Severn Bridge Road Race – Post Race Interviews

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Talking to winner Dale Appleby, Jon Tiernan-Locke and Pedal Heaven’s Max Stedman and Dexter Gardias

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Severn Bridge Road Race – Post Race Interviews

The Severn Bridge Road Race has for a long time being a race with a strong field and whilst this year it didn’t have the big teams with strength in numbers like it has in the past, the line up was still special enough to make it a tough race for all who rode it.

Race report is here on VeloUK - Here are the post race interviews:

Dale Appleby (winner): “It was great to win this race. Before we started, Woody (team owner) text us and told us it was the first race we ever came to watch a few years ago and it would be great for us to try and win it.”

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Win it they did through Dale who admits “Its great to get the first win of the season and I havent’ won for a while to be fair. Rob (Partridge) went in break and that looked like it was going to be the one so I whacked them after the climb and got across and me and Rob being in the break was perfect.”

“Rob told me he wasn’t feeling too good and said I’ll try and soften them up and he went on the attack and said, if anything goes on the climb, I’ll have to go. And then Max (Stedman) went and he was really strong and I waited to see if anyone would go and no-one did so I thought I’ll whack them. I got across to him and there were three of us away”.

“In the sprint though, we were going down the hill and it wouldn’t go in the 11 for some reason so I was panicking a bit thinking I won’t get round him as I’m running out of gears but I managed to do it.”

“It was a hard race for us and it took a while to get going. We’ve just done a big camp in Calpe doing a real big work load out there. We didn’t back until Friday morning. So we did an hour and half yesterday (Saturday) and today was feeling a bit blocked to start with but came good as the race went on.”

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Dexter Gardias KoM winner (Pedal Heaven RT) explained how the early break in the race formed over the top of the climb where it turns into a headwind. “One guy (Liam Bromiley) pressed on when the climb got steeper and I went with him and then Jon came across”.

“We were away for five or so laps before a group came across to us” he explained. Asked what the rider from Bath Uni (Liam Bromiley) was like, winner of races already this year, Dexter replied “he was strong and we were struggling to give him some turns at some points.”

“Ten or twelve came across to us and then that got thinned down a bit up the climb as we still wanted to push on and get the KoM points. I ended up on my own at one point just from going for the points but that didn’t come to anything. It was good to be active out there though.”

It was the first race for the team and Dexter said it was a good one for him. “It was good to get the new kit on and give it some beans as I’m bored with training now! I need to prove myself in the team which is very strong but I back myself to do that probably more now than last year when I learnt a lot.”

His next race is the Jock Wadley.

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Max Stedman (Pedal Heaven): The 19-year-old (leading a group above) explained “I felt good on the climb and I knew from what Tim was saying that it was strong move up front. Three others went across so I went and took some more guys with me and we bridged to the leaders.”

“Then with two to go, I hit it up the climb and brought Dale and Clemens with me and we worked well together I attacked the two guys I was with twice in the last km to see if I could forge a gap in the crosswind but they marked me, so it wasn’t happening.”

“When it got to the sprint, I tried to go for a long one knowing the odds were against me in that kind of finish. It didn’t pay off but I have to be pretty chuffed with third. Obviously, a hill-top finish would have been ideal for me. I think I would have been strongest out of that group.”

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Jon Tiernan-Locke: Talking about the early move he was part of, Jon says “Liam (Bromiley), who won last week, was super strong. It was easier to do a turn on the front than sit behind him!”

“It was clear we weren’t going to stay out there and so were waiting for others to come across. When they did, the move was too big and people were sitting in and I should have sat on perhaps but then I was keen for it to stay away.”

“With a few laps to go, three attacked on the hill and I hesitated and the gap grew. I went and was close to shutting it down over the top. I flicked the elbow but no-one was coming through. Liam and me rode then to keep clear of the bunch.”

“I am ten kilos heavier than when I was racing before so I have to lose some of that but I feel pretty fit. You can do a lot of zone two training but the racing is so intense and this was a good level race but I felt strong on the bike and had no problems being up there today.”

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