Historic Halfords Tour Series win for Team Raleigh - GAC
Ed Clancy takes individual win in Peterborough, but Raleigh clinch first ever Series victory.
Olympic Gold Medallist Ed Clancy may have got the individual honours, but Peterborough cemented its place in history last night as Team Raleigh – GAC took their first ever Halfords Tour Series win, in their third season of competition in the unique team based Series.
Raleigh placed Daniel Holloway and Bernard Sulzberger in the winning six man move, taking second and sixth respectively, while British Circuit Race Champion Graham Briggs brought in the bunch to take seventh place, an important finish that may even surpass his Peterborough victory 12 months previous.
Despite the presence of double round winner Scott Thwaites and Zak Dempster in the winning move, Briggs’ seventh was the score that mattered, handing Team Raleigh – GAC their first ever Halfords Tour Series win, making them the third team after Endura Racing and Team UK Youth to win one of the six rounds held to date in 2012.
Clancy had led out a long sprint to take the individual win ahead of Holloway and Thwaites, with the former scoring his best result yet in the team based competition.
“It’s been a tough Halfords Tour Series for the team so far,” said Ed Clancy. “It’s a team event so as nice as it is to win the individual we’re trying to win the team.
“It’s a team event and I was kind of interested more in what was going on behind me with the boys. Once that breakaway had formed we were in a good position for the individual win as I had no work to do – two Endura’s, two Raleigh guys so I was just sat on taking it easy and waiting for the sprint. From a team point-of-view it would have been better to have had two or three of us in there, but that’s how it goes.
“We’ve done well in the individuals, Kristian [House] has won two and I’ve won one, but we’re just not getting consistency and feel like we’re not getting the luck. We’ve had a few punctures and Dean’s been ill, and he’s been ill again here tonight. You make your own luck and Endura have been very very strong and are hard to beat.”
Clancy had gone clear just over halfway through the race along with Raleigh duo Sulzberger and Holloway, plus Endura’s Thwaites and Dempster, with Node4 – Giordana’s Matt Cronshaw also among the leaders.
Having taken a while for a move to stick, once this high-quality sextet moved clear the lead swiftly grew, stretching to around the half a minute mark to ensure the individual winner would come from the break.
With two riders a piece in front, the team prize was always going to be fought out between Raleigh – GAC and Endura, and it was Briggs’ seventh, narrowly ahead of Endura’s Ian Wilkinson in eighth that proved conclusive.
Behind Rapha Condor Sharp took third, while Aberystwyth winners Team UK Youth had an off evening, only managing sixth on the night to drop them back to third in the overall standings.
Further success for Team Raleigh – GAC on the night came courtesy of Sulzberger, who yet again won the evening’s Boardman Bikes Sprints prize to extend his lead at the top of the standings over Marcel Six. With five rounds to go, Sulzberger has an eight-point lead over Six, who looks to be his only rival for the yellow jersey.
Asked whether defending champions Rapha Condor Sharp can take a team win and get back into the battle for the overall Halfords Tour Series title, Clancy is optimistic.
“I hope so, but if not let’s just keep looking at the individual wins. I think the overall is probably too far now as Endura are so strong, as well as the other teams. We’ll take each round as it comes and just enjoy it.”
Thursday sees The Halfords Tour Series head to London and Canary Wharf for Round Seven, with Clancy hoping to maintain his good form and claim what will hopefully be not his only victory in London this Summer.
“To be honest it should be the sort of circuit that suits me but I’ve never really had much luck around there and gone well, but who knows, it’d be nice to go for a double.”
Highlights of Round Six are on ITV4 on Wednesday 30th May at 8pm, while Canary Wharf hosts Round Seven on Thursday 31st May.
The Halfords Tour Series, Round Six, Peterborough, Results
Round Six Individual Result
1) Ed Clancy, Rapha Condor Sharp
2) Daniel Holloway, Team Raleigh - GAC
3) Scott Thwaites, Endura Racing
4) Matt Cronshaw, Node4 - Giordana Racing
5) Zak Dempster, Endura Racing
6) Bernard Sulzberger, Team Raleigh - GAC
7) Graham Briggs, Team Raleigh - GAC
8) Ian Wilkinson, Endura Racing
9) James McCallum, Rapha Condor Sharp
10) Marcel Six, Metaltek Scott
Round Six Team Result
1) Team Raleigh - GAC
2) Endura Racing
3) Rapha Condor Sharp
4) Node4 - Giordana
5) Cycle Premier - Kovert
6) Team UK Youth
7) Team IG - Sigma Sport
8) Herbalife LeisureLakesBikes
9) Metaltek Scott
10) Team Hope Factory Racing
Overall Team Standings, post-Round Six
1) Endura Racing, 56pts
2) Rapha Condor Sharp, 47pts
3) Team UK Youth, 46pts
4) Team Raleigh - GAC, 46pts
5) Node4 - Giordana Racing, 40pts
6) Cycle Premier - Kovert, 28pts
7) Team IG - Sigma Sport, 24pts
8) Metaltek Scott, 16pts
9) Herbalife LeisureLakesBikes, 15pts
10) Team Hope Factory Racing, 11pts
Boardman Bikes Sprints winner Peterborough: Marcel Six (Metaltek Scott)
Boardman Bikes Sprints standings, post-Round Six
1) Bernard Sulzberger, Team Raleigh - GAC, 61pts
2) Marcel Six, Metaltek Scott, 53pts
3) Kristian House, Rapha Condor Sharp, 32pts
Owen conquers Peterborough for Node4 – Giordana Racing
Successful evening for Node4 – Giordana Racing with victory for Harriet Owen
Harriet Owen took her first ever Johnson Health Tech Grand Prix Series victory in Peterborough, winning Round Two of the 2012 Series from a three rider break.
