described as perfect racing conditions — for Darley, anyway.
Women’s 2/3/4
This month’s women’s 2/3/4 had a strong field of 14 riders, and the pace was hot from lap one. The bunch stayed together throughout; not even the primes could encourage a break. Abbie Taylor, with a keen eye on the sprint competition, went hard for each one and scooped the lot convincingly. A top-three finish would have added to her tally, but a slow puncture a couple of laps from the finish left her nursing her bike through the turns to bring it home for league points.
Emily Martin returned to Darley this week and put up a strong challenge for the win, but was beaten in the sprint by Lucy Ball, with newcomer Libby Hart in third.
Open 4th Category
The Open 4th Cats were up next. A strong field racing in near-windless conditions meant a break was difficult to establish, even though there were several attempts. The bunch stayed together, resulting in a bunch finish. Not content with taking two of the three primes, Hector Downs took a convincing win from James Creswell of Velo Bavarian.
Cat 3/4
The 3/4 was another big field and a cracking race for the spectators. Vetta regular Dan Ward got into an early break of three, and we were convinced they would stay away, but it wasn’t to be. The pace of this race rivalled the National B, with the fastest lap of the day coming from this bunch working together to bring back the break.
As everyone took a breather once the break was caught, another attempt was made. The earlier efforts had clearly taken their toll, leaving the next group of three to stay away. Tom Harris took the win, giving him solid points in the league and moving him into second overall on GC.
E123
With the East and West Midlands Champs on Sunday, we had anticipated a smaller field for the National B, but that didn’t stop the regular animals turning up. Sometimes-retired Adam Kenway arrived a little late but, being Darley royalty, we decided to hold the start until he rolled up. That didn’t stop him getting abused by those who had set an alarm clock, but he paid them back with some impressive stints on the front.
Ewan Mackie was there to continue his campaign in the sprint competition, and he had no desire to hand the A6 Coffee Cup leader’s jersey to Abbie after her impressive clean sweep of the primes in the women’s race earlier. Not only did he match her score in the primes, he extended his lead with the final step on the podium. The TAAP Kalas duo of Joshua Knowles and Cameron Maclean took first and second.
Masters 40+ (Cat 3/4)
By this time, the volunteers were suffering the effects of the sun, but we still had the hottest race of the day to go. Mark Compton, sitting close to the top of the league, had decided to abandon travelling to Turkey with his family and race at Darley instead.
After Tom’s impressive win in the 3/4, Mark needed a top-10 finish to take the overall GC lead. The pace was hot, with plenty of attacks. Mark took the sensible approach, keeping one eye on the overall prize while also making sure he could still travel the next day to salvage his holiday — and possibly his marriage. He finished in a credible fifth to take the GC lead.
Paul Foster took victory from a hard-charging Ben Manning
All the admin should be up to date, so Click here if you want to see the updated GC Standings or click here to see the A6 Coffee Co Sprinters Cup!
Gallery below for the full results and the usual social media goodness.
Next race is 28th June and it promises to be the hottest yet!!
Capturing the action in glorious still format was
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- Emma Wilcock Photography
- Haus Gallery – this week from Tom Callaer, not content with just racing, turns out he’s got a knack with the camera too!
Vlogs as usual come from sponsor Triathlon Dan and Andy who builds on his first performance. Liek you, we’re still waiting on Haus regular Craig Goes Cycling… Like and subscribe ;)
