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Travelwise Warwick Town Centre Cycle Races 2010
Story posted September 6, 2010 | by Larry Hickmott
Cycle racing is fortunate to have had a great number of historic backdrops during the year and last Sunday, that trend continued in Warwick, home to one of the World’s most popular castles and streets filled with buildings that hold memories from many centuries gone by.
Organised by long time volunteer and competitor, Pete Mooney, the event saw racing through out the day, starting at 11am with racing for Under 12’s and going right through to gone 6pm with the final race of the day, the Travelwise Circuit Race for the professionals. This had many of the country’s top pros battling it out with first and second category riders and certainly found favour with the people of Warwick as the crowd certainly grew during the event.
The day also had a great deal of variety with Uni-cycles racing in two events and national championships for Trikes and the men and women who serve in the Emergency Services. There was a carnival atmosphere in the town centre despite the weather which did its best to put a damper on the day. It was raining when the racing started, eased off for a few hours to let the sun shine on Warwick and then the rain returned for a short while before stopping to let the course dry for the final events.
It is a credit to the many young riders who competed during the many Youth events on the day that despite the rain, they managed to race without any serious crashes or tumbles and it was actually the pros who pushed their bikes over the limit on many occasions but again, thankfully, without any serious injuries.
Clancy’s Travelwise Victory
With the final race of the day being a National A event, the highest category for a circuit race, the event featured many of the top riders who have been competing since May in the town centres around Britain. They included the Elite Circuit Series champion, Ian Wilkinson (Endura Racing) and the British Circuit Race champion, Ed Clancy (Motorpoint Marshals Pasta) resplendent in his white champion’s skinsuit.
It was around 5pm when the pros finally got to have the circuit to themselves, a circuit which cut its way through the heart of the town centre. With a Weatherspoons pub opposite the start/finish area, the smell of some fine food cooking was wafting across the road to where the riders were lining up. As well as Wilkinson and Clancy, the race also featured Malcolm Elliott, one of the greatest British riders to throw his leg over a bike and as the crowd started to gather at the barriers, the mayor of Warwick flagged the riders away for the hour long race.
On the tight circuit which took little over a minute for the riders to complete, the racing didn’t take long to get up to speed with Simon Wilson (Cycle Premier/Metaltek), Jody Crawforth (Hargroves Cycles) and Pete Williams (Motorpoint Marshals Pasta) putting some daylight between them and the peloton.
The chase to bring them back saw the splits open up in the main group as the course, which climbs up from the High Street all the way to the finish, was soon taking its toll on the rider’s legs. With spectators asking ‘which one is Ed Clancy’ and then craning their necks over the barriers to try and pick out the one in all white, a select group soon started to form at the front including Clancy, Elliott and Wilkinson.
As the lead group got smaller, picking out Clancy became ever easier and soon the lead group was down to five as Wilkinson and Elliott among others, were distanced by the group containing Clancy, James Moss (Endura Racing), Jonny McEvoy (Motorpoint Marshals Pasta), Jody Crawforth (Hargroves Cycles) and Dutchman Jeroen Janssen (Kuota Road CC), a former winner.
The race then became a pursuit between the leaders where Clancy was doing his best to make sure Wilkinson didn’t get back to the front, and Wilkinson along with the likes of Andrew Magnier (Cyclepremier.com-Metaltek) were doing their best to bring the leaders back.
That chase soon saw Wilkinson break clear of what was left of the main group along with James Stewart (Raleigh) and Pete Williams who wasn’t about to chase his two Motorpoint teammates down. The riders from Motorpoint in the lead group seemed to have the race sewn up with McEvoy apparently cruising but then disaster for the Under 23 rider with broken spokes taking him out of the race with only a couple of laps to go.
That evened it up in the front group which was down to four individuals from different teams but no matter what Clancy’s rivals did, they couldn’t shake him despite throwing their bikes round the corners so fast, many a spectator were closing their eyes and waiting for the clatter of metal on the cobbles. The four leaders though managed to stay upright and as expected, no-one was able to thwart the Olympic champion’s desire to win the Warwick race which he did with his blistering burst of speed into the Market square finish.
Post Race Reactions
Ed Clancy: “After racing late last night, I woke up this morning less than enthusiastic than I could have been but as the race got ever closer, you start to get more excited. During the race, I was feeling pretty ropey early on and sitting at the back and thought I’d work my way up to the front, slowly picking off riders, which I did.”
