World number four Dan McConnell and Australian women’s champion Rebecca Henderson both secured second consecutive wins at Margam Park when they raced to victory in round three of the British Cycling MTB Cross-Country Series in Wales on Sunday.
Elite men
Following his win at Margam in 2013, McConnell proved once again what a world-class rider he is with a convincing victory in the face of the best British riders, who were led home by Paul Oldham (Hope Factory Racing) in second, a minute and a half down, while Steve James (Hargroves Cycles) took third, another 1-06 off the pace.
From the first of seven laps of a 5.5-kilometre circuit, Henderson was on the front and pushing hard, initially with Steve James for company while Paul Oldham was a few lengths behind with David Fletcher (Orange Monkey) and Hamish Batchelor (Fluid Fin RT) not far off.
By the second lap Oldham had taken over the chase from James, but McConnell was now 30 seconds ahead and disappearing into the distance, while Fletcher and Batchelor were drifting off the pace too.
Oldham had gained ten seconds over James, while Batchelor had been joined in the hunt by Dan Fleeman (Metaltek) and Isaac Pucci (Mountain Trax) – although nobody looked in danger of challenging McConnell’s domination.
Iain Paton (Pioneer-Scott) worked hard to push up to fourth, while Ian Field (Hargroves Cycles) had also started to move up and was working hard near Fleeman, Fletcher and Batchelor.
By the fifth lap McConnell had more than a minute over Paul Oldham, and while Steve James was dropping back he still looked comfortable for third.
And so it proved, with McConnell eventually taking the win by 1-30 from Oldham, with James at 2-36, 1-30 ahead of Ian Field, while Iain Paton took fifth, another 34sec off the pace.
“I was happy with the way I rode today,” said McConnell. “It’s a really hard course here, there is always good competition at this level wherever you race in the world so I'm happy to come away with a win.
“Margam has been good to both me and Rebecca with two back to back wins. We like the course, the trails are good and we enjoy the racing. Today is part of a training block I'm on at the moment, I've put in some hard training over the last week and with today and another couple of weeks hard work I should be ready for the Commonwealth Games. It’s the biggest race for me this year and its important I ride well and hopefully get a few medals there.”
And Paul Oldham said: “That was a hard course, it’s a fun course to race though. Dan and Steve [James] went off hard from the start and we got to the top of the first climb and I thought it wasn't a good day.
“Dan was in a different league today, but yeah, today was good for me. Dan’s a top World Cup rider and I don't know whether he was playing with us today but I was pleased to be there.
“With my recent results it feels like everything is coming together for me for the Commonwealth Games, I've just done four big races in a row so now I need to get my head down and put some serious training in.
“Being away a lot recently hasn't allowed me time to get much training in so it’s time to sort my training out. To be picked to ride the Games is the icing on the cake for me this year, it was my goal for the season and I'm excited to be going, it’s going to be a good summer.”
Elite women
Rebecca Henderson looked a class apart as she took a convincing win at Margam Park in a repeat of her 2013 win.
Covering six laps, Henderson was already 20 seconds ahead of Lee Craigie (Cannondale) by the end of the first circuit, and she continued to consistently pull clear as she quickly found her rhythm.
Kerry MacPhee (Rock and Road) was up there with Craige in the early laps, with a sizeable gap to Mel Alexander (Contessa-Scott).
Merce Pacios Pujado (Tomas Belles Cannondale) and Maddie Horton (Fully Sussed) were in the mix, along with Joanne Clay and Ruby Miller (both Torq Performance) - but Henderson looked comfortable throughout.
Alice Barnes (Timo Racing) crept up to fourth on the second lap and was looking for further gains, while Alexander was a little way off and there was big gap to the rest.
By lap three Henderson had increased her lead to 1-30 mid-way through the race. Alice Barnes had caught Kerry MacPhee and was around 15sec behind Craigie, and by lap four she was on her wheel.
On the last lap Henderson was almost three minutes up on Craigie and Barnes who were still together, but on the drag just past the start arena Craigie got a gap and held it to the finish.
“It was a really tough race today, on this course it doesn't matter if you are in front alone or fighting for position it’s hard so you have to fight all the way,” said Henderson. “We spend the Northern Hemisphere summer in Europe so it’s good to come here to race and to take a win here. We are in a training block at the moment with our mechanic and we enjoyed Wales last year and the weather today is perfect again so why not come back here?
“The Commonwealth Games has been a big goal for me since the Olympics and with six weeks to go the training has been solid and today has been a gauge to see how some of the other riders are doing.”
Other categories
In the junior men’s race, Frazer Clacherty (Nutcracker Racing) ended Dylan Kerfoot-Robson’s run of victories. Kerfoot-Robson (Marsh Tracks Race Team) took second ahead of Craig Thomas (Pioneer Scott Synchros) and Mark McGuire (Team Bicycles).
Isla Short (Team Thompsons Cycles) made it three consecutive wins in the series in the junior women’s event, the Great Britain rider once again dominating as Sarah Lomas (Nutcracker Racing) and Evie Richards (Malvern Cycle Sport) completed the podium.
Phillips Pearce (Banjo Cycles) and Hollie Bettles won the expert male and female races respectively. Elizabeth Clayton (Lichfield City CC) came out on top in the grand vet female race with Mark Chadbourne (Ridebike.co.uk) won the men’s equivalent.
Megan James (Abergavenny RC) proved her calibre with the win in the juvenile female race with Craig Rogers (Birkenhead North End CC) winning the men’s race.
In the veteran races Kate Ratcliffe (Three Valleys MTB Club) and Ian Taylor (Jedi Cycle Sport) were the women’s and men’s winners respectively while in the youth races, the ever-impressive Daniel Tulett (Specialized Racing) was a convincing winner the male event with Emily Wadsworth (Beeline Bicycles RT) clinching the female race.
Phillip Morris was the fastest in the master male event, Ian Petherbridge (Southdowns Bikes Cycling Club) took the super vet male race.
Results
Elite men
1 Dan McConnell (Trek Factory Racing) 7 laps in 1-30-14
2 Paul Oldham (Hope Factory Racing) at 1-30
3 Steve James (Hargroves Cycles) at 2-36
4 Ian Field (Hargroves Cycles) at 3-56
5 Iain Paton (Pioneer-Scott) at 4-30
6 Isaac Pucci (Mountain Trax RT) at 5-05
7 Hamish Batchelor (Fluid Fin RT) at 6-01
8 Dan Fleeman (Metaltek) at 6-21
9 Nick Craig (Pioneer Scott) at 6-30
10 David Fletcher (Orange Monkey) at 7-17
Elite women
1 Rebecca Henderson (Trek Factory Racing) 1-35-13
2 Lee Craigie (Cannondale) at 2-45
3 Alice Barnes (Timo Racing) at 2-58
4 Kerry MacPhee (Rock and Road) at 6-42
5 Mel Alexander (Contessa-Scott) at 7-32
6 Merce Pacios Pujado (Tomas Belles Cannondale) at 9-55
7 Maddie Horton (Fully Sussed) at 11-33
8 Joanne Clay (Torq Performance) at 16-45
9 Catriona Ross (West Drayton MBC-Beyond) at 19-24
10 Ruby Miller (Torq Performance) at 20-59
