Jonny McEvoy of Endura Racing wins the final stage of the Tour DoonHame to clinch the overall thanks to the time bonuses. Erick Rowsell, also of Endura Racing, was second and Scott Thwaites (Endura Racing) was third.
 |
| Stage 1 Report | Stage 2 Report |
Video Report (BCpremiercalendar)
Stage 3 Monday – Monday 9th April – Moffat to Annan – 107 Miles – Start 11:00
The title of the race is very appropriate for the Endura Racing team, DoonHame meaning ‘down home’ and when at home, make the most of it could have been the team’s motto. Three out of three stage wins, the top three on the overall and the three jerseys as well, KoM (Alex Wetterhall), Points (Scott Thwaites) and Yellow (Jonny McEvoy) is pretty much as much a clean up of the prizes as you can get.
The top under 23 was not announced but Erick Rowsell or Scott Thwaites will have taken that too!
Dam it, I hate it when riders just race up a mountain as it if was a railway bridge … the peloton on the second cat climb on the starting circuit.
It wasn’t that the other teams rolled over either. The break that went after the two starting circuits had plenty of firepower from the other teams and Raleigh certainly didn’t lie down as they went on the attack with 30k to on the stage today. Endura Racing though were just too strong. They signed a lot of winners and it’s showed this year.
The stage today was very lumpy. A long second cat climb to be done twice during the first 20 miles and then a 20% monster coming just before halfway. I found out to my cost just how steep this brute was when I had to stop to let a car coming the other way pass on the single track and when I let the clutch out, all I did was spin the front wheels. It was that bloody steep! Phew…
The profile of the stage also showed the race going down hill over the last 50 miles but not so as the riders found out and along with the grippy roads, was a strong headwind and this queen stage certainly did a lot of damage. That said, there was certainly a lot of riders left fighting for the win in the break or the peloton to bring them back.
Robbie Hassan leads the break just before the top of the climb and the KoM points.
The stage began with a starting circuit that had the riders climbing a long one in twelve mountain which from the top looked pretty impressive. The riders though first time up made light work of it and again the second time. “It wasn’t too bad up there at all†said yellow jersey Erick Rowsell. “We did two laps of that and it didn’t change the race at allâ€.
It was after the starting loop had been finished that the race started to take shape. The riders had a sharp left and the road dragged up a bit and it was windy and exposed and it was along this section that the main break went with still at least two thirds of the race to do.
The break contained a lot of familiar races like the yellow jersey Erick Rowsell, Rob Partridge and Jonny McEvoy all from Endura Racing, Scottish rider Robbie Hassan (Herbalife), Mike Northey (Node 4), Ben Greenwood (VanillaBikes.com), Richard Handley (Rapha), Russell Hampton, Bernie Sulzberger (both Raleigh GAC),Wouter Sybrandy, Steve Lampier (both IG Sigma Sport) and several other riders.
Comfy… That’s Erick Rowsell in his yellow jersey partly covered by his Endura Equipe gilet. Aussie Bernie Sulzberger (Raleigh GAC) leads the break behind Robbie just ahead of them.
“As soon as we got a gap, everyone started riding and we got a decent gap pretty quickly†Erick Rowsell explained.
The break pretty much stayed like that until the first category climb where Scott Thwaites used the 20% slopes to attack. He went with Rapha’s Mike Cuming but didn’t want to drag him across so he kept attacking until he was solo and then proceeded to cross to the break. “He did a really good ride to get across there†Erick explained, adding “we lost a few riders but we (Endura Racing) then had four in the front group which was perfect.â€
Asked about the steep climb, Erick said, “It was a steep climb but not too long, but Jonny and I just rode it at the front and dictated the pace and that was the advantage we had in that we could do what we wanted on the climbs. No-one tried attacking us, we just rode at our own tempoâ€.
Erick then explained it was anything but downhill from that point on wards. “We thought it was going to be fast after the climb but it was anything but. The roads around here are hard, grippy even when they are downhill and we had a headwind as well. So it was slow and the weather made it difficult which meant there was a lot of racing to be done after that climb as well.â€
Classy…. Scott Thwaites (Endura Racing), attacks Mike Cuming of Rapha to chase down the break.
A lot of racing indeed. Scott Thwaites went to work on the primes for the Points jersey sponsored by Endura and that helped him move up the overall and then the plan was for Jonny McEvoy or Rob Partridge (Endura Racing) to go for the solo win.
