Team News: Wightlink-Wight Mountain CRT

A busy week for the Wightlink-Wight Mountain CRT

Team News: Wightlink-Wight Mountain CRT

Race Report – w/e 03/09/2023
A busy week for the Wightlink-Wight Mountain CRT. Oli Nolan travelled to Portsmouth on Wednesday to compete in the E/1/2 race at the Mountbatten Centre. Oli rode a smart race, covering many attacks during the fast paced 45 minutes on the track and despite almost being caught out by a break on the last lap, he dug in to take 7th place in the bunch sprint which earned him valuable points towards retaining his 2nd category licence.

Further afield, Kev Chant made the long trek to Blyth in Northumberland to compete in the National 10 mile Championships on Sunday. With a field of 150 of the UK’s top riders vying for the podium places, including a number of professional cyclists, it was always going to be a tough challenge for Kev stepping up to this level of racing; he put in a solid performance in tough conditions, crossing the line in a creditable time of 19.25, taking joint 17th place.

The win was taken by Saint Piran team member and European track champion, Josh Charlton, in an incredible time of 17.43.

Kev said after the race ‘I didn’t do as well as I wanted, the legs were just not there today. The course was fast on the way out with a tailwind, but then tough on the way back with a pretty strong headwind. I hope to be back again next year to give it another go and improve on my time’.

Sunday also saw the start of the Wessex CX Series, the first round being held in Clanfield, near Portsmouth. Oli Nolan was in action again alongside team mates James Brett (Vet 40+) and Ewan Cook (Junior) in their first cyclocross race of the season. Oli made a solid start to the Series, taking 12th place after working his way from the back of the field. Ewan and James also had a tough task, picking off riders as they fought their way from the last row of the grid; Ewan put in a solid performance, finishing in 11th place and hopefully doing enough to be gridded better in the next round. James finished mid-field and is looking to improve on this next weekend.