NEWS

Photos by Andy Whitehouse

Team Raleigh trio Evan Oliphant, Tom Scully and Lachlan Norris all finished in the top ten to bolster the team’s Tour Series lead at the second round of racing in Durham last night (16th May).

The Durham race presented a significantly different challenge from Tuesday’s Round 1 race in Kirkcaldy, featuring a cobbled climb every two or three minutes which really put the pressure on the riders to maintain a high pace.

Going into the race, Raleigh knew they needed to dominate the top ten to secure the all important team points.

As Evan Oliphant told Velo UK: “It was pretty savage from the start but we were just making sure we had three or four in every move and we had four at one point.

“Kristian (House) went at one point and we were going to go after him but I said we had to wait because we’re more interested in the team than the individual so said lets stay together.”

Raleigh are now four points clear at the top of the team rankings with nine rounds of racing to go and keep the red leaders’ jerseys going into round three, which takes place in Stoke-on-Trent on Tuesday. 

Highlights of the racing will be shown on ITV4 tonight (Friday) at  10am with a repeat on Saturday morning at 9am.

Round Two Durham, Individual Result

1) Kristian House, GBR, Rapha Condor JLT

2) Tobyn Horton, GBR, Team UK Youth

3) Roman Van Uden, NZL, Node4 Giordana Racing

4) Andy Tennant, GBR, Madison Genesis

5) Tom Scully, NZL, Team Raleigh

6) Evan Oliphant, GBR, Team Raleigh

7) Lachlan Norris, AUS, Team Raleigh

8) Ian Bibby, GBR, Madison Genesis

9) Steve Lampier, GBR, Node4 Giordana Racing

10) Richard Handley, GBR, Rapha Condor JLT

Round Two Durham, Team Result

1) Team Raleigh

2) Madison Genesis

3) Node4 Giordana Racing

4) Team UK Youth

5) Rapha Condor JLT

6) Team Hope Factory Racing

7) MG Maxifuel

8) Team IG Sigma Sport

9) Metaltek – Knights of Old

10) Spin Rotor – Primal – C-Originals

Team Standings, post-Round Two

1) Team Raleigh, 20pts

2) Team UK Youth, 16pts

3) Madison Genesis, 15pts

4) Node4 Giordana Racing, 15pts

5) Rapha Condor JLT, 14pts

6) MG Maxifuel, 8pts

7) Metaltek – Knights of Old, 7pts

8) Team Hope Factory Racing, 7pts

9) Team IG Sigma Sport, 6pts

10) Spin Rotor – Primal – C-Originals, 2pts

IG Sprints winner Round Two Durham: Kristian House, GBR, Rapha Condor JLT

Costa Express Fastest Lap Durham: Niklas Gustavsson, SWE, Team UK Youth, 2:15.1

IG Sprints standings, post-Round Two

1) Kristian House, GBR, Rapha Condor JLT, 14pts

2) Tom Scully, NZL, Team Raleigh, 14pts

3) Alexandre Blain, FRA, Team Raleigh, 11pts

4) Mike Northey, NZL, Node4 Giordana Racing, 7pts

5) Roman Van Uden, NZL, Node4 Giordana Racing, 7pts

Highlights of Round Two in Durham will be shown on ITV4 at 10pm on Friday 17^th May, with a repeat at 9am on Saturday 18^th May. Round Three of the Series takes place in Stoke-on-Trent on Tuesday 21^st May, which also sees the opening round of the women’s Johnson Health Tech Grand Prix Series.

Team Raleigh donned the leaders jerseys following victory in round 1 of the Tour Series which took place in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, on Tuesday (14th May).

In a display of the strength and depth of the Team Raleigh 2013 squad, Raleigh filled three of the top six spots in Tom Scully (2nd) Richard Land (5th) and Alex Blain (6th), with Tom and Alex taking victory in two sprints competitions.

Team manager Cherie Pridham told Velo UK: “We have had three or four months of hard work doing the right preparation for the boys and I am really happy for them. I am really happy for them as they deserve it. Its good when you set out with a plan and it comes off.”
 
“We have the depth to be able to rest riders and I was confident in the riders I brought here tonight. We stuck to the plan and it went well for us. Durham (the next Tour Series fixture, taking place on Thursday) is a completely different course so we will make a few changes.”

