Women’s Tour Series Report – Stevenage

A new star name shone brightly in Stevenage on Monday as Anna Henderson showed how versatile she, sprinting to victory in a bunch kick after her Tour series solo win in Aberystwyth

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Women’s Tour Series Report – Stevenage
from – Gordon Wiseman

The considerable talent of Team OnForm’s Anna Henderson continued to shine in tonight’s round 6 of the women’s OVO Tour Series, taking her second successive win after outsprinting Trek-Drops Lucy Shaw and the fast finishing Megan Barker (Team Breeze) around the ultra-fast ‘Stevenage Bowl’.

In a race that was a compete contrast to the technical twists and turns of Aberystwyth, no one rider or small group of riders was ever allowed to pull away by more than 5 – 10 seconds as every attack was covered and pulled back by the fast and attentive peloton.

The usual suspects, Team Breeze, NJC-Biemme-Echelon and Storey Racing were on high-alert to what Henderson could do after her win on Saturday night – but her second place finishes at Redditch and Durham added to the second place in the recent Lincoln GP should have flagged up to everyone that this was a talent that was going to burst onto the British racing scene very, very soon.

Anna sitting in the wheels, saving energy for a sprint

Added back into the mix at Stevenage – after a very welcome return in Aberystwyth – was a quartet of Trek-Drops riders and this all made up what was a hectic cocktail of the country’s top riders who were determined to put on a high calibre night’s racing in the hot and humid conditions.

Going into the opening Eisberg Sprint of the night, Nikki Junniper (NJC-Biemme-Echelon) seemed to make light of her pre-race concerns that this wouldn’t be her kind of circuit as it more suited the outright power riders rather than those who can fight a canny race, outsprinting Henderson and adding sufficient points to retain her Eisberg jersey at the end of the night’s racing.

It proved to be an uncharacteristically quite night for Juniper and her team with Nikki finishing outside the top ten – she’s been in the top three of every other OVO Energy race thus far this year – and her team only taking 5th place overall in the all-important Team competition.

A late solo attack by  Lizzie Holden …

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Neah Evans and Ejay Harris made it a Storey Racing one-two in the second Eisberg Sprint with Henderson apparently keeping her powder dry as the fast-moving peloton – made up of about 20 riders – made its way into the final denouement of the race.

With a varied selection of team colours forcing their way to the sharp end of the action – Torelli-Brother were having their best showing of the year so far with Alice Sharpe and Laura Massey taking more than their share of wind at the front – Lizzie Holden (Trek-Drops) and double race winner Megan Barker (Team Breeze) opened what was probably the biggest lead of the race with just a handful of laps to go.

… became a tandem as double winner Megan Barker tried to make it three wins

But with the all-important sprint-to-the-line to come, that pairing was also pulled back so that, as the near 20-strong field came out of the final turn and with just 150m to go, Rebecca Durrell (Storey Racing) tried to repeat her 2017 race win but the now all-to-powerful Anna Henderson was just too strong as she took a clear win from Shaw and Barker.

Team Breeze took the all-important Team win on the night to increase their lead of the Teams classification. But such is the competitiveness of that competition amongst the women’s teams that the top five teams were covered by just 5 seconds overall.

And – again – special mention should be made of Admiral LIV AWOLs Charlotte Broughton who made it a hat-trick of fourth place finishes. One day that young 20-year old will take an OVO Energy Tour Series race herself.

Anna joins her teammates to celebrate he victory

Anna Henderson (Team OnForm) – “That’s amazing, two wins out of two! I’m just so chuffed with tonight’s win as it’s just completely different to the other night in Aberystwyth. And to come out top in a bunch sprint is always a great boost to your confidence.

“It was just so hot out there tonight, Breeze were attacking, Storey were attacking, I felt I just had to stay in the wheels and stay calm until it just seemed like the right moment to go. Everyone seems to have their strongest team out there tonight so it was just a case of not letting anyone get away.

“We’ve now just got 24 hours before the next race so it’ll now be a case of starting the recovery, having a massage and putting my feet up ad getting ready for tomorrow. I raced at Wembley last year but, let’s just say it was a race I’d rather forget. Now though I can’t wait to get racing again.

Simon Howes (Team Manager, Team OnForm) – “Absolutely delighted with tonight’s result. That’s two races and two wins, that’s a great feeling for everyone in the team. And whilst Saturday may have been for Anna, tonight’s result was a great team effort all round and so for all of us means that much more. Anna rode fantastically two days ago but today the team rode fantastically well.

“Tonight’s was a fast, fast race and we seemed to be losing riders but Alicia Speake did a brilliant ride. She started to go backwards but kept her head down, started to make her way through the wheels and then just went straight past.

“It comes as no surprise to me that Anna is doing do so well. We saw that in her last year and now she’s just getting better and better. She’s a very talented rider, we can all see that. I have a very good relationship with her, we live pretty close together and are regularly on the phone to each other. We just want that – and the direction of the team – to keep moving forward like that.

