BoU Stage Race. Half Time Report :
7th for Stu and 9th for John in the crit this afternoon, both having strong nibbles off the front before finishing strongly in a congested field. I was dominant, sitting in front 5 of 48 starters, for the first 6 laps, less successful for the remaining 20miles!
Ben in just his first race at Tudor Grange and only his fifth ever, worked hard to the finish, and is clearly progressing well. John is sitting 7th overall at the half way point, Stu further back but with time bonuses available could gain lots of ground tomorrow. Good luck to them tomorrow; like Kittel or Cav in the Giro, I am withdrawing to prepare for future challenges, before the real hard work starts on day two. A ten mile TT from Great Whitley Village Hall (some will know those roads well) and then a crit at Stourport to come. Some of the Beacon will know or will have followed Kelly Murphys progress, she totally dominated today, lapping most of the field twice and the rest once at Tudor Grange...within half an hour! Credit to UoB for putting something like this on.
University of Birmingham Stage Race Day 2 Report.
Day two started with a ten mile TT on some of the roads that the Beacon LMTT uses. The KC22/10 course isn't a traditional fast out and back course, but is rather rolling, and somehow contrives to have a long shallow climb for what felt like the entire second half of the course. Barry and I gave it our all on road bikes but learned two important lessons. Firstly TT bikes are faster. Secondly, TT stages are important in stage races. This sounds like a good excuse for N + 1 to me!
The afternoon stage followed; and this was definitely more our sort of race. Less aerodynamic advantages, more harsh accelerations. It quickly became apparent that nobody was going to get away, so the plan was simple: stay out of trouble and get to the front in the last five laps. We hit the front with 3/4s of a lap to go and I still on the front coming out of the final hairpin with Stu perfectly nestled on my wheel for the sprint. He launched himself up the final straight and managed to grab a well deserved second place.
Overall we finished 16th and 25th in our first stage race and had a couple of top 10s each. It was a brilliant chilled out event and I hope the be able to ride it again in the future. I just hope I find my car keys before then!
For full breakdown of results see our Facebook group.
