VB Crit League Race Report – Round 4

Lee, our resident fake news / meteorologist, was sunning himself in Tenerife this week so the weather, albeit sunny, was bloody cold and windy and I’m left to write the race report! 

We had one of our favourite and longstanding Commissaires delivering his famous ‘history of Darley’ pre-race briefings which help give one or two competitors hyperthermia as they waited for him to finish and blow the whistle to get the race under way

From the off, it was obvious the 4th only and the Women’s 234 would be an exercise of true grit and determination for anyone hoping to complete the race. Attacks split the bunch into smaller and smaller chunks leaving groups all over the circuit. Our senior line judge, Bas, needed to take his socks and shoes off to keep track of all the riders after filling his rider position sheet and running out of fingers to count on.

Emily Martin and Melissa Denman started with a strong but consistent pace until about 5 laps to go where they started to attack. Melissa valiantly held on until the elastic snapped, and Emily took the win. Abbie Taylor’s consistency saw her on the podium and now can officially wear the leader’s jersey!

The 3/4 was another big field with some of the strongest riders we’ve seen in a long time. The attacks were relentless and over 20 riders were dropped from the bunch over the course of the race. Our hero of the race, winning both Prime sprints and the overall win was William Foster. Strong in bunch and the break with his shirt open for most of the race. 

The racing snakes had a tough day in the office with no rest from the wind. Not your normal race with constant attacks, just riding in nice formation and hoping for it to be over!!

In the afternoon we were proud to host the Lloyds National Disability and Para-cycling Road Series. These inspirational riders showed grit and determination with several riders entering the VB Crit series races to warm up. We wish them all the best with the rest of the series and will follow with interest.

For now…please peruse through the full results below, check out the great pics from volunteer Jayne Crick and watch another Craig Goes Cycling Vlog to see if you’ve made the cut..?