Team News: Big Weekend for Haribo Beacon

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Haribo Beacon rider James Shaw won the biggest race of his career to date only 24 hours after team mate James King won the Highfield Trophy

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Big Weekend for Haribo Beacon

VeloUK was first with the news on Sunday – report here

The Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne (KBK) is one of cycling’s major spring classics. The junior race, held on the same day as the senior event, is 124km long with 9 categorised climbs along the route littered with cobbled sections.

JamesShawPodium

Photo: Paul Burgoine.

Shaw was selected to travel with John Barclay and a six man SE England squad to compete in the prestigious junior KBK spring Classic. The star studded list of previous race winners include Geraint Thomas [Team SKY] and Adam Blythe [NFTO].

After joining HARIBO Beacon for 2014, James has worked closely with the our coaching team from Train Sharp and Mayur Ranchordas (Nutritionist) with a plan to hit the season running, and the KBK has always been a major objective. Just week ago at the teams most recent camp, James was riding extremely well and quietly confident about his chances for the races.

Shaw recapped his biggest win to date “I knew I had good form coming into the race and early on the racing was pretty manic. An early group of five riders made an early break and I had to make a decision whether to bridge or not. Opting against this turned out to be the right move as the race came back together and a larger selection was made later in the race eventually leading to a four rider selection which I was part of.

When we came into the final stages of the race I was doing the majority of the work and sensed I was the strongest in the break. Being away with three Belgium riders, I didn’t want to leave anything to chance and attacked with just over 2km to go. After building an initial gap, I saw the three breakaway companions chasing me but they started to watch each other I think, so I drilled myself to finish. I was so happy crossing the line, I could barely believe I’d won. It is still sinking in now!

“My preparation for 2014 has been better than ever thanks to the team. After signing with HARIBO Beacon, I have refined my approach and their philosophy of Performance, Personality & Professionalism helped me stay on track in all areas of my training on and off the bike. We have a great team of riders who all want to progress onto professional careers in the sport. I really do need to thank the team for the support, being supplied with the best possible kit really does give you a confidence boost.”

JamesShaw_KBK2014

Photo: Paul Burgoine.

“There are too many sponsors to list but my Beacon bike felt amazing over the cobbles today and the new kit from Giro and BioRacer always performs well. Without the team I would never be able to train and prepare in the way I am now, the support we get is second to none. I’m beginning to understand what riders mean when they talk about a team effort, there are so many people supporting us riders. Ican’t wait to get on with the next races now!”

“Looking back at the list of previous winners, there are some big names there, hopefully this win will help me in the future.”

The stellar weekend of wins for HARIBO Beacon riders comes quickly after fellow Brit, Ian Stannards [Team Sky], success on Saturday in the Het Nieuwsblad. Shaw now returns home to prepare for the first round of the British Junior National Series event, The Cadence Road Race, on March 23rd

More success for Haribo Beacon – Highfield Trophy 01/03/2014 Race Report by James King

My first race of the year was the Highfield Trophy Criterium in Middlesbrough, (01/03/2014). It’s fair to say I was very nervous in the build up to this race, with it being the first race of the year. The race was just over an hour around a 1km circuit, and in terms of the result is was wrapped up pretty quickly. The race-winning move was made around the first 4 laps, comprising of 6 riders, which later dropped down to 5. Richard Meadows, Ralph Hodgson, Shaun Nicholson, Dan Bryant, and myself.

We all worked well to establish the gap and then the pace was very smooth all the way to the line, with a few excited flurries towards the end of the race. With around 10 laps to go Dan Bryant had attacked solo, but with all the riders in the break all-eager to win he was swept up with 3 to go. For the last 3 laps it was like a game of cat and mouse. I was looking over my shoulder almost more than looking forward at one point, anticipating the last attack from anyone who didn’t fancy their chances in the gallop.

The bell rang for the last lap, and I could really feel the butterflies in my stomach. An early jump from a rider with 500m to go nearly caught the rest of the break sleeping but ending up leading us with 200m to go full gas. I put it in the 12 sprocket and was first to kick out of the corner, before I knew it, I had crossed the line, arms in the air, WINNER! (Here is a link to a short video of the finish)

Such a relief to win, especially in the opening race of the season, massive thanks to TrainSharp, with there expertise and guidance I’ve hit the ground running for the season and hope to continue like this into the bigger races. The new Beacon BF_100 felt great too, I’m really impressed with all of the new kit from the team’s generous sponsors. A big thanks to them for their support for the year ahead.

 

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