Also in the lead group was Oxford heroine Annie Simpson, who took second on the road to keep her Series lead by just two points over Hannah Barnes, the third member of the victorious escape.
The trio escaped early on in the race, moving clear in response to an attack by Owen’s Node4 – Giordana Racing teammate, Junior World Champion, Lucy Garner. The three worked well together to build their lead, which was never threatened.
Coming into the finale, Owen outsprinted Simpson and Barnes, with Series leader Simpson full of praise for the winner, admitting afterwards that Owen was the stronger rider and had deserved to win.
“Harriet’s a very deserved winner, she’s so strong and she went at the end and I couldn’t hold her,” said Simpson. “I knew to keep the overall I had to beat Hannah Barnes and I was just thinking that as I was sprinting.
“That was much harder than Oxford, the course was more demanding than Oxford. We really had to keep pushing as we went so early I wasn’t feeling my best at all tonight; in Oxford I felt really good but tonight I was glad I was in a break with some really strong riders.
“I didn’t really enjoy it, but it’s nice to be over and to have kept the jersey. I kept both jerseys and I couldn’t ask for anything more really.”
Speaking afterwards Harriet Owen was much in demand from the media, including a live appearance on BBC Look East before the start of the men’s Halfords Tour Series event.
“I just went eyeballs out and hoped that someone would come with me, and it stuck. We all worked really well together so got quite a good lead,” said Owen.
“I knew I felt quite good, but I knew Hannah Barnes had a good sprint and Annie would go for a long one as well, so I had to chance it and go for a long one as if I could get the gap I’d be able to hold it, and it paid off!”
Simpson’s lead is just two points over Barnes, with Node4 – Giordana Racing Lucy Garner and Corrine Hall third and fourth on 32 and 28 points respectively, while defending champion Helen Wyman lies fifth on 26 points.
The Matrix Fitness – Prendas rider keeps hold of the Sprints Jersey, with an extended lead also over Barnes, but her team lost the lead of the team’s standings after Node4 – Giordana put three riders in the top ten for a dominant performance.
Highlights of Round Two can be seen as a part of The Halfords Tour Series on ITV4 at 8pm on Wednesday 29th May. Round Three of the Johnson Health Tech Grand Prix Series takes place at 17:30 in Colchester on Thursday 7th June.
Johnson Health Tech Grand Prix Series , Round Two, Peterborough, Provisional Results
Round Two Individual Result
1) Harriet Own, Node4 - Giordana Racing
2) Annie Simpson, Matrix Fitness - Prendas
3) Hannah Barnes, Team Ibis Cycles
4) Lucy Garner, Node4 - Giordana Racing
5) Amy Roberts, Scott Contessa Epic
6) Lydia Boylan, Look Mum No Hands!
7) Louise Mahe, Mule Bar Girls
8) Emily Kay, Scott Contessa Epic
9) Helen Wyman, Kona Factory Racing
10) Corrine Hall, Node4 - Giordana Racing
Round Two Team Winners: Node4 - Giordana Racing
Overall Individual Standings, post Round Two
1) Annie Simpson, Matrix Fitness - Prendas, 39pts
2) Hannah Barnes, Team Ibis Cycles, 37pts
3) Lucy Garner, Node4 - Giordana Racing, 32pts
4) Corrine Hall, Node4 - Giordana Racing, 28pts
5) Helen Wyman, Kona Factory Racing, 26pts
6) Harriet Owen, Node4 - Giordana, 25pts
7) Lydia Boylan, Look Mum No Hands, 25pts
8) Amy Roberts, Scott Contessa Epic, 22pts
9) Jo Tindley, VC St Raphael, 18pts
10) Louise Mahe, Mule Bar Girls, 18pts
Overall Team Standings, post-Round Two
1) Node4 - Giordana Racing, 85pts
2) Matrix Fitness - Prendas, 69pts
3) Look Mum No Hands!, 41pts
4) Scott Contessa Epic, 40pts
5) VC St Raphael, 32pts
6) Mule Bar Girls, 30pts
7) Abergavenny Road Club, 15pts
8) Vivelo Bikes/Inverse/Cyclaim RT, 11pts
9) Team Hope Factory Racing, 9pts
10) WyndyMilla UK Youth, 6pts
Sprints winner Peterborough: Annie Simpson (Matrix Fitness - Prendas)
Sprints standings, post Round Two:
1) Annie Simpson, Matrix Fitness - Prendas, 16pts
2) Harriet Owen, Node4 - Giordana Racing, 8pts
3) Hannah Barnes, Team Ibis Cycles, 7pts
The Halfords Tour Series and Johnson Health Tech GP Series are sister events to The Tour of Britain, the UK’s biggest professional cycle race, which takes place every September. To take on the challenge of riding a Tour of Britain route in a Tour Ride, head to www.tourride.co.uk to find our more and to register for your challenge!