Team News: Hargroves Cycles Ian Field full gas in World Cup

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British Champion Ian Field (Hargroves Cycles) was 19th in the first round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup at Valkenburg in Holland.

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Ian writes: Opening World Cup of the season on one of the toughest courses of the year, based on the side of the infamous Cauberg climb where you are either struggling uphill or struggling to get back down. There is approx. 30m of flat ground in the whole of the race.

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Photo: Thomas van Bracht / Peloton Photos

I knew I had good form from last weekends results and was really motivated to get my World Cup campaign off to a good start on a course I have liked and done well on in the past all be it in a much lower category of event.

With my 4th row gridding, I managed a pretty good start passing through the first pit inside the top 30 and thinking I could definitely build on this. There is no where to hide on this course which for me was good. Immediately I knew I was on for a good result as I was passing people on the toughest sections of the course.

I just had to maintain this for the next 50 odd minutes of racing. I yo-yo’d just outside the top 20 for much of the race but then really started to pick people off over the last couple of laps. I was up to battling for 17th position by the final lap came and in all honesty I mucked up.

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Photo: Thomas van Bracht / Peloton Photos

If anything I tried too hard and my lap time dropped off some 10secs costing me a couple of places. You live and learn though, next time I will not make the same mistakes.

This is only my second ever top 20 result at a World Cup and my first for a couple of years which has seen the World Cup races become even tougher with a lot more guys specialising in the discipline. I finished 19th @2.40 off the flying Lars Van der Haar but more importantly only some 40 odd seconds off 10th place. This bodes really well for the coming weeks and I am really looking forward to next weekend and the second round of the World Cup in Tabor, Czech republic.

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Photo: Thomas van Bracht / Peloton Photos

THE HARGROVES CYCLES TEAM AT HOME
It was another busy weekend for the Hargroves Cycles team with riders racing the Rapha Supercross and Wessex League. In the UK, the team was busy on Saturday and Sunday at the Rapha Supercross.

Saturday kicked the series off at Broughton Hall in North Yorkshire. Set in the grounds of the country house, it was a typically muddy race with pressure washers running non stop.

As with all Rapha Super Cross races, there was a typically Belgian atmosphere – think beer, chips, cowbells the wall of foam and the infamous tequila shortcut! More of the same for Sunday, but this time the weather was a little kinder and the racing a bit faster.

Heading to Manchester for a change of scenery the produced some great rides with Jody Crawforth 2nd and Steve James 3rd. The riders all survived the spiral of doom to finish second overall in the team standings after two races.

Saturday Rapha Supercross Round 1

Steve James 4th
Jody Crawforth 5th
Steve Davies 18th
Beth crumpton 4th Woman
2nd Team on the day, Steve James leading the Under 23′s.

Sunday Rapha Supercross Round 2

Jody Crawforth 2nd
Steve James 3rd
Steve Davies TBC
Beth Crumpton 4th Woman.

2nd team on the day and overall. Steve James leading U23′s.
In the Wessex League Crispin Doyle maintained his unbeaten run winning the Vets race at Prospect Park in Reading. This means Crispin has won every Wessex League Vets race this season!

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Check out the team’s race team page www.hargrovescyclesrt.co.uk

 

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