The Pearl Izumi Tour Series, Round One Kirkcaldy, Provisional Results

Round One Kirkcaldy, Individual Result

1) Yanto Barker, GBR, Team UK Youth

2) Tom Scully, NZL, Team Raleigh

3) Mike Northey, NZL, Node4 Giordana Racing

4) Felix English, IRL, Rapha Condor JLT

5) Richard Lang, AUS, Team Raleigh

6) Alexandre Blain, FRA, Team Raleigh

7) Dean Downing, GBR, Madison Genesis

8) Chris Opie, GBR, Team UK Youth

9) James McCallum, GBR, Rapha Condor JLT

10) Alex Peters, GBR, Madison Genesis

Round One Kirkcaldy, Team Result

1) Team Raleigh

2) Team UK Youth

3) Rapha Condor JLT

4) Node4 Giordana Racing

5) Madison Genesis

6) Metaltek – Knights of Old

7) MG Maxifuel

8) Team IG Sigma Sport

9) Team Hope Factory Racing

10) Spin Rotor – Primal – C-Originals

Team Standings, post-Round One

1) Team Raleigh, 10pts

2) Team UK Youth, 9pts

3) Rapha Condor JLT, 8pts

4) Node4 Giordana Racing, 7pts

5) Madison Genesis, 6pts

6) Metaltek – Knights of Old, 5pts

7) MG Maxifuel, 4pts

8) Team IG Sigma Sport, 3pts

9) Team Hope Factory Racing, 2pts

10) Spin Rotor – Primal – C-Originals, 1pt

IG Sprints winner Round One Kirkcaldy: Mike Northey, NZL, Node4 Giordana Racing

Costa Express Fastest Lap Kirkcaldy: Yanto Barker, GBR, Team UK Youth, 2:05.5

IG Sprints standings, post-Round One

1) Mike Northey, NZL, Node4 Giordana Racing, 7pts

2) Tom Scully, NZL, Team Raleigh, 6pts

3) Alexandre Blain, FRA, Team Raleigh, 6pts

Highlights of Round One in Kirkcaldy will be shown on ITV4 at 10pm on Wednesday 15th May, with a repeat at 1pm on Thursday 16th May. Round Two of the Series takes place in Durham on Thursday 16th May.

Report  and photos by Andy May

The weather forecast of persistent rain was thankfully wrong and the field of 55 riders who started the 37th annual John May memorial road race did so in blustery wind but clear(ish) skies. Ridden over a circuit which passes through Sharlston, along Normanton bypass then along the A655 through Warmfield the 10 lap race distance covers a total of 110 km/ 68.35 miles and always produces a worthy winner. Sunday (12th May) was no exception.

Tom Moses wins the John May memorial race

The decisive move of the race happened within the first couple of miles when Elite riders Tom Moses of Team Raleigh & Tommy Bustard of Herbalife were joined by Ben Kellett of Hope Factory RT and exploded away from the field. Although Ben was the least experienced of the trio at 20 years old he knew what it took to win on the circuit having won the Ian Mountain Memorial Road Race, which uses the same route, last year. These three worked incredibly well together and by the end of the first lap had built a lead of 50 seconds on the Peloton. With Moses’s Raleigh team mate Graham Briggs marshalling everything at the head of the main bunch their lead grew steadily by around 20 seconds a lap and they never looked in danger of being caught.

At the midway point of the race the incessant pace of Moses and Bustard got too much for Kellett and the three man lead group became two. Things were shaken up in the Peloton as well when Dave Shackleton of Wilsons Wheels, Jacob Scott of Team Sportscover and Alistair Kay of Herbalife broke away and gave chase to the two leaders. Whilst they quickly put time into the main bunch they never looked like catching the front two and it was left to them to contest the final sprint, which Tom Moses won comfortably.

Wakefield CC would like to thank the Commissaires, marshalls and all the friends and helpers without whom the race could not be run.

RACE RESULT:

1, Tom Moses, Team Raleigh
2, Tommy Bustard, Herbalife
3, Dave Shackleton, Wilsons Wheels RT
4, Jacob Scott, Team Sportscover
5, Alistair Kay, Herbalife
6, Matt Pilkington
7, Danny Lowthorpe, Langsett Cycles
8, Graham Briggs, Team Raleigh
9, J. Burgan, Langsett Cycles
10, Josh Cole, Bike Box RT

Lachlan Norris took 3rd at the Lincoln Grand Prix on Sunday and showed why he’s considered one of Team Raleigh’s top climbers, doing some of his best work on the race’s notorious 1/6 city centre climb.