“Once I got to the front, Jonny (McEvoy) was laughing and joking and was in and out of the moves and I said to him ‘it’s your day, stay up front and I’ll try and split it and distance Wilko. Eventually, a group got away without Wilko who I thought was the real danger man. He was one man I wouldn’t want to be in a sprint finish with.”
No doubt about the winner as Ed Clancy crosses the line and keeps his hands on the bars to get round the bend after the finish.
“Once we got rid of Wilko, I really gave it some gas for ten or fifteen minutes just to establish that gap for Jonny. Once we had the gap, I felt really ropey again and I was working for Jonny who with two laps to go was planning his big escape when he lost a few spokes in his front wheel. From then on, I did the bare minimum and did my usual thing in the sprint.”
Jeroen Janssen: “I absolutely love this race and won it two years ago and was really up for it today. I crashed yesterday in Newport and had trouble sitting down but the corners on this course really suit me and straight from the start, I was in the top five all the time.”
“I got myself into the decisive move and Clancy and McEvoy were working really hard. It was up to them to make the race so I took it a bit easier and tried to get up there for the sprint because I know I’m fairly quick. I went for Clancy’s wheel and got out of the corner a little bit quicker and tried to attack him straight away but he was just quicker and there is no shame being second to him. I’m pretty happy with the result for the final race of the year”.
“It has been a pretty long season and I had a really bad winter so I came into form a bit late but I’ve finished on the podium three times this year, unfortunately no wins, but hopefully I’ll get in a good winter and go for some wins next year.” Asked about the crashes, he replied “I think it was because either people were taking too many risks or people were over estimating their own skills. You just need to be a bit lucky not to get stuck behind one of those crashes.”
James Moss (3rd), Ed Clancy (1st) and Jeroen Janssen (2nd) are presented to the crowd after the final race at the Travelwise Warwick Races.
James Moss: “This was a big race and you can see that with there being a lot of people here, and a lot of people have come to watch it, so it mean’s something so personally speaking, it was great to get on the podium. There was only me and Wilko here so we went out to attack and see who came with us. I ended up in that move with Ed and Jonny Mc and it was evident they didn’t want Wilko there and just drove it.”
“I had a big go with two to go up that last climb and unfortunately, no-one came with me and I ended up 20 or 30 metres off the front and in no-mans land. So with one and half to go, I eased back because I didn’t want to blow up and then it was a fight to get onto the podium. Ed was always going to be dam hard to beat especially for a skinny lad like me.”
“I find the crits very uncomfortable and while I seem to go alright in them, they hurt like hell. I do though feel I’m more of a roadman and the Tour of Britain is coming up so the priority today was staying upright. There were a few people who had crashes in front of me and I was like I really don’t want to be going down with the Tour of Britain in five days.”
“The Tour of Britain for me is absolutely massive so I tended to give people more room, and leaving more of a gap and not going so quick into the corners as you may do in other races. Having that extra foot gap was enough just to help me scrub enough speed off when they fell in front of me to avoid going down.”
Emergency Services Championship
Results
Youth C
1 Broughton Charlotte Leicestershire R.C. GC
2 Owens Tomos Mid Shropshire Wheelers C
3 Georgi Etienne Mid Devon Cycling Club C
