Larry Hickmott writes “The top races this year are sure to be memorable as the top teams get stronger in order to win the bragging rights from the biggest British road race events”.
Last year saw Rapha Condor Sharp on top in the Premier Calendar (Chris Newton), Endura Racing win the Elite Circuit Series (Ian Wilkinson) and Motorpoint Marshals Pasta win the prestigious Tour Series. With the top teams sharing out the series like that shows just how competitive the racing is in Britain. Will 2011 be just as tough remains to be seen but the answers are not far away now with the top classic events just round the corner.
So far, this is how the teams have fared in 2011….
It was the Under 23 team of Qoroz that drew first blood with victory in the Perfs Pedal thanks to the sprint of Ben Stockdale while at the Eddie Soens, James Stewart struck for Youth UK which have had a mega early season with podiums in lots of races. Already the big teams were showing their cards with UK Youth, Rapha and Raleigh in the top three at Aintree.
The first big road race clash though came at the 39th running of the Severn Bridge Road Race where Aussie Zak Dampster struck for his team, Rapha Condor Sharp. Again, it was the big teams dominating with Bialoblocki of Motorpoint second, Jones of Raleigh third, and Richardson of Sigma fourth. A week later and Tom Moses, a first year senior with the 100% ME squad, beat Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt (Team UK Youth) and former British Road race champion Kristian House (Rapha Condor Sharp) to the line to win the Roy Thame cup.
Moses was third the next day in the Jock Wadley over in Essex but the winner for Motorpoint was Bialoblocki with Jonathan Tiernan-Locke of Rapha Condor Sharp in second. Yet again the big teams were taking home the spoils and so far the honours were fairly even with UK Youth, Rapha & Motorpoint all making their mark.
The next well known race was the Wally Gimber in the South East and Sigma Sport Specialized got the winning feeling going when Steve Lampier won ahead of Magnus Backstedt whilst Raleigh and Motorpoint, both made their make on the season with Raleigh getting the first four in the Evesham Vale RR and Motorpoint getting the top five in the Peter Young Memorial.
And so to April and that first big battle between the teams takes place in the Dengie Marshes Tour (Chris Negus Memorial). VeloUK will have the result of that battle post race!
Team of the Season? — so how do we measure which team is the top dog for 2011. There are a number of ways we could measure it like allocating points for the top races but who decides which races should be included. The calendar is much more than just the Premier Calendar events because there are the early season classics, the crits and others. So, as this is a democracy, how about emailing your suggestions for races that should be included.
I think the likes of Dengie Marshes, Wally Gimber, Perfs, Jock Wadley, Eddie Soens and such like should be included with the Tour Series, Nocturne Series, National Champs, Elite Circuit Series and Premier Calendar. But to let me know your thoughts, email VeloUK now!
British Team Line ups (email to add your team)
Endura Racing 2011
Rob Hayles, England
Ian Wilkinson, England
Rob Partridge, Wales
Callum Wilkinson, Scotland
Evan Oliphant, Scotland
James Moss, England
Scott Thwaites, England
Dave Clarke, England (from Pendragon)
Rene Mandri, Estonia (from AG2R)
Maarten De Jonge, Netherlands
Alexandre Blain, France
Jack Bauer, New Zealand
Iker Camano, Spain
Jack Anderson, Australia (from Team Sprocket)
Paul Voss, Germany from Milram
Alexander Wetterhall, Sweden (from Team Sprocket/ stagiere Cervelo TestTeam)
Rapha Condor Sharp
Kristian House
Jonathan Tiernan Locke
Dan Craven
Ben Greenwood
Graham Briggs
Dean Downing
Dean Windsor
Tom Southam
Casey Munro
Zak Dempster
Andy Tennant
Ed Clancy
James McCallum
2011 Team Line-up for Team Sigma Sport
Simon Richardson
Wouter Sybrandy
Matt Stephens
Dan Duguid
James Williamson
Stephen Adams
Kit Gilham
Tom Murray
Tom Last
Phill Sykes
Steve Lampier
Russell Hampton
Tom Copeland
Raleigh
Matt Cronshaw
Matt Gee
Richard Handley
Liam Holohan
Dan Fleeman
Jeroen Janssen
Matt Jones
Matt Kipling
Gael Le Bellec
Phil Mooney
Ryan Parnes
Jamie Sparling
CyclePremier.com – Metaltek Unveil 2011 Line-up
Ashley Finn
Dale Appleby
Jason White
Matt Rowe
Richard Hepworth
Robert Smail
Ross Creber
Simon Wilson
Stephen Gallagher
Tom Barras
Tony Gibb
Motorpoint Pro-cycling
Malcolm Elliott
Ian Bibby
Jonny McEvoy
Pete Williams
James Sampson
Lee Davis
Andy Roche
Marcin Bialoblocki
Will Bjergfelt
Tobyn Horton
Andrew Magnier
Mark Thwaites
Team UK Youth
Magnus Backstedt
Steven Burke
Niklas Gustavsson
Fredrik Johansson
Gruff Lewis
David McGowan
Filip Rudenstam
Chris Seviour
James Stewart
Leo Mansell
Greg Mansell.
vanillabikesracing.com
Adam Norris
Jack Pullar
Harry Grey
Martin Attwood
Duncan Orme
LeCol-Pendragon
Yanto Barker
Chris Opie
Jake Martin
Jon Mozley
James McLaughlin
Peter Johnston
Rys Lloyd
Tom Martin
Ahmad Belgassem
Halie Dawit
Richard Meadows
Wilier GoSelfDrive.com 2011 / 2012
Ben Luckwell
Blake Pond
Blair Windsor
Colin Parry
Gary Chambers
Grant Bayton
Ian Rees
Hugh Wilson
Mark Perry
Team Qoroz
Matt Ullmer
Luke Dunbar
Ben Stockdale
Scott Law
Jack Reed
Michael Thelwell
Tom Stockdale
Pasta Montegrappa – Zheroquadro
David Mclean
Rowan Dever
Alexander Ray
Joe Skipper
Daniele Santoni
Wojciech Szlachta
Mark Holt
Matthew Myers
Primal Europe Racing Team
Mens team;
James Smith – 1st Cat
James Williams – Elite
Martin Smith – Elite
Junior Heffernan – 1 st cat
Craig Bellew 2nd cat
Keith Satchwell – 3rd Cat
Ladies Team
Emm Whittlesea – South West Road Series Champion
Ali Holland National Masters Champion
Fleur Stoops
Sorrelle Le Cornu
Heather Booth
Team Corley Cycles-Cervélo-Alpha RC
Roy Chamberlain
Ashley Cox
Simon Gaywood
Jake Hales
Matt Higgins
Ian Knight
Chris McNamara
James “Millie” Millard
Jamie Newall
Don Parry
Mike Smith
Jack Waller
Team Sportscover Strategic Altura
Senior Team:
John Tanner
Kevin Dawson
Duncan Urquhart
Duncan Moralee
Ashley Brown
Collin Humphrey
Jake Tanner
Youth Academy
Jake Tanner
Josh Cole
Ben Last
James Wagner
Alex Wallis
Bglobal Cycling Team Launch 2011
Chris Sherriffs
Adrian Lawrence
Shane O’Neill
Stephen Leigh
Nick Shaughnessy
Mark Burtons
Craig Battersby
Team Launch for Twenty3c-Orbea
Lewis Atkins
Mike Cuming
Kristian Downs
Andrew Griffiths
Gunnar Gronlund
Andy Lyons
Rafa Rodriguez Segarra
Daniel Shand:
Dean Shannon:
Rob Sharman:
Marcel Six (Team Captain)
James Whatling