Before they put that plan into action though, Sulzberger and Hampton of Raleigh went on the attack for Raleigh-GAC but with numbers in the group, Endura Racing controlled those moves before McEvoy launched an attack and took Sulzberger with him. That was brought back by Sigma before McEvoy went again and while Raleigh were obviously going well in chasing him down, it didn’t last and McEvoy opened up a good gap which he held to the line, gaining enough time bonuses to take the yellow jersey.
The peloton now over the steepest section of the cat 1 climb, is splitting as it nears the top of this brute of a climb but still largely together before the long descent.
Endura director sportif Julian Winn explained it was never the goal for Jonny to take yellow, it just happened. The main goal of the team was to win yellow and they had several cards to play as it turned out and the race finished with the biggest domination by a team of this race for a long long time, and it came from a team sponsored by a Scottish company, Endura. That performance will take some beating …
After second on a stage in Normandy, Jonny McEvoy wins his first race for Endura Racing, and his first stage race.
Jonny McEvoy: “The yellow wasn’t the goal as we had Erick leading the race and when we had so many in the break which was the plan, we tried to make sure there was only one away, not two so then we could be sure of the win. Fortunately, I got away on my own purely thinking of the stage win and I feel a bit bad taking the yellow off Erick!â€
“As long as its with Endura though, its good for the team.â€
“We’d passed five miles to go and the two Raleigh lads were putting in some strong attacks and I managed to wait it out and I think it was with three miles to go, I got away, Sulzberger come across but I didn’t want to take him to the finish as I know he’s fast. Fortunately, I got away again and this time on my own and that was the longest two miles I have done in a while!â€
Scott Thwaites isn’t giving anything to anyone and sprints in with Bernie Sulzberger to win the sprint for second. For a crit champion (New Zealand), Mike Northey of Node4 (2nd from right) did some ride to challenge for the overall and stage honours. Proper road race that was!
Scott Thwaites: “I had good legs and Mike Cuming from Rapha had clipped off the front and I thought I’ll just go across to him and mark the move so if one of them got across it was with one of us and I rode across to him comfortably and started turning on the gas over the top and he couldn’t really give me a turn and I didn’t want to tow him across. So I kept slowing down and attacking to either encourage him to come through or get rid of him and luckily I managed to get away from him.â€
“It was then head down on the descent. I used my off road background a bit to take a few risks and got across and that was it. I then settled into the group which was working well and it was always going to stay away I think. Having the lead in the Points, it was always going to be good to pick up the seconds on the road so when I got across, there was only one more sprint left and I made sure I got that to ensure nobody else got the seconds to get close to Erick or myself or the green jersey.â€
Scott Thwaites (3rd), Jonny McEvoy (1st) and Erick Rowsell (2nd) on the overall.
Stage podium, Scott Thwaites (2nd), Jonny McEvoy (1st) and Bernie Sulzberger (3rd)
Julian Winn, Directeur Sportif:
We were riding today to try and win the race overall. We had five riders in with a shout and the main thing today was we had numbers out front and that gave us options. As long as it (yellow jersey) was kept in house, it made no difference. We were never riding for Erick, we were riding for the yellow jersey. If Erick had stayed in it, then great.
Rob (Partridge) and Jonny’s job at the end was to attack but only attack on their own and try to win on their own. If the overall came with that, so be it and if it came down to a bunch sprint, we had Scott, so we had all the options covered really.
All eight of them here have ridden very well and just keep getting stronger and trusting each other and you can never beat a good team.