4 Capewell Sophie Lichfield City C.C. GC
5 Kibble Peter Abergavenny R.C. C
6 Biddle Cameron Halesowen A. & C.C. C
7 Feiven Josef Halesowen A. & C.C. C
4th Category
1 Jones Nigel Stourbridge Velo 4
3 Stephenson-Brown Alex Websters Cycles 4
20 Phillips Ian Halesowen A. & C.C. 4
Youth D
1 Askey Lewis Lichfield City C.C. D
2 Shaw Matthew Solihull C.C. D
3 Lewis Matthew Wolverhampton Wheelers D
4 Georgi Pfeiffer Mid Devon Cycling Club GD
5 Wheatley Andrew Halesowen A. & C.C. D
3/4 Category Race
1 Page Joe Team Echelon-Spiuk 3
2 Scott Jamie Sub7bikes Racing Team 3
3 Lloyd Paul Banjo Cycles 3
Tricycle Association National Criterium Championship
1 Charlton Sid Tricycle Association Trike
2 Overton Dave Rugby R.C.C. Trike
3 Jones Jeffrey Websterscycles.com Trike
4 Booker Geoff Oxonian C.C. Trike
5 Badham Martin C.C. Breckland Trike
6 Muir Fergus TA East Trike
7 Spiers Greta Tricycle Association Trike
Youth A/B
1 Sayers Aaran Leicestershire R.C. A
2 Ferguson Callum Halesowen A. & C.C. A
3 Walkerdine Richard Wolverhampton Wheelers A
4 Lewis Adam Wolverhampton Wheelers A
5 Hepworth Alastair Batley C.C. A
6 Escritt Jack Wolverhampton Wheelers B
7 Broughton Sam Leicestershire R.C. A
8 Bate Ted Halesowen A. & C.C. A
9 Strudley Harry Palmer Park Velo A
10 Kelly Jacob Lichfield City C.C. B
Youth E
1 Rootkin-Gray Jack Solihull C.C. E
2 Smith Connor Lichfield City C.C. E
3 Salcedo Xavier E
4 Waters Elliott Plan B R.T. E
5 Fletcher Joseph Welland Valley C.C. E
6 Siers Niall Brereton Wheelers E
7 Simmonds Luke Stratford C.C. E
8 Rogers Arlo Solihull C.C. E
9 Horsfield Dominic Mid Shropshire Wheelers E
10 Machin Annie GE
11 Braybrooke Olivia Eastlands Velo GE
12 McDonald Ewan Wolverhampton Wheelers E
13 Bullar James Wye Valley C.C. E
14 Groves Luke
15 Lloydlangston Matthew Birmingham C.C. E
16 Falk Louis
17 Machin Ben E
18 Groves William
Emergency Services Race
1 Reid Stuart Cumbria Fire & Rescue 1
2 Sumner Grahame Great Britain Fire Service R.T. 1
3 Blacker Phil Wyre Forest C.R.C. 3
4 Legg Steve PSUK Cycle Race Team 1
5 Greengrass Jeremy Central Scotland Police 3
6 Davies Alan Police Sport UK C.R.T. 3
7 Treadwell Ian West Mercia Police 2
8 Melling Phil Team Milton Keynes 4
9 Downs Matthew PSUK Cycle Race Team 3
10 Davis Elliott Avon Fire and Rescue 2
11 Walker Lee Notts Fire and Rescue 3
12 Stowe Tim Warwickshire Fire & Rescue 4
13 Burnicle Richard Cleveland Fire Brigade 4
14 Freeman Paul Alpha R.C. 3
15 Phillips Ian Halesowen A. & C.C. 4
16 Mann Paul West Midlands Police 3
17 Cann Gareth Halesowen A. & C.C. 4
18 Irwin Edmond London Fire Brigade 4
19 Robinson Carl PSUK Cycle Race Team 3
20 Lenehan Mick Police Sport UK C.R.T. 4
21 Nown David Warwickshire Police 4
22 Crawford Jeff Cleveland Fire Brigade 4
23 Marsden Janet Warwickshire Police C.C. W
24 Herlihy Valerie Warwickshire Police C.C. W4
Elite Race
1 Clancy Ed Motorpoint/Marshalls Pasta EL
2 Janssen Jeroen Kuota - Road CC EL
3 Moss James Endura Racing EL
4 Crawforth Jody Hargroves Trant EL
5 Wilkinson Ian Endura Racing EL
6 Williams Peter Motorpoint/Marshalls Pasta EL
7 Stewart James Team Raleigh EL
8 Hales Jake Team Corley Cycles 2
9 Elliott Malcolm Motorpoint/Marshalls Pasta EL
10 Penn William Mammoth Lifestyle R.T. 2
11 Magnier Andrew www.Cyclepremier.com-Metaltek EL
12 Newall Jamie Team Corley Cycles 1
13 Bailey Matt Kuota - Road CC 1
14 Wilson Simon www.Cyclepremier.com-Metaltek EL
15 Bibby Ian Motorpoint/Marshalls Pasta EL
16 Roach Ben Cult Racing 2
17 Freeman Karl Team Corley Cycles 2
18 Millard James www.Cyclepremier.com-Metaltek EL
19 Ballard Ryan MI Racing 2
20 Kirby David Coventry Cycle Centre 2
21 Burbridge Bradley Cyclingbargains.com 2
22 Lawton Michael Born To Bike 2
23 Orr Robert www.cyclingbargains.com 1
24 Allen Steven Kenilworth Wheelers 2
25 Starkey David Wolverhampton Wheelers 2
