Round 1 of the WeBuyCycle.co.uk Crit League got the season rolling in style on Saturday morning. The women were scheduled to start the day at 8:30am, but judging by the queue at the gate you’d have thought there was free cake on offer. Riders and volunteers were already knocking to get in from 7:00am, clearly excited to get the racing season underway. Even the Chief Commissaire was so keen he’d arrived the night before just to make sure he was first on site!
The volunteers spent the early hours turning the venue into race HQ, putting up the impressive collection of flags, banners, and unloading the impressive haul of prizes. Meanwhile, registration ran smoothly thanks to Lilah and Jayne, who had everything under control, even the brand-new card machine behaved perfectly!
Women’s 2/3/4
The women kicked things off and the new earlier start time seemed to go down well, with the race wrapped up by 9:15am, leaving plenty of Saturday still to enjoy. That said, a few riders clearly hadn’t had enough and later jumped into the men’s races for some extra efforts.
A strong field of 21 riders lined up, with three prime prizes and the new Sprint Leaders competition sponsored by A6 Coffee keeping the line judges and commissaires on their toes. The racing was lively throughout as the primes were fiercely contested.
In the end, Megan Cherry took the win, with last year’s league winner making a welcome return to the podium in third place.
Open 4th Category
Next up was the Open 4th category, and they wasted no time getting stuck in. Attacks flew from the whistle and what initially looked like it might splinter into multiple groups eventually formed a strong breakaway group of four, chased by the peloton.
The primes were hotly contested, although Ben Chesterfield proved unstoppable by sweeping up all three sprint primes. A podium finish as well means he leaves Round 1 with a very healthy lead in the Sprint Competition.
Meanwhile the sprint battles between the University of Nottingham riders were clearly taking their toll. Eventually Will Thompson and George Simmutch slipped clear, with Will Thompson taking the win.
Cat 3/4
Early-season Darley races are always well supported and this year was no exception. The field size was a little more manageable this year, helped by some of the more mature (and sensible!) riders choosing to race the 3/4 Masters 40+ event later in the day.
Before the racing got underway we remembered Jono Hornblow, a great friend to our events who sadly passed away only a couple of weeks ago. His family were present to see the racing and the legacy he leaves behind as both a sponsor and a much-loved member of the racing community.
On the track, Matty Bailey powered to the win, while Matt Holland rode strongly into second place, doing Jono and his race team proud.
E123
The National B race saw the racing snakes arrive keen to test the new 90-minute format. The longer race gave plenty of time for attacks to form and, for the organiser at least, enough time to get the paperwork in order.
It did, however, leave Bas juggling the small matter of several groups out on the circuit, some of which eventually lapped the field – never a quiet moment for the line judges.
At the front, Michael Gill took the victory, with Darley regular, perfect gentleman and sometimes-retired rider Adam Kenway claiming second place.
Masters 40+ (Cat 3/4)
The final race of the day was the Masters 40+ 3/4, introduced to help reduce the massive fields normally seen in the open 3/4 races. Due to the quirks of the British Cycling entry system the race is invite-only, so if you’re Cat 2 or above, sorry, this one isn’t for you!
The race featured some great battles for the primes, and after the second sprint Ian Russell launched a strong breakaway that looked promising for several laps. Sadly for Ian, the peloton eventually organised itself and brought him back with just a couple of laps remaining.
In the closing sprint, Ben Greenwood took the win.
A huge thank you to everyone who came along to race, watch, and help out.
Special mentions to:
- Denise for the legendary morning bacon cobs
- Anne for holding firm on her marshal post
- Andy and Rodney (Rodney being the organiser’s favourite marshal)
- And of course the most energetic – but somehow still appreciated – duo of Zoe and Harry
And finally, the best part of the whole day was simply seeing everyone again after the winter. We’ve really missed you all over the off-season, so it was brilliant to catch up, have a chat, and see the racing community back together again. That’s what makes these events so special.
A brilliant start to the series and we’re already looking forward to Round 2!
Full results below with all the usual social media links we know you’re only here for 😉
Capturing the action in glorious still format was
And we also vlogs from sponsor Triathlon Dan and Haus surrogate team member Craig Goes Cycling – like and subscribe 😉
