Tag: Glemp-T.J. Cycles

The European Cyclo-Cross Championships were held in Pont Chateau, France last weekend. ‘A Flatlands Fest, no doubt’ I hear you say. Well, the Ladies’ race was won by Thalita De Jong of the Netherlands; the U23 Men’s went to Quinten Hermans of Belgium and in a tactical Elite race former past and present World Champions, Mathieu Van Der Poel (Netherlands) and Wout Van Aert (Belgium) finished second and third respectively behind Toon Aerts of - Belgium. But to break the Benelux monopoly, the junior race was won by an English rider, 17 years-old Thomas Pidcock from Leeds.

Deeside Thistle APR and 43 riders in 5 groups set off with the scratch group 15 mins behind the front-runners. The weather was warm and sunny but the riders faced a strong westerly wind gusting up to 30 mph. Ray Wilson of Dunfermline CC and Alistair Watt of Granite City RT broke away on their own and caught all the groups with about 7 miles to go, then Ray won the sprint to the line.

Le Tour 2012 is a day away! On paper it is going to be a race between Wiggo and Cadel, and it is hard to see anyone else good enough to match these two men. As has been noted everywhere, and ad nauseam, this is a Tour with over 90km of time trialling. Considering the miserable time trialling talents of the gun climbers in the race, particularly when compared to how good Cadel and Wiggo are at climbing, the race for third may well end up being a separate battle of the also-rans behind the Wiggins-Evans showdown.

The nationals are one of my favourite events of the season. The race is strange because I have no specific job to do, no pulling on the front, no marking, no driving the break and no one to let down apart from myself. The first British Elite Championships I took part in were in 2008, somewhere in Yorkshire.

Santini Cycle Wear, which currently supplies clothing to Boels Dolmans, Trek-Segafredo and the UCI World Championships, launches washable masks to the UK.

Winning the British elite road race title? Simple; go in the early break with a team-mate, drive to get a decent gap, ride tempo and when the opposition start to bring you back, step on the gas, crack them, then drop your breakaway companions to win in solitary splendour. That’s if your name is Ian Stannard ...