King of the Mountains, Alex Wetterhall celebrates with some champagne
Alex Wetterhall: “It was very nice coming here to Scotland and having a Scottish sponsor in Endura, and the jerseys for the race from Endura too; it’s very nice to keep them all for ourselves!â€
“The important thing today was to keep the yellow jersey in the team. So we were more going for that. If I was able to take a few more points for the KoM that was also very good and I got second in the first one and third in the next one so I was pretty sure I had the KoM jersey in the bag.â€
RESULTS (PDF Download for Full results)
Stage 3
1 Jonathan McEvoy Endura E
2 Scott Thwaites Endura E at 0:26
3 Bernard Sulzberger Raleigh – GAC E st
4 Mike Northey Node 4 Giordana E st
5 Russel Hampton Raleigh – GAC 1 st
6 Erick Rowsell Endura E st
7 Steve Lampier IG Sigma Sport E st
8 Robert Partridge Endura E st
9 Richard Handley Rapha Condor Sharp E st
10 Wouter Sybrandy IG Sigma Sport E st
11 Robbie Hassan Herbalife E st
12 David Clarke Node 4 Giordana E at 3:13
13 Alex Wetterhall Endura E st
14 Michael Berling Cyclepremier 1 st
15 Adam Duggleby Sportscover E st
16 Jamie Shirlaw Herbalife 1 st
17 Oliver Rossi Rapha Condor Sharp E st
18 Chris Opie UK Youth E st
19 Rico Rogers Node 4 Giordana E st
20 Graham Briggs Raleigh – GAC E st
21 Jon Mozley Cyclepremier 1 st
22 Russell Falder Cyclepremier E st
23 Alistair Rutherford Vanillabikes.com E st
24 Marcin Bialoblocki Node 4 Giordana E st
25 Stephen Adams Cyclepremier 1 st
26 Tom Murray IG Sigma Sport E st 26
27 Ben Grenda Rapha Condor Sharp E st
28 Ashley Brown Sportscover 2 st
29 Will Bjergfelt Celtic Connections E st
30 Evan Oliphant Raleigh – GAC E st
31 Christopher Daddy Celtic Connections 1 st
32 Pete Williams Node 4 Giordana E st
33 Simon Richardson IG Sigma Sport E st
34 Simon Wilson Metaltek SCOTT E st
35 Andy Coupe Herbalife E st
36 Liam Glen Wheelbase/MGD 2 at 3:18
37 Dean Downing Rapha Condor Sharp E st
38 James McCallum Rapha Condor Sharp E st
39 Ian Wilkinson Endura E st
40 Harry Grey Vanillabikes.com 1 st
41 Dillon Byrne Vanillabikes.com E st
42 John Tanner Sportscover 1 st
43 Matthew MacDonald Saltire Select 2 st
44 Andrew Griffiths IG Sigma Sport E st
45 Simon Gaywood IG Sigma Sport E st
46 Tom Last IG Sigma Sport E st
47 Paul Oldham Hope Racing 1 st
48 Ashley Cox Corley Cycles/Blue E st
49 Kit Gilham Herbalife E st
50 Paul Londors Spin_Rotor RT 1 st
OVERALL
1 Jonathan McEvoy Endura E
2 Erick Rowsell Endura E at 0:08
3 Scott Thwaites Endura E at 0:13
4 Richard Handley Rapha Condor Sharp E at 0:18
5 Mike Northey Node 4 Giordana E at 0:19
6 Bernard Sulzberger Raleigh – GAC E at 0:31
7 Wouter Sybrandy IG Sigma Sport E at 0:41
8 Steve Lampier IG Sigma Sport E st
9 Robert Partridge Endura E st
10 Russel Hampton Raleigh – GAC 1 st
11 Robbie Hassan Herbalife E st
12 Chris Opie UK Youth E at 3:16
13 Ben Grenda Rapha Condor Sharp E at 3:24
14 Marcin Bialoblocki Node 4 Giordana E st
15 Rico Rogers Node 4 Giordana E at 3:25
16 Alex Wetterhall Endura E st
17 Stephen Adams Cyclepremier 1 at 3:28
18 Evan Oliphant Raleigh – GAC E st
19 Pete Williams Node 4 Giordana E st
20 Will Bjergfelt Celtic Connections E st
21 David Clarke Node 4 Giordana E st
22 Andy Coupe Herbalife E st
23 Michael Berling Cyclepremier 1 st
24 Jamie Shirlaw Herbalife 1 st
25 Simon Richardson IG Sigma Sport E st
26 Dean Downing Rapha Condor Sharp E at 3:29
27 Richard Lang Rapha Condor Sharp E st
28 Ian Wilkinson Endura E at 3:30
29 Marcel Six Metaltek SCOTT E at 3:33
30 James McCallum Rapha Condor Sharp E st
31 John Tanner Sportscover 1 st
32 Paul Oldham Hope Racing 1 st
33 Kristian House Rapha Condor Sharp E at 3:41
34 Christopher Daddy Celtic Connections 1 st
35 Matthew Jones Corley Cycles/Blue E st
36 Mike Cuming Rapha Condor Sharp E st
37 Daniel Lloyd IG Sigma Sport E st
38 Liam Glen Wheelbase/MGD 2 at 3:46
39 Jamie Sparling Raleigh – GAC E st
40 Russell Falder Cyclepremier E at 3:48
41 Richard Tanguy UK Youth E at 3:53
