18/09/06 Club Road Race Report
In the Club's final road race promotion of the season 49 riders turned out on a mild and dry day to compete over 60 miles based on the Abergavenny to Raglan and back circuit. After rolling out from the start at the Leisure Centre the racing proper got underway as the bunch filtered onto the A40 dual carriageway to Raglan for the first time.
There were several attempts at breakaways from solo riders but nothing really 'stuck' until the start of the third lap after 30 miles of racing. Darren Stone of Cardiff JIF made the initial attack and was quickly joined by Alun Owen of Abergavenny CC. with the pair quickly establishing a lead of around a minute.
As the race left the dual carriageway for the penultimate run back to the Hardwick on the old Raglan road another three riders broke away and rode strongly to catch the two breakaways as the race entered its final lap.
The five leaders were reduced to four when on of them was unlucky enough to puncture just before turning onto the dual carriageway for the final time. This did not deter them however and a crash in the bunch broke the rhythm of the chase allowing the lead to consolidate at just over a minute.
At the finish Alun Owen used all his local knowledge to easily win the four man sprint from Ben Lowe and Daniel Beynon, with Stone trailing in a little off the pace having put in a lot of effort to keep the break away. Around 25 seconds later the bunch emerged over the brow of the final hill to give the race judges the usual headache of placing the next ten riders to cross the line.
Gareth James of the promoting club, in his first proper road race, achieved a very creditable 4th place in the bunch sprint and therefore 8th overall. Chris Haworth squeezed in a few places behind Gareth to claim 11th, with Rob Bignell finishing in the bunch as well. Graham Edwards and Guy Stevens both stopped to escort Jessica Allen back to the finish following her crash, the trio finishing a minute down.
09/09/06 Monmouthshire Audax
On Sunday 4th Sept at 9am 17 riders set off from the Fairfield car park for the annual 60 mile Audax round the lanes of Monmouthshire. After first struggling up the hill past Pen-Y-Fal the route took them to their first checkpoint at Usk, through LLandewi Rhydderch, Llanarth and then Bettws Newydd. From Usk it was on over the hills to Monmouth and the more major hill climbing to Newcastle and then Grosmont.To sweeten the pill there was a feeding point at Grosmont where the riders could take a break after the hills. From Grosmont they rode to Pontrilas and up the Golden Valley to Vowchurch, a much smoother section through beautiful rolling countryside in the Autumn sun. The final section took the riders over the last big climb, St Margarets, a hill which just seems to get steeper the further up you go. However, after that it was nearly all downhill through Longtown and then back to Abergavenny via Stanton and Pantygelli. The participants began to arrive from about 1pm in ones and twos, the last home at 3.30 pm all within the time limit and a real sense of achievement.
08/09/06 Club Hill Climb Championships
The course: the final steep pitch of the climb of the Blorenge on the Blaenavon Rd starting from the Cordell Inn - 0.7 mile in all. Six riders entered including Jessica Allen fresh from winning the National Time Trial Championship for Junior Ladies. The overall winner was the Clubs most successful senior rider this year, with a blistering 4mins 44 secs a course record, Ian Sutcliffe. Rob Bignell was 2nd, while Jessica was 3rd/Junior/Lady winner.
- Jessica Allen 6min 7.8secs
- Andy Staton 6min 29.3secs
- Rob Bignell 5min 7.4secs
- Andy Willmott 6min 31.8secs
- Ian Sutcliffe 4min 44.0secs
04/09/06 Jessica Allen National Champion
Abergavenny Road Club notched up its second National Champion in 4 weeks when Jessica Allen won the British Junior Ladies National Title. The event promoted by Farnborough and Camberly Cycling Club was carried out over a 21 mile course in Surrey. Jessica beat Joanna Roswell V.C.Londres by 1 min and 19 secs.
This was a stunning result for the Brecon based Jessica as Joanna is on the British Development Squad for the 2012 Olympics and has not been out of the top 3 in any of the womens national road race series this year. This truly shows the class of Jessica with a superb result.
