Preview – Tour of the Reservoir 2 Day

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First big clash of 2014 in Britain is the Tour of the Reservoir 2 Day in Northumberland. We reveal the start sheet …

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Startsheet – Tour of the Reservoir 2 Day

Note: Women’s Start Sheet is here ….

The season proper starts in the Two day Tour of Reservoir this weekend. Whilst British Cycling may be playing silly buggers with the format of the national series, the bottom line is that these events by volunteer organisers remain the same as they have for many years.

The Tour of the Reservoir is a tough early season event and this year tougher than ever to predict because there has been so little racing beforehand for Elite riders. Many riders have not raced anything of note at all so who’s in form, and who isn’t, is anybody’s guess.

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The race is the start of a busy six months for the elite riders with the Prems, Tour Series, Elite Circuit Series and then for those selected, the Tour of Britain. A gentle start with two major events in April (the other the CiCLE Classic) then chaos in May and June before it starts to settle in July and August.

One thing is for sure, with a big reshuffle of riders around the teams after the loss of two UCI teams (UK Youth and Sigma), the Tour of the Reservoir will be the first glimpse of which teams are in form and got their act together working as a unit. The course is tough. The first stage on big loops is over some rather large climbs which are very exposed to the wind.

No surprise then this course is a grafters one with no hiding place. Last year, a large group of 14 riders got clear and finished five minutes ahead of the next group. I remember well some riders saying at the start ‘I hope I’m not the first one to be dropped’ because alone, it would be a long hard day out the back.

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The winner that day is one more known for his sprint than climbing ability but Chris Opie for sure can climb well especially in the domestic peloton and he finished the race second overall. Chris rides for the Rapha squad which has been split with the other half in South Africa.

Split or not, it has plenty of firepower with the likes of Graham Briggs who showed in New Zealand in January he can climb and Tom Moses who led the Tour of Normandy for many days. Ed Clancy too rides, a double Olympic champion on a course that may not suit him.

Number 1 in the race will be Evan Oliphant of Team Raleigh. He’ll have a strong squad of riders with him and the rider to look out for perhaps in the iconic colours is Matthieu Boulo. He’s top 10’d in UCI 1.1 races and is a very good climber as well. It will be his first taste of a Prem and it will be very interesting to see how he fares with a strong Raleigh squad.

Raleigh is not the only strong team though. Take Madison-Genesis for example. Tom Stewart was fourth in the race last year and made his name in the event. Scott Davies, who top 10’d in the Junior worlds in 2013, has been racing a lot with the GB academy and then there’s Ian Bibby who has won the race when it was a single day event.

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Peter Hawkins has podiumed the last two years, Liam Holohan can climb with the best, Alex Peters was mightily impressive last year on the second stage with a long break and Mike Northey won a tough Welsh GP in 2013. Oh, and Tom Scully as well who needs no introduction. A strong squad with anyone of them a possible winner.

A team which perhaps doesn’t have the same strength in depth as some teams, does have the firepower to win it – NFTO. Russell Downing (former winner) and Adam Blythe are two that could win the race along with riders like Joshua Hunt and Jon Mould. The team has done a lot of miles in training and this will be the first big test to see how well the rest of the line up perform as a unit.

The final one of the UCI teams is Velosure Giordana. Again, like NFTO, the race will show how much strength in depth they have. As for firepower to win the race, then the team has that for sure with winners already in 2014, Marcin Bialoblocki, Steve Lampier and Rob Partridge.

The beast that is Marcin Bialoblocki has shown he can ride people off his wheel and solo to victory and this grippy course may just be the perfect one for him. The telling factor will be how well the individual squads can control the race. If one of them misses the move, will they be able to bring it back? On Saturday we’ll see.

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As well as the UCI teams, there are a lot of well supported trade teams who may well surprise their UCI brothers. One of the best supported by the likes of designer Jeff Banks, is Catford CC Equipe. They have some talented youngsters like Lawrence Carpenter and been guided by Sean Yates of Trainsharp who’s son Liam rides. This will be their first big test and a chance for the riders to show what they can do and perhaps put themselves in a position like Tom Stewart last year and get the UCI teams interested in them.

HARIBO Beacon has some strong riders well suited to the tough terrain. Riders like Peter Williams and James Sampson for example backed up by some up and coming youngsters and a certain Olympic champion in Steven Burke. It will also be interesting to see how former pro Dan Fleeman of metaltek goes as he mixes road and mountain biking.

Wheelbase Altura MGD have some cards to play like Simon Wilson who won the Clayton Velo in February, Tom Barras who was fourth and Tom Murray. A mix of experience and young riders, perhaps we’ll see some surprises there.

David Clarke of KTM will always be a threat with his never say die style of racing and Russell Hampton rides in his Bioracer team Athlonsport kit. The Essex rider was third in the Nationals a few years ago and will be looking to get some results for his supporters.

