REPORT/RESULT: British Circuit Race Championships

The  National Road Championships continued as Aberystwyth hosted the circuit championships on Friday 27 June, as Scottish riders Kate Richardson and Cameron Mason emerged victorious after thrilling races through the city streets.

REPORT: MASON AND RICHARDSON STAR IN THRILLING CIRCUIT RACES AT THE LLOYDS NATIONAL ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS — (BC Press Release) — The  National Road Championships continued as Aberystwyth hosted the circuit championships on Friday 27 June, as Scottish riders Kate Richardson and Cameron Mason emerged victorious after thrilling races through the city streets.

ELITE WOMEN
Kate Richardson (Handsling Alba Development Road Team) won the women’s Lloyds National Circuit Championship by millimeters from Izzy Sharp (Lidl – Trek) in a thrilling sprint finish in the Welsh town, with local rider Jess Roberts (Spectra Racing) taking home bronze after instigating the race winning move.

A pre-race rain shower saw an already technical circuit complicated further by damp roads, as the riders rolled off for 50 minutes and five laps of racing. A cagey opening first half of the race saw multiple attacks but a furious pace meant no riders could make any advantages stick, with moves marshalled particularly by last year’s runner up Eilidh Shaw (UAE Development Team) and Robert’s team, Spectra Racing.

Towards the end of lap 14, with around 20 minutes remaining, it was Roberts herself who decided to break the deadlock, launching an attack along the finish straight, despite a fierce headwind. Although a chase began behind, she did not relent and was soon joined by Richardson and Sharp to drive on and gain a gap.

The trio worked well together and extended the time gap to the chasing group, showing brilliant cornering skills to maintain their advantage. With the 50 minutes completed and just five laps remaining, their lead stood at 55 seconds, meaning they were sure to close out the podium places and fight amongst themselves for the win.

This proved to be the case as the trio entered the home straight along the Aberystwyth promenade for a three-up sprint, with Sharp leading the others out and launching her sprint first. The 19-year-old looked in control, however it was Richardson who drew out from Sharp’s slipstream with immense power to take the title by the finest of margins on the line to seal her first National road title, while Roberts could not match the pair and settled for bronze.

Speaking after the podium, Kate Richardson said: “It’s super special, everyone is really proud to be able to have a national title and it’s my first one in a road event, I’m so happy. When we got away, it was just about committing fully, you need to go all in and we did that.”

“It was a very long moment of waiting at the end, Izzy [Sharp] thought I had it, I thought she had it, it was close from my point of view as she had the inside line, but thankfully I remembered to throw my bike.”

“In a crit, people get quite keen at the start, but you need to make it count in the last 15 minutes or so because everyone has fresh legs in the first 30 minutes. I just tried to sit in as much as possible and then when Jess (Roberts) made that great move, I just followed her and when Izzy came, I knew it was a great group, I’m really glad it was those two. When we got away, it was just about committing fully and you can’t control what they do behind but you need to go all in and we did that.”

ELITE MEN
Cameron Mason (Alpecin Deceuninck Development Team) sprinted to a fabulous victory in the elite open race, outmatching Bjorn Koerdt (Team Picnic PostNL) after spending much of the race in the breakaway with his rival.

A brutal opening pace meant the race followed a similar pattern to the women’s competition, with no attacks allowed to escape the peloton in the early stages, before Koerdt began the decisive breakaway with a devastating attack on the 20 minute mark. Launching from deep within the bunch along the finishing straight, he sprinted clear to quickly earn an 11 second gap.

Multiple riders attempted to help chase Koerdt down, however it was Mason who, just shy of the half hour mark, decided to close the gap himself, bridging the gap impressively within a single lap to make it a leading duo, where the pair saw their advantage soon widen to almost half a minute.

The Scotsman and the Yorkshireman looked untouchable, with their gap remaining steady for the next 20 minutes, despite numerous attacks from the chasing pack behind, with a notable effort from Thomas Armstrong (Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli), who almost made contact with the duo but couldn’t hold the brutal pace, before falling back to the peloton.

These attacks continued in a similar vein until 2022 national circuit champion Matthew Bostock (TEKKERZ CC) decided to make his move after strong work from his teammates. His initial attack saw him amongst other riders, before he struck out on his own as the race ticked close to the 50 minute mark.

Bostock made incredible progress, chipping the gap down to just seven seconds as the race entered the final lap but it was not enough to catch the leading duo, as Koerdt led the pair onto the home straight, where Mason simply proved too strong as he sprinted clear to claim the title in definitive fashion. Behind, Bostock saw his efforts end in vain as he settled for third place.

Speaking after his win, Cameron Mason said: “It feels unexpected but also I knew that I could probably do something on a course like this, where it was technical and greasy. I haven’t done a crit for a couple of years, but I race 30 to 40 cyclocross races each winter so that obviously suits me.

“I think Bjorn [Koerdt] had the right idea to get off the front and get on with it. No one would force it, I ended up leading out Bjorn’s attack, then took a lap to recover then chased him myself and no one came with me. It paid off for both of us.

“It’s up there with my cyclocross wins, one of the more unexpected ones. It’s nice to have my parents here, and pay back all the things they’ve done for me.”