1st Jessica Allen 57min 03secs
2nd Joanna Roswell VC Londres 58min 22secs
3rd Hannah Manley Cardiff Ajax 1hr 6min 12secs
20/08/06 Rebecca James National Champion
Rebecca James last week competed in the British National Track Championships in Newport taking part in two events, the match sprint and the 500m time trial. First event on Tuesday 15th was the match sprint where competitors first have to set a time over 200m before being seeded to determine who they sprint against. Rebecca, who is still only 14 years old, was competing against mostly 15 and 16 year olds including some who are in the Olympic Development Squads. After sitting and watching a number of fast times, Rebecca rose to the occasion to set a time for 200m of 12.477 seconds, over two tenths quicker than the previous British National Record meaning she was number 1 seed.
The event then continued throughout the day as match sprints right up to the quarter-final stage. Rebecca found no difficulty in disposing of her competitors and this meant she was through to the semi-finals on the following day.
First up on the Wednesday was the semi final against Dani King who's family just so happened to be staying for a few days with Rebecca's family in Abergavenny! Rebecca once again found no difficulty in disposing of the older rider 2-0 in the best of three heats.
Then came the much expected final against Jessica Varnish, the previous national record holder, a rider with vast experience gained from competing internationally as a member of the Olympic Development Squad. The first race saw Rebecca lead out the race with a burst of full speed with about 350 metres to go. Jessica fought back well to bridge the narrow gap and they came into the final straight side by side crossing the line almost together. No-one in the crowd could determine who had crossed the line first but after considerable delay and a review of the photo finish Varnish was awarded heat 1.
The second heat was an almost identical re-run of the first heat and once again went to a photo finish, with Rebecca losing out by a similar margin. With two days recovery time, Rebecca was then lined up to compete in the 500 metres time trial, this is where two competitors on opposite sides of the track start off in gates to complete two laps of the 250 metre track. Rebecca was one of the last competitors to start but it was worth the wait as she once again rose to the occasion to break the previous national record, which had previously been held by Varnish. During the 500 metres Rebecca had gone so quickly that she overtook the opposite rider which probably cost two tenths of a second but still recorded a time of 37.016 seconds.
Then in the last heat went Varnish, who after doing a very quick first lap looked on course to pip Rebecca once again for the top podium spot but when the clock stopped it read 37.027 seconds, just 11 one hundredths of a second slower.
Despite only racing on the track for just over a year things are looking really promising for Rebecca. She has had the advantage of having two coaches, Stuart McDonald who looks after Rebecca whilst working at home and in Newport and Geoff Cooke who has fine tuned her skills during her training camps in Manchester and this she hopes will mean that she will be selected for the Olympic Development Programme when the next selection process starts in the Autumn. Watch this space...
Race Report 6th August 2006
The Clubs riders had a busy week in competition. Jessica Allen entered the British Cycling National under 23 Road Race Champs and rode a superb race to finish 6th. An excellent performance as Jessica was up against members of the British Olympic Development squad. With this sort of ride she will soon qualify for entry into this squad herself. An achievement that Julian Winn, national coach for Wales, thinks that she is capable of.
Saturday saw the annual pilgrimage to Tywn for the Clubs Criterium Championship with Steve Thomas coming in as Club Champion again and 6th overall in this 28mile dash around the town. This was a good result for Steve as the field was packed with Elite riders. Rebecca James put in the ride of the night for herself and the Club coming in 2nd in the under 16’s and winning the girls title in the process. Her younger sisters, Ffion and Megan, in the under 10’s and under 8’s also got onto the podium. Ffion coming in 3rd the same time as the winner in her first circuit race and Megan finished 4th in a close race for 3rd.
Not content with this performance the two youger sisters rode in the Welsh Schools Mountainbike Championship on Sunday. Riding for Our Lady in St Micheals School Abergavenny, Ffion was 1st and Megan 7th in their catergory. Megans place was enough to win the team gold for the school as well as a individual gold for Ffion.
Gareth James also had something to shout about this week as he had taken part in The International Junior Tour Of Assen and finished 40th. Riding for Wales he was the top Welsh finisher in this 6 day stage race. With stages of 80km and two time trials this was a stunning performance against the best juniors in Europe.