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Being the first race of the year, sure there are favourites and tried and tested riders but it’s what happens on the road that matters, not what’s on paper. There are so many names in that start sheet that there is bound to be a surprise or two and I for one can’t wait to start that climb out of Blanchland and see who the hitters are and who need to try harder…

The course is expected to be the same as last year. Day 1 in 2013 was epic and so tough with a steep climb straight out of Blanchland where the race rolls out from. The second day is on the normal course used for the race for quite a few years and will test the strength of the riders for the first time this season.

Startsheet – Tour of the Reservoir 2 Day
1 Evan Oliphant Team Raleigh (last years winner and stage winner)
2 George Atkins Team Raleigh
3 Yanto Barker Team Raleigh
4 Morgan Kneisky Team Raleigh
5 Ian Wlikinson Team Raleigh
6 Alexandre Blain Team Raleigh
7 Matthieu Boulo Team Raleigh
8 Joe Perrett Team Raleigh

9 William Brown Achieve-Skinnergate Racing
10 Ben Hetherington Achieve-Skinnergate Racing
11 Collin Humphrey Achieve-Skinnergate Racing
12 Richard Jones Achieve-Skinnergate Racing
13 Jack Rees Achieve-Skinnergate Racing
14 Tom Timothy Achieve-Skinnergate Racing

15 Jordan Matthews Adept Precision Racing Team/North East Healthcare Solutions
16 Russell Hampton Athlonsport

17 Bevan Humphreys BH-Solidor-WAM Youth
18 Owen James BH-Solidor-WAM Youth
19 Nick Noble BH-Solidor-WAM Youth
20 Alexander Royle BH-Solidor-WAM Youth
21 Conor Ryan BH-Solidor-WAM Youth

22 Andrew Feather Bikeshed – UEX
23 Ashley Martin Bikeshed – UEX

24 Felix Barker Cambridge University RT – Hunter Gibson – Chain Reaction Cycles
25 Wojciech Szlachta Cambridge University RT – Hunter Gibson – Chain Reaction Cycles

26 Lawrence Carpenter Catford CC Equipe/Banks
27 Ashley Dennis Catford CC Equipe/Banks
28 Harry Franklin Catford CC Equipe/Banks
29 Henry Latimer Catford CC Equipe/Banks
30 James Walsby Catford CC Equipe/Banks
31 Liam Yates Catford CC Equipe/Banks

32 Sebastian Baylis Champion System/Club Roost/Maxgear
33 Dillon Byrne Champion System/Club Roost/Maxgear
34 Jordan Hargreaves Champion System/Club Roost/Maxgear
35 Benjamin Kellett Champion System/Club Roost/Maxgear

36 Matthew Higgins Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves RT
37 Simon Holt Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves RT
38 Colton Jarisch Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves RT
39 Robert Ward Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves RT

40 David Griffiths Glasgow Whls
41 Andrew Whitehall Glasgow Whls

42 Steven Burke HARIBO Beacon Cycling Team
43 James King HARIBO Beacon Cycling Team
44 James Sampson HARIBO Beacon Cycling Team
45 Jacob Scott HARIBO Beacon Cycling Team
46 Peter Williams HARIBO Beacon Cycling Team
47 Jake Womersley HARIBO Beacon Cycling Team

48 David Clarke KTM road-and-trail.com
49 Kit Gilham KTM road-and-trail.com
50 Gary Hand KTM road-and-trail.com
51 Andrew Hawdon KTM road-and-trail.com

52 Joseph Kelly KTM road-and-trail.com
53 Michael Mottram KTM road-and-trail.com
54 Harry Tanfield KTM road-and-trail.com
55 Jacob Tipper KTM road-and-trail.com

56 Craig Adams Leslie Bike Shop/Bikers Boutique

57 Ian Bibby Madison Genesis
58 Scott Davies Madison Genesis
59 Peter Hawkins Madison Genesis
60 Liam Holohan Madison Genesis
61 Mike Northey Madison Genesis
62 Alex Peters Madison Genesis
63 Thomas Scully Madison Genesis
64 Thomas Stewart Madison Genesis

65 Chris Bartlett Metaltek Cycling
66 William Bjergfelt Metaltek Cycling
67 Dan Fleeman Metaltek Cycling
68 Dexter Gardias Metaltek Cycling
69 Rhys Lloyd Metaltek Cycling
70 David McGowan Metaltek Cycling
71 Robert Orr Metaltek Cycling
72 Ben Stockdale Metaltek Cycling

73 Dale Appleby NFTO (UCI Team)
74 Adam Blythe NFTO (UCI Team)
75 Russell Downing NFTO (UCI Team)
76 Ryan Bevis NFTO (UCI Team)
77 Joshua Hunt NFTO (UCI Team)
78 James Lowsley-Williams NFTO (UCI Team)
79 Jonathan Mould NFTO (UCI Team)
80 Samuel Williams NFTO (UCI Team)