42 George Moore Cyclepremier E st
43 Christofer Stevenson UK Youth E at 3:54
44 Ashley Cox Corley Cycles/Blue E at 4:15
45 David McGowan UK Youth E at 4:19
46 Michael Smith Corley Cycles/Blue 1 at 4:23
47 Jack Pullar Wheelbase/MGD 1 at 5:49
48 Kit Gilham Herbalife E at 6:28
49 Ian Bibby Endura E at 6:47
50 Jamie Caldwell Cyclepremier 1 at 7:49
TEAMS
1 Endura Racing 24:36:01
2 Raleigh – GAC at 3:32
3 IG Sigma Sport at 3:40
4 Rapha Condor Sharp at 6:00
5 Node 4 Giordana at 6:04
6 Herbalife at 6:27
7 Cyclepremier at 9:14
8 UK Youth at 9:28
9 Metaltek SCOTT at 9:33
10 Corley Cycles/Blue at 11:09
11 Celtic Connections at 17:09
12 Sportscover at 22:00
13 Wheelbase/MGD at 22:47
14 Vanillabikes.com at 25:35
15 Teamwallis-chh.com at 30:30
2nd Category riders
1 Liam Glen Wheelbase/MGD
2 Andrew Cox Saltire Select
3 Ashley Brown Sportscover
King of the Mountains
1 Alex Wetterhall Endura 28
2. Mike Northey Node 4 Giordana 17
3 Bernard Sulzberger Raleigh – GAC 16
4 Erick Rowsell Endura 13
5 Scott Thwaites Endura 10
6. Robbie Hassan Herbalife 8
7. Wouter Sybrandy IG Sigma sport 7
8. Ian Bibby, Endura 6
9. Jonny McEvoy, Endura 5
10. Simon Richardson, IG Sigma Sport 4
11. Richard Tanguy, UK Youth 4
12. Christofer Stevenson UK Youth 4
13. Ben Greenwood VanillaBikes.com 4
Points
1. Scott Thwaites Endura Racing
2. Erick Rowsell, Endura Racing
3. Mike Northey, Node 4
4. Rico Rogers Node 4
5. Alex Wetterhall, Endura Racing
6. Ian Wilkinson, Endura Racing
7. Bernie Sulzberger, Raleigh GAC
8. Richard Handley, rapha Condor Sharp
9. Chris Opie, UK Youth
10. Jonny McEvoy, Endura Racing
Premier Calendar Standings:
1. Jonathan McEvoy Endura Racing 154
2. Scott Thwaites Endura Racing 144
3. Erick Rowsell Endura Racing 141
4. Ben Grenda Rapha Condor Sharp 108
5. Alexandre Blain Endura Racing 100
6. Richard Handley Rapha Condor Sharp 98
7. Mike Northey Node 4 – Giordana 96
8. Bernard Sulzberger Team Raleigh-GAC 85
9. Matt Cronshaw Node 4 – Giordana 83
10. Marcin Bialoblocki Node 4 – Giordana 70
11. Roberto Cesaro Meridiana Kamen 66
12. Simon Richardson IG Markets-Sigma 58
13. Chris Opie Team UK Youth 56
14. Wouter Sybrandy IG Markets-Sigma 51
15. Steve Lampier IG Markets-Sigma 49
16. Marcel Six Metaltek Scott 47
17. Sam Harrison 100% ME 45
18. Russell Hampton Team Raleigh-GAC 43
19. Rob Partridge Endura Racing 42
20. Evan Oliphant Team Raleigh-GAC 40
The Stage Route
The final day of the 2012 Tour DoonHame provides the ‘Queen Stage’ – 107 miles through the stunning landscapes of East Dumfries-shire and the Scottish Borders. The first hour of racing sees the riders tackle 1.75 laps of a circuit based on Moffat with a Hot Spot Sprint on the second pass through the town and two Cat 2 ascents at Greenhillstairs offering further opportunities to secure points in the J&B Print Mountains competition. Then it’s up the A701 past the Devil’s Beef Tub to Tweedsmuir and a sharp right towards Meggethead and the Cat 1 climb at Talla Linns.
This is a real test for tired legs – a 20% gradient on a pencil thin road that rears up dramatically from the head of Talla reservoir past the waterfalls that give the climb its name. It is also where we will learn who is to be crowned 2012 Tour DoonHame ‘King of the Mountains’. Some respite comes with the helter-skelter descent to Megget reservoir and then up the side of St Mary’s Loch before the route hits the rolling roads of the Ettrick Valley and Eskdale.
The Tibetan Buddhist Centre prayer flags provide a splash of colour amidst the greenery of Eskdalemuir Forest as the race heads to the Hot Spot in Langholm and the final gallop to decide the overall winner of the Endura Sprints competition. The gentle rise on the A7 Langholm to Carlisle road gives way to a steady drop to the flats of the Esk Estuary and the finale in Annan’s High Street where the coveted race winner’s yellow jersey will be pulled on by the 2012 Tour DoonHame champion.
RELATED LINKS
Maldon Dengie Tour (Prem number 1)