On Sunday Ian Sutcliffe, Rob Bignell and Graham Edwards took part in what is argueable the most demanding road race in the Welsh calendar: the Gateway to the Beacons Road Race. Ian, riding in the 65 mile race for 1st and Elite category riders, came in 13th place against no less than 2 dozen 1st and Elite riders. Rob and Graham put in solid performances in the 45 mile 3rd category event to finish in what remained of the bunch.
Race Report 28th July 2006
The Club's riders recent run of good form continued when Graham Edwards took second place overall in the Dragon 2 Day Stage Race - a Veterans only event based in the Glynneath/Neath valley that consisted of an individual time trial and two road races over the two days. After putting in a solid performance in the opening morning time trial to take fourth place in his age category and 7th overall, Edwards immediately went on the attack in the afternoon's 45 mile road race stage. He broke away with Joseph Rowe of the Wyre Forest CRC and the two worked well together to build up a lead of over a minute on the chasing bunch. Rowe beat Edwards in the sprint but the time gaps were sufficient to see him move up to second overall in the whole event.
Sunday's 60 mile stage ended in a bunch sprint but not until after Edwards had made several more attempts to break away in an effort to win the event outright. In the end he had to settle for 5th place on the stage but with no-one making up any significant time he secured 2nd overall for the whole event.
On Thursday evening Edwards travelled to Llandow once again, with Steve Thomas and Rob Bignell. Some very positive racing ensued with Edwards once again managing to get into a break away which stayed away to the finish, taking 5th place at the line. Thomas, having recently been upgraded to 2nd Category, assisted Bignell in ensuring that the breakaway wasn't brought back by the chasing bunch. Bignell then won the Bunch sprint behind the break to take 8th place.
Not content with racing once, both Thomas and Edwards elected to ride in the second race on the night which is also open to 1st and 2nd category riders. This was an extremely fast race with constant attacking that led to an average speed of over 25mph for the 32 mile event. Despite having raced already both Thomas and Edwards rode strongly with Thomas picking up a few more points in 9th place and Edwards being narrowly pipped out of tenth on the line to be credited with 11th.
On Saturday the 5th August Thomas, together with some of the Club's junior and juvenile riders, will be travelling up to the Welsh Criterium Championships in Tywyn on the North West Wales coast. He is hoping that his recent good form, and experience in criterium events, will stand in him good stead to achieve a podium place and who knows maybe even the top step!
Race Report 25th July 2006
Club riders were active in two races last week. Stephen Thomas, Graham Edwards, Rebecca James and Gareth James rode the 3rd and 4th catergory Pembrey Circuit race last Tuesday. It was a fairly negative race although Gareth, a junior, did get into a break for a couple of laps half way through the race. So it all finished in bunch sprint and with Thomas now a marked man after his recent successes it was Gareth James who broke through to snatch 4th with Thomas in 5th.
Rebbecca, a first year junior, rode a solid race and finished in the bunch with Graham. Stephen, now a 2nd catergory rider, tried his hand at the 1st catergory event. The race split soon after the start with 2 riders away. Stephen got into a chasing group of 5 but were unable to catch the two leaders. In the sprint for 3rd Stephen, one race in his legs already, could only manage 5th overall. Still a pleasing evenings work for the clubs riders with a 4th and two 5th places to their credit.
The club now stands in 3rd place in the rankings in Wales with Cwmcarn 1st and Cardiff Jiff 2nd. We understand this is a situation which particularly pleases Bikebase and Govilon Garage, the club sponsors.
The other rider in action was Jessica Allen who rode the Ladies Team Series Race in Bicester on Sunday. Riding once again for CC Giro she was active in the early attacks. Then when the team leader Carolin Kloiber punctured the strength of the team came into force. Two riders went back to pace her back to the bunch and Jessica and the rest of the team managed to control and slow the bunch down to such an extent that when Caroline got back on she attacked straight away and won the race. The team finished 2nd overall. This was a total team commitment in which Jessica played a leading role - an achievement she has much to be proud of.
Race Report 16th July 2006
After the exertions of the 5 day Ras just one of the Bike Base Abergavenny RC Govilon Garage’s riders turned up to ride the Pembrey Circuit Crits last Tuesday. The race over 14 laps for 3rd and 4th category riders was hotly contested. A small group of riders broke away a with seven laps to go. Steve Thomas attacked from the bunch with five laps to go and got across to the break after a further 2 miles. The 4 riders worked well together for the remainder of the race and with 400 meters to go Stephen attacked to win the sprint. This was a superb solo effort especially coming on the back of such a gruelling week that had gone before. 1st Stephen Thomas Abergavenny RC.
