Crit Report/Result: Women’s Team Cup Hillingdon

Kinga Ingram of Storey Racing won the final race of the season long British Team Cup in a close sprint with Libby Smithson (AWOL Worx)

Crit Report/Result: Women’s Team Cup Hillingdon

Race 8 – Will Houghton at Hillingdon | Sunday 28th August
Report by Jon Miles

Kinga Ingram of Storey Racing won the final race of the season long British Team Cup in a close sprint with Libby Smithson (AWOL Worx)at Hillingdon and superbly organised by Scott Holmes celebrating the short life of Will Houghton.

This circuit, known for quick racing, saw another rapid race and after just two laps Eline Smith (Laka Pedal Mafia) sprang off the front of the bunch for the first attack. And so the pattern unfolded. Laka Pedal Mafia, already leading on the Team Points totals came to this race with a plan….to Go Hard or Go Home…. Eline was away for 6 laps, then Penny Colloff (Laka Mafia) clipped of the front and took over but was caught after a lap.

Next to go was Anouska Greenaway and Lena Kane both from Laka Pedal Mafia. Having been caught, it was the time for Laura Senior (Laka Pedal Mafia) and Ellen Bennett, (Brother UK-Orentation Marketing) who got away for two laps then Eline Smith went again a lap later. She was caught by a trio of Miriam Bullock (Grinta Coaching), Emily Chilton (Saint Piran) and Harriet Evans (Brother UK-Orentation marketing). But again they were caught and so it went on, attack… counter and more attacks in what was becoming a thrilling final British Team Cup finale!

Sam Fawcett (Spectra Wiggle), Libby Smithson (AWOL Worx), Gemma Sargent (Saint Piran) all got involved the attacking off the front as well. On the 32nd lap, Emily Chilton (Saint Piran) and Laura Senior (Laka Pedal Mafia) attacked and were away for nine laps but having given their all, they were caught agonisingly close to the finish in true TDF style culminating in a big bunch sprint with Kinga taking her first ever British Team Cup race.

… continued after the advert.

Winner Kinga after the race told explained how it happened “I have done a few of the Team Cup races but my team have no interest but The British Team Cup is a great series. With a mixture of abilities, it allows riders to gain experience before going into National As. Second cat riders need the Team Cup series which always has good numbers in races as it is generally hard to get a good field for women. Jumping straight from a Regional B to a National A is a big difference and if you have no bunch skills then it would be a crash fest so this is a good way to step up”.

Laka Pedal Mafia Laura Senior commented “We came here today with a plan, Go Hard or Go Home! We wanted to attack from the gun, we knew we have been developing all season. We wanted to take the win here today but that never happened but we have won the Team Cup! We have worked hard this season and to have the Cup as a new team is fantastic. We intend to stay as a team for the future, we all come together every couple of weeks to talk. This series has really helped us to work together as a team. We always had a goal to win the British Team Cup and really come together, to have a focus so this is a dream really…we were a new team and didn’t know how we compared”

At the end of the race presentation Jon Miles made this statement. “When I invented the Women’s Team Race Series in 1999, (later called the British Team Cup) women’s racing was in a poor state which our governing body British Cycling had little interest in improving. The time was right for a team based series of races to allow the women’s sport to grow from the first race with 34 to the large fields we see now plus there were no teams as such, certainly not the teams we see today with such sponsorship. After 23 years it is time for me to look for someone … or two.. to take over from me to see the next generations enjoy our sport as much as I have.”

Please contact either Lisa (lisawest106@gmail.com) or myself (jon.miles2017@gmail.com) if you can help or know someone else that can help take this forward”

TEAM RESULT
1 LAKA Pedal Mafia RT – 223 points
2 AWOL WORX – 220 points
3 Saint Piran WRT – 152 points
3 Grinta Coaching – 152 points
5 Storey Racing – 150 points
6 Brother UK-Orientation Marketing – 147 points
7 Jadan – Vive le Velo – 122 points
8 Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes presented by Heidi Kjeldsen – 115 points
9 Abingdon Race Team – 110 points
10 Army Cycling Union – 72 points
11 Loughborough Lightning – 60 points
12 Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus – 55 points
13 FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing – 25 points
14 Avid Sport – 24 points

INDIVIDUAL RESULT
1 Kinga Ingram Storey Racing
2 Libby Smithson AWOL WORX
3 Isabel Darvill Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen
4 Lena Kane LAKA Pedal Mafia RT
5 Maddie Wadsworth AWOL WORX
6 Emily Proud Grinta Coaching
7 Suzetta Guerrini Jadan – Vive le Velo
8 Penny Colloff LAKA Pedal Mafia RT
9 Chloe Vickers Loughborough Lightning
10 Samantha Fawcett Spectra Wiggle
11 Rebekah Nash Jadan – Vive le Velo
12 Hannah Bayes Saint Piran WRT
13 Harriet Evans Brother UK-Orientation Marketing
14 Isabel Ellis Grinta Coaching
15 Gemma Sargent Saint Piran WRT
16 Katherine Sheridan Abingdon Race Team
17 Ellen Bennett Brother UK-Orientation Marketing
18 Sarah Hickman Abingdon Race Team
19 Hope Inglis Brother UK-Orientation Marketing
20 Simone Gout Army Cycling Union
21 Ruth Fisher Abingdon Race Team
22 Emily Chilton Saint Piran WRT
23 Anouska Greenaway LAKA Pedal Mafia RT
24 Charlotte Gibson Saint Piran WRT
25 Laura Senior LAKA Pedal Mafia RT
26 Miriam Bullock Grinta Coaching
27 Amy Harvey Brother UK-Orientation Marketing
28 Vivienne Tomlin FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing
29 Tizzie Robinson-Gordon Avid Sport
30 Eline Smit LAKA Pedal Mafia RT
31 Ellen Inglis Brother UK-Orientation Marketing
32 Marie-Louise Kertzman LAKA Pedal Mafia RT
33 Angela Laycock Army Cycling Union
34 Kate Dunscombe Army Cycling Union