Spot Chat: Beth Crumpton

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Enjoying her National Trophy last weekend was Beth Crumpton on her Estrella CX bike duelling it out with World Champion Evie Richards

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Spot Chat: Beth Crumpton

We get used to races in the national trophy being a little ‘samey’ as the same riders battle it out at the front but the Women’s race last weekend in Abergavenny was special, very special.

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Beth having a duel with Evie Richards live on TV ….

Not only did we have a World Champion in her rainbow stripes no less on the front of the grid in the form of Evie Richards but we also saw a rider take the race to her and at one point, gapping the World Champion. Now that’s something that few riders can look back on and say they’ve done!

But Beth Crumpton did that very thing and was all smiles afterwards despite seeing Richards come back at her and win the Women’s Trophy race. VeloUK got a few minutes with Beth before the podium presentation and she admitted “I have had a few heavy training sessions the last few weeks so was coming into this feeling quite strong.”

“I knew Evie was riding but being her first race, you never know how they are going to go. I just wanted to take it on from the start but didn’t get away well when I slipped my pedal at the start. So, I had to work hard to get to the front but the course was so good and so technical that it played to my strengths.”

“I wanted to get to the front and set the pace and I found myself gapping riders quite early on so I decided to push on and see how I would fare against a world champion”.

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Beth leads Richards by a few seconds with two laps to go

Talking about the moment she gapped Evie by a few seconds, Beth says “I got away but wasn’t sure how many laps there was to go as I wasn’t paying attention! So I suffered a bit when I did that and I knew she is proper strong when she gets it going in a straight line on a big gear. So when she got back to me, I knew she was going to attack and I tried to hold on for as long as I could and ride to my strengths.”

That Beth did and she finished second twenty three seconds behind one of the best cyclo-cross and mountain bike riders in the world which is pretty special indeed. Beth was also on a special bike, one of only three and she has two!

The bike is the Estrella Fangoso CX built from the tried and tested Toray T800 carbon fibre, the bike is both lightweight and strong and is designed to perform at the highest levels which Beth is certainly doing in the National Trophy.

The front forks are a chunky affair, built to withstand the rigours of off-road riding and designed, in conjunction with head tube angles, to give precise handling and control over the many different surfaces a rider will encounter.

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Beth and her Estrella Fangoso CX bike for the National Trophy season

The rear stays bow both inwards and forwards, meeting at the top in a wishbone configuration, combining to give just the right amount of flex to absorb much of the rough stuff while maintaining the stiffness needed for performance riding. It is of course also a colourful bike and available to special order for either thru-axle or quick release hubs and a variety of build options.

“The handling of this bike is amazing” says Beth. “I can throw it round the corners and as I’m on hydraulic dis brakes as well, it stops when I need it to. It is also really light and easy to pick up so it’s a really great bike and I’m really enjoying riding it. I’m riding a 42 Tuff chain ring with 26 on the back so I have the gears and ratios I need and if I have a hilly course, I can change the front ring to a 38.”

Good luck to Beth in the coming rounds of the series.

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Early in the race and Beth has recovered from a bad start and is alone chasing the leader Richards.

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This is where a light bike is important, flying over the hurdles!

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