Team leaders, Team Breeze or the GB academy girls

Lucy Shaw (Trek-Drops) – “This was only my second Tour Series race this year so to get second place in the sprint tonight, yeah that’s really good. I’m very pleased. I like most crit circuits and this was a definite sprinters circuit so it suited me. It was very fast and the final corner’s quite technical and so that suited me as well.

“Anna was just so much stronger than anyone else. We all gave it a go but everyone just kept coming back together. With the circuit pretty much being made up of two long straights you can pretty much see anyone who goes up the road and they’re just like red lights that give you something to chase. It was just a good, good hard ride and a hard circuit.

“With Wembley coming tomorrow and Aberystwyth on Saturday night the racing is all coming on the back of each other so the legs are tired but, yeah, we’ll all be ready to go again”.

Megan Barker (Team Breeze) – “I think I was a little bit too excited tonight and so was a little bit too active. It seemed like I just jumped onto everything that went up the road. I got third from the sprint but it would have been nice to get another win.

“We’ve still got two races to go in the Series so it’s been really tiring. There’s a lot of travelling and with us being based in Manchester every race seems to have been at least 2 ½ to 3 hours travelling so that takes a lot out of you. And we’re still in the middle of a big training block in between so like most of us here, we don’t go home and do nothing, there’s all the training that’s still to be done.

“But we’ve still got the Leader’s jersey so that’s nice for us all and to have held it from the opening round, that’s really felt good at every race”.
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WOMEN RESULT

1 Anna Henderson Team OnForm 32 0:45:07.438
2 Lucy Shaw Trek-Drops 32 0:45:07.650 +0.212
3 Megan Barker Team Breeze 32 0:45:07.748 +0.310
4 Charlotte Broughton Admiral LIV AWOL 32 0:45:07.791 +0.353
5 Rebecca Durrell Storey Racing 32 0:45:07.880 +0.442
6 Jess Roberts Team Breeze 32 0:45:07.924 +0.486
7 Laura Massey Torelli-Brother 32 0:45:08.625 +1.187
8 Ejay Harris Storey Racing 32 0:45:08.874 +1.436
9 Gabriella Shaw NJC-Biemme-Echelon 32 0:45:09.091 +1.653
10 Neah Evans Storey Racing 32 0:45:09.351 +1.913
11 Annie Simpson Trek-Drops 32 0:45:10.012 +2.574
12 Nikki Juniper NJC-Biemme-Echelon 32 0:45:10.214 +2.776
13 Ellie Dickinson Team Breeze 32 0:45:10.329 +2.891
14 Lizzie Holden Trek-Drops 32 0:45:10.490 +3.052
15 Rhona Callander Team Breeze 32 0:45:10.585 +3.147
16 Charmaine Porter Team OnForm 32 0:45:10.586 +3.148
17 Elizabeth Bennett Jadan – Weldtite Vive Le Velo 32 0:45:11.284 +3.846
18 Rebecca Raybould Team Breeze 32 0:45:11.296 +3.858
19 Monica Dew Storey Racing 32 0:45:11.298 +3.860
20 Alice Sharpe Torelli-Brother 32 0:45:11.675 +4.237
21 Alicia Speake Team OnForm 32 0:45:11.701 +4.263
22 Ellen McDermott Boompods EDCO NRG 32 0:45:11.777 +4.339
23 Jennifer Powell NJC-Biemme-Echelon 32 0:45:12.629 +5.191
24 Olha Kulynych YRDP 32 0:45:13.049 +5.611
25 Jo Tindley NJC-Biemme-Echelon 32 0:45:13.233 +5.795
26 Christine Robson Jadan – Weldtite Vive Le Velo 32 0:45:13.924 +6.486
27 Emily Kay Torelli-Brother 32 0:45:14.844 +7.406
28 Hannah Bayes Admiral LIV AWOL 32 0:45:14.881 +7.443
29 Manon Lloyd Trek-Drops 32 0:45:15.043 +7.605
30 Georgie Panchaud Bianchi Dama 32 0:45:15.186 +7.748
31 Lauren Humphreys Boompods EDCO NRG 32 0:45:38.377 +30.939
32 Sian Botteley Team OnForm 32 0:45:46.753 +39.315
33 Isabel Darvill VeloSchils Interbike 32 0:45:51.469 +44.031
34 Poppy Thompson YRDP 32 0:45:51.988 +44.550
35 Clover Murray Admiral LIV AWOL 32 0:45:52.084 +44.646
36 Rachel Jary Boompods EDCO NRG 32 0:45:52.580 +45.142
37 Savannah Morgan YRDP 32 0:45:52.590 +45.152
38 Bethan Stubbs Bianchi Dama 29 0:45:54.862 +3 Laps
39 Olivia Bent Jadan – Weldtite Vive Le Velo 28 0:41:10.538 +4 Laps
40 Emily Wadsworth Jadan – Weldtite Vive Le Velo 28 0:41:10.960 +4 Laps
41 Victoria Lovett YRDP 28 0:41:34.210 +4 Laps
42 Emily Nelson Storey Racing 28 0:41:34.315 +4 Laps
43 Rosie Walsh Boompods EDCO NRG 28 0:41:34.414 +4 Laps
44 Alex Sheehan Bianchi Dama 28 0:41:36.081 +4 Laps
45 Georgia Bullard Jadan – Weldtite Vive Le Velo 27 0:41:08.235 +5 Laps
46 Gabriella Homer Team OnForm 27 0:41:08.393 +5 Laps
47 Madelaine Gammons NJC-Biemme-Echelon 27 0:41:09.940 +5 Laps
48 Ashia Fenwick VC Venta 27 0:41:12.628 +5 Laps
49 Lauren Higham Admiral LIV AWOL 27 0:41:12.984 +5 Laps
50 Nikki Kovacs Torelli-Brother 27 0:41:25.236 +5 Laps
51 Laurie Pestana Boompods EDCO NRG 27 0:41:30.969 +5 Laps
52 Hannah Righini-Brand YRDP 27 0:41:33.295 +5 Laps
53 Laura Fenwick VC Venta 27 0:41:36.036 +5 Laps
54 Hannah Graveney Admiral LIV AWOL 27 0:41:37.536 +5 Laps
55 Imogen Hutchings VC Venta 27 0:41:42.808 +5 Laps
56 Natasha Smith VeloSchils Interbike 27 0:42:32.193 +5 Laps
57 Elizabeth Pressage VC Venta 26 0:41:38.943 +6 Laps