More of the clubs riders feeling they had recovered after the Ras entered the LLandow Circuit Races on Thursday 13th July. Stephen Thomas, Graham Edwards, Rob Bignell and David Watkins travelled down to try their luck. The team worked well together to cover every break and attempted to force a number of breaks themselves but were unsuccessful. Ioan Williams Cwmcarn Paragon broke away with a lap to go and despite Rob Bignall leading the bunch for the whole last lap to chase Ioan down he managed to stay away to win. Stephen attacked to win the bunch sprint finishing just 2 bike lengths behind the winner. Rob, after all his hard support work, still had the strength to come in 6th a fine unselfish performance for his club mates.
1st Ioan Williams Cwmcarn Paragon
2nd Stephen Thomas Abergavenny RC
6th Rob Bignall Abergavenny RC
On July 16th Stephen Thomas feeling he was on to a good month travelled to Telford for the Paramount RC 62 mile Road Race. His race came to an end in the 5th lap when the rider in front over braked and Steve ran into the back of him. No serious injuries through apart from his helmet. That’s bike racing for you - up one minute and down the next.
Ras De Cymru 28th June - 2nd July
The Ras De Cymru took place over 6 stages around Abergavenny and Brecon. Bikebase Abergavenny Road Club Govilon Garage had 6 riders taking part in this 100 strong field. The club team was Ian Sutcliffe, Guy Stevens, Rob Bignell and Graham Edwards. Stephen Thomas was riding for a composite team sponsored by Lifeforce and Jessica Allen, the only women in the race, in a composite team led by Swansea Wheelers.
Stage 1: 4-mile time trial with a 1.5km climb to the finish. The stage was won by Andy Cook Isle of Man in 10min 33 secs. Ian Sutcliffe would have been 27th but inadvertently crossed onto the opposite side of the road on the climb and incurred a 30-second time penalty.
Stage 2: Storey Arms-Three Cocks. Initially a 62 mile road race this was shortened due to a road accident on the course. Although a number of riders formed an early break the bunch worked hard to sweep them up on the finishing straight. Guy Stevens took 4th place in the mass sprint with the other club members safely in the bunch.
Stage 3: Storey Arms-Dyfynnog–Storey Arms. This stage included the climb out of Dyfynnog, a real leg breaker of 16% which was ascended twice. A early break of 3 riders built up a lead of 3 minutes but all bar one were caught on the final climb to Storey Arms. In the bunch finish Ian placed 7th and Guy 19th. Rob Bignall fell victim to mechanical problems, unable to use his largest gears on the 50mph+ descent.
Stage 4: Abergavenny-Raglan Circuit 15-mile team time trial. Abergavenny RC 16th, Jessicas Team 21st and Stephens Team 23rd.
Stage 5: Byn Bach Park Circuit criterium. Following the team time trial in the morning, the riders had to tackle the difficult and technically demanding Tredegar circuit. In soaring temperatures Ian Sutcliffe was again the clubs best finisher at 27th, despite suffering a puncture that ruined his chances of a possible win.
Stage 6: Abergavenny-Brecon-LLandynidr Mountain. With many riders wary of the difficult finish, an early break was allowed to escape and was only caught at the foot of the final 4-mile climb. Ian and Guy being well up at the finish with 27th and 31st. Jessica finished 77th.
The final General Classification was as follows:
- Andy Cook of the Isle of Man kept the overall lead he had gained on the first day
- Ian Sutcliffe 27th
- Guy Stevens 31st
- Graham Edwards 69th
- Rob Bignall 80th
- Stephen Thomas 86th
- Jessica Allen 85th
- Abergavenny Rc were 14th in the team event
Jessica Allen, who is only 16, put in a spirited performance throughout the 5 days. An extremely demanding event for mature riders never mind a young 16 year old. When asked what she thought of the Race she said "It was solid from the start...I didn't start too well but I improved and got better as the Race went on".