Lachlan, who’s represented Australia in mountain biking, took his place on the podium following some strong riding from Kiwi rider Tom Scully, who was part of an early break with race winner Peter Kennaugh and 2nd place Marcin Bialoblocki.

Lachlan survives another lap of the Michaelgate 1/6 climb en route to the podium. Photos by Andy Woodhouse

As Lachlan told British Cycling: “That was a really hard race, it was one of those days when you have to be on your toes all the time. The climb was very hard and it split the race up. I tried to keep in the top ten on the cobbles, but then over the top the attacks started.

“As a team we rode really well. Tom Scully got in the break but his legs gave way. We tried to have all the bases covered and we are very happy that we got third and a place on the podium. It would have been nice to get on that top step, but that will have to wait for another day.”

Team Raleigh’s strong showing included two more top ten finishes; for Richard Lang (4th) Eric Berthou (7th).

On a mission… Tom Scully was out front for Team Raleigh for most of the day. Photo by Andy Woodhouse

Evan Oliphant finished 15th and moved into 1st place at the top of the Premier Calendar points table following his victory at the Tour of the Reservoir at the end of April.

There’s no let up for Team Raleigh who are back in action tomorrow (Tuesday 14th) for the first of the televised Tour Series races in Kirkcaldy.

Team Raleigh’s Tom Scully and Richard Lang took 1st places in the elite category races at the Ixworth Criterium Races on May Day.

Team Raleigh dominated two of the days elite races with the final standings as follows:

Race1

1st Tom Scully

2nd Rich Lang

5th Sam Witmitz

6th Graham Briggs

Race 2 (invitation race)

1st Rich Lang

4th Tom Scully

5th Lach Norris

Hundreds of people gathered in the Suffolk town’s centre for a dose of high-speed racing from some of the country’s top riders and were treated to perfect racing (and spectating) weather.

Criterium races  are short, sharp sprint style races – a massive change of pace from the type of event Team Raleigh have been competing in recently.

Team Raleigh are next in action at the Lincoln GP on Sunday and are on the hunt for a second Premier Calendar victory.

A jubilant Team Raleigh saw two days of hard racing pay off in spectacular fashion when Evan Oliphant took victory at the Tour of the Reservoir on Sunday.

Photo credit: SW Pics

Evan had finished the first day of racing 5 seconds behind the leader but was able to overcome the deficit with a surprise solo attack in the final kilometres of the race.

It was a superb display of tenacity and intelligent riding as Evan and team mates Rob Britton and Lachlan Norris were heavily outnumbered in the front group by an 8 man strong Team UK Youth.

Said Evan: “I’m thrilled, my team mates had ridden so well for me over the two days and we were able to pull off the victory. I felt good all day on the Sunday and it was difficult to hold back, but it was the right move. Hopefully we can follow this up with another win in Lincoln in a couple of weeks’ time.”

The race had been split almost immediately on Saturday and tough climbing across the hills of Northumberland saw many riders fall far behind the lead group or drop out of the competition.

Rob Britton, who came 9th overall and 2nd in the King of the Mountains competition, rode at the front of the pack on both days.

He said: “It was a hard day’s racing on Saturday and we were outnumbered on Sunday which made things tougher. But Evan and I were able to cover every move and attack between us which grew our confidence that would one of us would have the legs to see it through towards the end.”

Eddie White, Team Raleigh’s Director Sportif, said: “It was a brilliant performance, the riders did exactly what they needed to do in the situation they found themselves in. Evan, Rob and Lachlan gave us everything but this was a real team effort. Rob Britton deserves a lot of credit because his riding he paved the way for Evan. Tom Scully had worked really hard to deliver his team mates to the front group before a crash forced him out of the race.”

Whilst half of Team Raleigh were in competition in Northumberland, the remainder of the team were in France for the Tour of Bretagne, 7-day stage race which finishes on Wednesday. More on that coming soon.

Following that the team will next be in action at the Ixworth Mayday Criterium Races over the Bank Holiday Weekend and the Lincoln Grand Prix on 12th May.