Solo win for Russell Hampton wins the Essex Mid Summer Road Race, Owen Lake first ECCA rider
Russell Rules! – Hampton’s Specialized PCH UK Summer Road Race
Gordon Wiseman writes … His race winning margin said it all. Russell Hampton (Sigma Sport – Specialized) was the dominant rider in the inaugural road race promotion of the Essex based PCH UK Racing Team, soloing the last two laps of the wind-blown Ugly circuit to take the chequered flag by 1min. 22secs.
Andy Sheridan photography: http://sheridan.zenfolio.com/pch_mid_summer_rr
A full field of 70 rides lined up at the start of the 120kms race and they’d hardly left the neutralized zone before Szlachta Wojciech (Pasta Montegrappa-Zheroquadro) put in the first attack of the day.
He stayed away for most of the opening lap and although briefly joined by another rider, before half of the second tour had been completed they’d been hauled in by a group of six riders from which Hampton emerged with Wojciech’s Pasta Montegrappa team-mate Dave McLean.
These two joined together to form a partnership that equally shared the workload to keep themselves clear of the ever reforming chasing bunch and, until just over 20kms to go, their lead stretched out to around 1min. 15secs. but was never pulled in to less than 35 seconds.
As they crested the climb to the finishing line with two laps to go, a group of 9 riders finally hauled them in but Hampton wasn’t finished even though he’d been at the front of the race for so long. Descending at over 65kph, the larger leading group then started another drag up to a set of crossroads and here Hampton made his move.
Photo: Lisa Flanagan.
A battling Roy Chamberlain who was in yellow in Paris recently.
“The climb to the finishing line, into a head wind, was hard but I found the drag up to and over the crossroads to be the hardest part of the circuit†Hampton explained later. “I was on the little ring and even though they’d just pulled me back, I decided the attackâ€.
Moving to the back of the circuit – “I found I was constantly hitting 50kph as I switched to time trial mode†– Hampton soon opened a lead that was to stretch to 1min. 22secs. by the time he finally crossed the finishing line but behind him the action was far from done and dusted.
The ever-green Roy Chamberlain (Team Corley Cycles-Cervélo-Alpha RC) linked with Andrew Griffiths (Twenty3c/Orbea) as this pair then slipped the clutches of the rest of the race and they looked to have the rest of the podium places stitched up between them.
“But we were just amazed at how powerful Hampton was†Chamberlain said back at the race HQ. “Griffiths is the current U23 national time trial champion and together we thought we’d be able to pull him back in but we just couldn’t do itâ€.
As these two turned left onto the final climb of the day they in turn were pulled back by a chasing quartet that included Dave McLean who’d used the kilometres since he’d lost the lead with Hampton to sit in and recover to prepare for the final sprint.
Photo: Lisa Flanagan.
In describing that sprint for the eventual second place McLean said; “This was my first race for six weeks since breaking my collarbone so I was delighted just to be in a position to go for a placing. I didn’t worry about how my legs felt, we were all as tired as each other, so I just put my head down and went for itâ€.
But the man with the biggest smile on his face as he later thought about his race was Russell Hampton after his gold star performance. “I’d never raced on this circuit so didn’t know what to expect. I was on my own so decided I’d just go for it from the gun. I haven’t done much racing lately, mainly concentrating on time trials but that’s obviously helped and I was able to use the strength I’ve developed to get this win!â€
Steve Griffiths was first of the promoting club’s riders home in 9th place overall, just missing out on the ECCA Senior Road Race championship that was run off as part of the PCH UK promotion being outsprinted by Cambridge CC’s Owen Lake.
Photo: Lisa Flanagan.
More photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnyrebel1000/sets/72157627093781204/
Result (thanks to organiser Ian Franklin for the result!)
1      Russell Hampton Sigma Sport Specialized Cycling Team   1
2      David Mclean Pasta Montegrappa – Zheroquadro   E    @ 1m 22 secs
3      Ashley Cox Team Corley Cycles/Cervelo/Alpha R.C   E    @ 1m 27 secs
4      Andy Lyons Twenty3c-Orbea   E    @ 1m 34 secs
5      Roy Chamberlain Team Corley Cycles/Cervelo/Alpha R.C   E    @ 1m 39 secs
6      Andrew Griffiths Twenty3c-Orbea   1    @ 1m 47 secs
7      Wojciech Szlachta Pasta Montegrappa – Zheroquadro   1    @ 1m 51 secs
8      Owen Lake Cambridge CC   2   Bunch @ 2 mins 7 secs
9      Steven Griffiths PCH UK Racing Team   2
10      Jack Kirk Cyclisme Compétition Multipôle Etang de Berre   E
11      Michael Auger VC Norwich   1
12      Roger Maidment East London Velo   1
13      Marcel Six Twenty3c-Orbea   E
14      Daniel Crawley PCH UK Racing Team   2
15      Jamie Caldwell St Ives CC   1
16      Philip Hetzel Ipswich BC   1
17      Jake Hales Team Corley Cycles/Cervelo/Alpha R.C   E
18      Andrew Sanders Giant Radlett   1
19      Basil Moss Cambridge CC   1
20      Richard Da Silva Stevenage CC   1
21      Richard Bott Herbalife/Wheelbase.co.uk   E
22      Simon Keen Crest CC – Ilford   2
23      Simon Gaywood Team Corley Cycles/Cervelo/Alpha R.C   E
24      Kevin Knox Vicious Velo   1
25      Ben Wright VC Revolution   2
26      Peter Hargreaves VC Norwich   3
27      James Jones Beeline Bicycles RT   1
28      Thomas Durno Cambridge University CC   2
29      Gonzalo Rodriguez East London Velo   2
30      Stoyko Bussarov Eagle RC   2
31      Mark Baines Spirit Racing Team   2
32      James Jackson RG Active Race Team   2
33      Wayne MacGuire PCH UK Racing Team   2
34      Douglas Coleman Anders Electronics/TMG Horizon RT   2
35      Richard Dunnett Diss & District CC   2
36      Darren Barclay Arctic – Premier Cycling Team   E
37      Daniel Young Glendene CC   2J
38      John Peters CC Luton   2
39      Russell Ford Glade CC   2
40      Daniel Snow Glendene CC   2J
41      Rowan Dever Pasta Montegrappa – Zheroquadro   E
42      Alexander Ray Pasta Montegrappa – Zheroquadro   1
43      David Miller West Suffolk Wheelers & Triathlon Club    3
44      Jim Lewis Glendene CC   2J
45      Toby Parnell Cambridge University CC   2
46      Tim Carter Virgin Active   2
47      Mike Wragg Python Racing Team   E
48      Keir Apperley Cycling Club Hackney   3
49      James Fox CC Luton   2
50      Mark Howard PCH UK Racing Team   2
51      Mark Holt Pasta Montegrappa – Zheroquadro   2
52      Jack Waller Team Corley Cycles/Cervelo/Alpha R.C   2