Team
1 Team Breeze 2:15:26.001 10
2 Storey Racing 2:15:26.105 9
3 Trek-Drops 2:15:28.152 8
4 Team OnForm 2:15:29.725 7
5 NJC-Biemme-Echelon 2:15:31.934 6
6 Torelli-Brother 2:15:35.144 5
7 Admiral LIV AWOL 2:16:14.756 4
8 Boompods EDCO NRG 2:16:42.734 3
9 YRDP 2:16:57.627 2
10 Jadan – Weldtite Vive Le Velo 2:17:28.680 1

Overall
1 Team Breeze 57
2 NJC-Biemme-Echelon 50
3 Storey Racing 48
4 Team OnForm 33
5 YRDP 25
6 Trek-Drops 24
7 Jadan – Weldtite Vive Le Velo 23
8 Torelli-Brother 22
9 Admiral LIV AWOL 21
10 Boompods EDCO NRG 20

Brother Fastest Lap Competition
Rhona Callander Team Breeze 1:17.148

SPRINTS
Sprint 1
1 Nikki Juniper NJC-Biemme-Echelon 5
2 Anna Henderson Team OnForm 4
3 Neah Evans Storey Racing 3
4 Gabriella Shaw NJC-Biemme-Echelon 2
5 Megan Barker Team Breeze 1

Sprint 2
1 Neah Evans Storey Racing 5
2 Ejay Harris Storey Racing 4
3 Megan Barker Team Breeze 3
4 Lucy Shaw Trek-Drops 2
5 Lizzie Holden Trek-Drops 1

Finish
1 Anna Henderson Team OnForm 5
2 Lucy Shaw Trek-Drops 4
3 Megan Barker Team Breeze 3
4 Charlotte Broughton Admiral LIV AWOL 2
5 Rebecca Durrell Storey Racing 1

Round Classification
1 Anna Henderson Team OnForm 9
2 Neah Evans Storey Racing 8
3 Megan Barker Team Breeze 7
4 Lucy Shaw Trek-Drops 6
5 Nikki Juniper NJC-Biemme-Echelon 5
6 Ejay Harris Storey Racing 4
7 Charlotte Broughton Admiral LIV AWOL 2
8 Gabriella Shaw NJC-Biemme-Echelon 2
9 Rebecca Durrell Storey Racing 1
10 Lizzie Holden Trek-Drops 1

Overall
1 Nikki Juniper NJC-Biemme-Echelon 69
2 Anna Henderson Team OnForm 48
3 Megan Barker Team Breeze 30
4 Neah Evans Storey Racing 26
5 Gabriella Shaw NJC-Biemme-Echelon 14
6 Jess Roberts Team Breeze 11
7 Charlotte Broughton Admiral LIV AWOL 10
8 Lucy Shaw Trek-Drops 9
9 Rebecca Durrell Storey Racing 9
10 Lizzie Holden Trek-Drops 9
11 Manon Lloyd Trek-Drops 8
12 Rhona Callander Team Breeze 6
13 Ejay Harris Storey Racing 5
14 Abbie Dentus Team Breeze 5
15 Rebecca Raybould Team Breeze 3
16 Jo Tindley NJC-Biemme-Echelon 2
17 Jennifer Powell NJC-Biemme-Echelon 1
17 Ellie Dickinson Team Breeze 1
17 Olha Kulynych YRDP 1
17 Jennifer George Torelli-Brother

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