Team News: Busy times for Hargroves Cycles

It was another busy weekend for the Hargroves Cycles team with two Rapha Super Cross events in two days….

This weekend was the final weekend of the Rapha Supercross which was held at two separate locations with two contrasting styles of course. Round 2 on the Saturday at Misterton Hall and round 3 at Alexandra Palace in London.

Round 2 on the Saturday saw Steve James came home a fantastic second with Jody Crawforth not far behind him in 3rd. Had it not been for a dropped chain, Jody looked set for the win! Andy Hargroves came home in 9th giving the Hargroves Cycles team level points in the team prize but because Hope Factory Racing had won the race, the Hargroves boys had to take second in the team prize on the day.

Matt Hargroves, who is a Junior rider produced a brilliant ride to get 12th place. This put him close enough behind Andy Hargroves to guarantee the team’s place had there been a problem for Andy. By the end of the first two rounds, the Hargroves Cycles race team was sat in second place overall.

Hargroves Cycles in action at Ally Pally. Photo: Wig Worland

Round 3 on the Sunday at Alexandra Palace in London proved to be a completely different course to round 2 with tough conditions and a great deal of elevation. Jody Crawforth took second place in the race with Steve James following behind in 4th but with the team prize, it was all about the third rider. Andy Hargroves came home in 12th place beating the third Hope rider and clinching the team prize for the day. This meant that the Hargroves Cycles race team was drawing on points with Hope Factory Racing in the overall, but unfortunately they lost on count back as Hope had won two rounds against Hargroves Cycles single round.

Steve James of Hargroves Cycles however was crowned Under 23 overall series champion – a brilliant result for what has been a highly successful series for his team, Jody Crawforth, Steve James, Andy Hargroves, Matt Hargroves and Stu Bowers.

Paul Oldham and Jody Crawforth elbow to elbow with Ian Wilkinson coming up the outside

In other races; Dan Tulett won the support youth race at Alexandra Palace with a stunning performance. Tamina Oliver took another win in the Wessex league in the women’s category which boosted her lead in the Wessex league while Harvey Lowe took the win in the junior category with Matt woods still leading the junior Wessex league series overall.

Ian Field finished 35th in extremely muddy and brutal conditions at Round 2 of the Cyclo Cross World Cup in Plzen. Ian will be back racing on Thursday at the famous Koppenberg cross and to cap things off, Hargroves Cycles rider Jon Dibben has just been selected for the GB team to race the Glasgow World Cup alongside another former rider for Hargroves Cycles, Owain Doull.