GWR Team

GWR riders Nic Tilling, Dan Smith, Peter Kench and Dave Sinclair took to the Weston Supermare Crit Races today. The one-hour race consisted of a q-shaped circuit of 1.6km. Racing against 25 starters who were predominantly from the Pendragon Klass team, the GWR riders were looking to clinch their second win for the week.

The initial lap of the race was run off at a fast pace of 28mph, with two Pendragon riders going clear at the end of the second lap. The GWR riders then started attacking in an attempt to bridge across to the leading riders. Under the pressure one of Pendragon Klass riders was pulled back leaving Duglas Dewey clear with a 6-second gap. On lap four GWR team rider Kench and another Pendragon Klass rider went clear to close down the gap to the leader. Unfortunately Kench and his companion were later hemmed back into the pelaton. In the closing stages the main group split in two with nine riders chasing the lone leader, with three GWR team riders in the chasing group the team set about closing the gap. Sensing that there leading rider’s gap was coming down the remaining Pendragon Klass riders disrupted the chase. In the final 15 minutes of the race the lone leader lapped the third group which was removed from the race. With only ten minutes left in the race the second group tried once more to organize a chase of the leader. The group which included Tilling, Kench and Sinclair attempted to pull Dewey who was still away with a clear lead back into the group, but Dewey tenaciously held onto his lead and crossed the finishing line in first place. Sinclair ended up finishing in 5^th place, Kench and Tilling followed with 8^th and 9^th place respectively while Smith finished in 15^th place.

The 1^st of April saw in a victory for Dave Sinclair at the Mountbatten Circuit Races in Portsmouth! The race was multiple laps of a 1.5km circuit to total the 52km distance, and consisted of just over one hour of fast and furious racing.

Sinclair who has put in a tough week of training for the three upcoming races in the Easter period attacked early in the race. Two other riders when clear with him, the trio worked well to gain a momentous lead taking two laps, of the 1.5km circuit, over the 50 riders in the main group. Coming into the sprint Sinclair overtook the leading rider Peter Dibben with whom he was neck-and-neck for first place with a clear lunge for the finishing line. This is a definite sign of even better things to come from Sinclair in the Easter period.

The Easter Classic, at the Castle Coombe motor track, was run in typical weather for April, wet and windy. 50 riders signed on for the Elite race including GWR team riders Nic Tiling, Peter Kench and Dan Smith for 24 laps of the 50 mile race. After a team talk from Giant supplier Neil the team were out for the win in the race. The race was animated with many attacks in the early laps but with the pace high 28mph, no significant move went in the race. There were four prime laps included in the race to encourage an attack to stick, as each time the prime sprint occurred an attack would go over the top. But with 50 riders still in contention and significant numbers of rival teams represented nothing gained more than a 5 second gap before it was pulled back.

Coming into the last ten laps Peter Kench (fresh from his time trial win on Wednesday) attacked taking six riders with him. This group worked well for four laps. But the pelaton was in no mood to let an escape go this close to the end of the race. When this was brought back Nic tilling went with the counter attack of four riders. This move lasted for one lap before it all came back together.

With four laps to go peter put in yet another attack which saw seven riders go clear, with a rider from each team represented this looked finally to be the race winning move. With a lap to go Peter gambled on it being a sprint from this group and so sat on the back of the group waiting for the sprint. With the gap coming down as the pelaton chased hard it looked like the lead group may get caught. The pelaton managed to make contact with the lead group on the final bend of the race with less that 1.5km to go. In the final bunch sprint which ensued, Peter finished a fine 3rd, Nic was 10th and Dan finished in the main pelaton.

Neil Coleman entered the Squawker road race in Durango, Colorado on Sunday. The race consisted of a 9 mile lap ridden 9 times, with each lap containing 2 climbs. The first climb was 1.5 miles and the second 1 mile with a gradient of 15% and the finish was at the top of this rise. The race started fast with many attacks. Neil found himself in a several early moves that only gained an advantage of 20-30seconds before they were brought back. A huge attack containing Neil went away on the final climb of lap 4, by the time they reached the top a select group containing Neil and 5 other riders began to move away. Working well together they soon gained a gap of 1min 30secs which was held for the remainder of the race. On the final ascent, before the finish line, Neil launched an attack but was caught by 2 other riders with 200mtrs to go. Crossing the line in 3rd and very happy with his first NRC podium of the year. Neil commented on a “Job well done on a hard course.”
Neil next race is in California on Wednesday where he is riding the Sea Otter Classic in Monteray. A 4day stage race.

GWR team riders Nic Tilling, Dan Smith, and Dave Sinclair rode the AW Cycles Reading road race on Sunday. The circuit was on a modified course due to road works which removed the 12% Goring climb. This was replaced with a 17km circuit that included a 5km section on very exposed rolling roads with a long drag to the finish. The race consisted of six laps of the circuit for a reduced total distance of 65 miles. Due to a large number of additional riders signing on at the start of the day, the team faced 70 starters with a quality entry including riders from Corley Cycles, PCA, Velo Club Montpellier and a strong contingent from the Olympic Development Program (ODP) junior riders. The initial lap of the race was run off at a fast pace with speeds reaching 45mph, on the main descent. There were numerous attacks but nothing gaining more than 10 – 15 metres before the peloton pulled it back. Going over the main climb to the finish line, the race's fast pace started to shed a few riders from the main group. It was not until the third lap until an attack stuck with young riders Sandy King (Twickenham CC) and Jon Mould (Agiskoviner) going clear with a 10 second gap on the peloton. They remained as one group chasing the two leaders going over the finish line for the end of the third lap. Before the end of the fourth lap, the two leading riders were joined by six other riders which included GWR team rider Dave Sinclair. Going through the village of Woodcoate for the start of the fourth lap, Dave Sinclair was driving the break to force the race winning move. The peloton sensed the danger and a chase group of five riders formed. GWR's Nic Tilling covered the move to take the opportunity for a ‘free ride’ to the leading riders. Over the fourth lap, the chase group was unable to bridge the 10 second gap to the leaders and was pulled back by the peloton. Coming in to the final lap, the leading eight riders had built up a lead of over two minutes from what was left of the chasing peloton. The winner of the race was sure to come from the leading eight riders which included Dave Sinclair, two ODP Junior riders and Jon Pain (VCM). The leaders worked well together and remained as one group two kilometres out from the finish. Into the final kilometre though, Dave opened his sprint early and quickly gained 4 bike lengths on Jon Pain, Jon Mould and Sandy King. Dave held the gap to the line to take his third victory on the road for the GWR team. Nic Tilling came in two minutes later with the remnants of the main peloton who were sprinting for 9th place.