RESULTS

MEN
1. Cameron Mason, Alpecin Deceunick Development Team 1:01:51.19 –
2. Bjorn Koerdt, Team Picnic PostNL * +0.58
3. Matthew Bostock, TEKKERZ CC +9.01
4. Maxwell Hereward, 360cycling * +45.70
5. Oliver Wood, TEKKERZ CC +51.11
6. Noah Hobbs, EF Education – Aevolo * +51.47
7. Thomas Armstrong, Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli +51.55
8. Jed Smithson, Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development * +51.55
9. Ben Askey, CC Etupes * +51.87
10. Dylan Hicks, Raptor Factory Racing * +51.89
11. William Truelove, MUC-OFF-SRCT-STORCK +51.95
12. Aaron King, Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli +52.49
13. Jim Brown, Golden State Blazers +52.50
14. Jacob Bush, Team Picnic PostNL Development * +52.87
15. William Tidball, Unattached +53.47
16. Olivier Mangham, DAS Richardsons * +54.74
17. Milo Wills, TEKKERZ CC * +55.08
18. Joshua Horsfield, Reflex Nopinz +55.19
19. Finlay Tarling, Israel – Premier Tech Academy * +55.36
20. George Kimber, Spirit Racing Team +55.43
21. Jake Jackson, MUC-OFF-SRCT-STORCK +55.49
22. Frank Longstaff, DAS Richardsons +55.64
23. Harry Macfarlane, Ride Revolution Coaching +55.65
24. Thomas Portsmouth, Wagner Bazin WB +55.75
25. Benjamin Bright, ASPTT Nancy * +56.09
26. Farley Barber, SCO Dijon Team Materiel-Vel+56.87
27. William Perrett, DAS Richardsons +57.32
28. Oliver Stockwell, Bahrain-Victorious +1:02.67
29. Alec Briggs, TEKKERZ CC +1:04.92
30. Benjamin Tuchner, TEKKERZ CC * +1:09.50
31. James Ambrose-Parish, Ride Revolution Coaching +1:22.03
32. Rory Gravelle, Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco * +1:22.25
33. William Jewitt, Mud Dock Racing +1:22.38
34. Dylan Sage, Cannibal B Victorious * +1:22.63
35. Robert Smart, Private Member * +1:23.44
36. David Bolland, Spirit Racing Team +1:24.40
37. Sion Jones, Clancy Briggs Cycling Academy * +1:24.56
38. Dexter Leeming-Sykes, Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli * +1:25.76
39. Cai Davies, DAS Richardsons +1:27.66
40. William Roberts, Dolan Factory Racing +1:29.27
41. Jake Edwards, 360cycling * +1:34.85
42. Ben Chilton, Mayenne-V and B-Monbana * +2:20.68

WOMEN
1. Kate Richardson, Handsling Alba Development Road Team 1:02:25.387
2. Isabel Sharp, Lidl – Trek * +0.014
3. Jessica Roberts, Spectra Racing +0.183
4. Sophie Lewis, DAS-Hutchinson +1:15.209
5. Josie Knight, TEKKERZ CC +1:15.372
6. Madelaine Leech, Handsling Alba Development Road Team * +1:15.462
7. Monica Greenwood, Team Coop – Repsol +1:15.529
8. Eilidh Shaw, UAE Development Team * +1:15.576
9. Mari Porton, Handsling Alba Development Road Team * +1:15.797
10. Charlotte Broughton, Torelli +1:15.820
11. Grace Lister, Hess Cycling Team * +1:16.010
12. Isabel Mayes, CJ O’Shea Racing Team * +1:16.917
13. Beth Morrow, Handsling Alba Development Road Team +1:16.933
14. Lucy Lee, DAS-Hutchinson +1:17.305
15. Anna Flynn, Spectra Racing +1:17.409
16. Alice Colling, Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team * +1:17.646
17. Erin Avill, Simpson Nouvelles * +1:17.744
18. Lotty Dawson, Brother UK – On Form * +1:17.745
19. Xan Crees, Fatcreations/ USE Components +1:18.140
20. Amelia Cebak, Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team * +1:18.630
21. Neah Evans, Handsling Alba Development Road Team +1:19.143
22. Jo Tindley, Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team +1:20.045
23. Jennifer Powell, Performance Development Team +1:20.393
24. Arianne Holland, Handsling Alba Development Road Team +1:28.541
25. Lily Brindle, Brother UK – On Form * + 1 lap
26. Millie Skinner, Team Boompods + 1 lap
27. Georgina Oakley, Loughborough Lightning + 1 lap
28. Isabel Darvill, CJ O’Shea Racing Team + 1 lap
29. Lucy Glover, Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team * + 1 lap
30. Libby Smithson, DAS-Hutchinson * + 1 lap
31. Matilda McKibben, CJ O’Shea Racing Team * + 1 lap

SUNDAY
Sunday 29 June sees the Lloyds National Road Championships host the road race, with some of the strongest names in the British road scene battling through the Welsh countryside. After a presentation start on the seafront, the road races will head out of town towards Y Gors as far as Trawsgoed on a picturesque yet testing 23.4km anti-clockwise loop, heading back towards Aberystwyth, passing Abermad.

With a maximum gradient of 9.1% at the beginning of each lap, the peloton will be thinned out as the action moves onto the finishing circuit after three laps for the women’s race and five laps in the men’s race. Racing begins early doors, with the elite and under-23 women kicking things off at 08:45, before the elite and under-23 men close things out at 13:45.

Fans can watch the road race live on the British Cycling Youtube channel, Discovery+ online and TNT, plus a full highlights programme on Discovery+ and TNT2 at 7pm on Tuesday 1 July.

 

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