81 Karl Denton Ouseburn Coffee Company/Legend
82 Scott McCrossan Paisley Velo Race Team
83 Peter Murdoch Paisley Velo Race Team
84

85 Francis Cade Pedal Heaven Colbornes RT
86 David Creeggan Pedal Heaven Colbornes RT
87 Gruffudd Lewis Pedal Heaven Colbornes RT
88 Jake Martin Pedal Heaven Colbornes RT
89 Robert Moore Pedal Heaven Colbornes RT
90 Alex Paton Pedal Heaven Colbornes RT
91 Rory Townsend Pedal Heaven Colbornes RT
92 Mitchell Webber Pedal Heaven Colbornes RT

93 Bradley Stokes Pedal Power RT

94 Graham Briggs Rapha Condor JLT
95 Edward Clancy MBE Rapha Condor JLT
96 Edward Laverack Rapha Condor JLT
97 Tom Moses Rapha Condor JLT
98 Chris Opie Rapha Condor JLT (stage winner in 2013)
99 Will Stephenson Rapha Condor JLT

100 Lloyd Chapman Richardsons-Trek RT
101 Andrew Griffiths Richardsons-Trek RT
102 Rhys Howells Richardsons-Trek RT
103 Owen Lake Richardsons-Trek RT
104 Oliver Rossi Richardsons-Trek RT
105 Luke Ryan Richardsons-Trek RT

106
107 Matthew Butt Speg – Project 51
108 Andrew Hale Speg – Project 51
109 Gavin Shuttleworth Speg – Project 51
110 Mark Baines Spirit Bikes Racing Team
111 Edward Clemens Spirit Bikes Racing Team
112 Christopher Dredge Spirit Bikes Racing Team
113 Andrew Marriott Spirit Bikes Racing Team
114 Jack Waller Spirit Bikes Racing Team
115 Mark Stewart Spokes Racing Team

116 Perry Bowater Starley Primal Pro Cycling
117 Jamie Caldwell Starley Primal Pro Cycling
118 Will Fox Starley Primal Pro Cycling
119 Harry Godding Starley Primal Pro Cycling
120 David Lines Starley Primal Pro Cycling
121 Michael Nicholson Starley Primal Pro Cycling
122 Jack Pullar Starley Primal Pro Cycling
123 George Ryman Starley Primal Pro Cycling

124 William Goulbourne Team Corley Cycles
125 Tom Neale Team Corley Cycles
126 Jonathan Shuster Team Corley Cycles
127 Michael Smith Team Corley Cycles
128 Steven Lawley The Racers
129 Matthew Kipling Velo29 Events

130 Marcin Bialoblocki Velosure – Giordana RT
131 Matt Cronshaw Velosure – Giordana RT
132 Nathan Edmondson Velosure – Giordana RT
133 James Gullen Velosure – Giordana RT
134 Richard Hepworth Velosure – Giordana RT
135 Steve Lampier Velosure – Giordana RT
136 James Moss Velosure – Giordana RT
137 Robert Partridge Velosure – Giordana RT

138 Tom Barras Wheelbase Altura MGD
139 Sam Boast Wheelbase Altura MGD
140 Matthew Clarke Wheelbase Altura MGD
141 Joseph Moses Wheelbase Altura MGD
142 Tom Murray Wheelbase Altura MGD
143 Simon Wilson Wheelbase Altura MGD

144 Russell Falder

150 Alex Bottomley (Wheelbase)

Former winners
2013: 1. Evan Oliphant, 2.Chris Opie 3. Peter Hawkins
2012: 1. Scott Thwaites, 2. Peter Hawkins, 3. Russell Downing
2011: 1. Ian Bibby, 2. Marcin Bialoblocki, 3. Dean Downing
2010: 1. Simon Richardson 2. Ian Wilkinson 3. Niklas Gustavsson
2009: 1. Andrew Tennant 2. Russell Downing 3. Robert Partridge
2008: 1. Russell Downing 2. Kristian House 3. Simon Richardson
2007: 1. Dean Downing 2. Gordon McCauley 3. Robin Sharman
2006: 1. Ben Greenwood 2. Kristian House 3. Matthew Stephens
2005: 1. Dean Downing 2. Kevin Dawson 3. Russell Downing
2004: 1. Shaun Snodden 2. Neil Swithenbank 3. Richard Sutcliffe
2003: 1. Chris Newton 2. Mark Lovatt 3. Malcolm Elliott
2002: 1. Mark Lovatt 2. John Tanner 3. Kevin Dawson
2001: Not held
2000: 1. Mark Lovatt, 2. Jeffrey Wright 3. Chris Young
1999: 1. Mark Lovatt 2. Neil Swithenbank 3. Christopher Anelay
1998: 1. Jeffrey Wright, 2. Chris Young 3. Christopher Anelay

 

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