Odd Down Winter Series Round Three – Report, Results and Overall Standings

The breakaways take the day as Johnston, White and Revell make it two wins on the spin each and Elizabeth Pressage takes her first win of the series
Last week’s winners all followed up with another victory as all four of the races at Round Three of the Odd Down Winter Series saw powerful breakaways hoover up the top spots. However, consistent performances by the other riders near the top of the overall series standings have prevented them pulling out a significant advantage on the rest of the field.

The finale of the men’s 2/3 race was marred by a crash with only five laps to go. The last few years at Odd Down have rarely seen large crashes but unfortunately a number of riders were caught behind this crash on the exit of the top hairpin. A touch of wheels brought down Charlie Kelly (BCDS) near the front of the field and there was nowhere for the riders behind to go. The race was briefly halted as the riders were attended to before being restarted with the light fading – fortunately after a visit to hospital for Charlie no serious injuries came about as a result of the crash.
Ahead of all of this, three riders were ahead of the bunch; last week’s winner Charlie Revell (Team Tor 2000 Kalas) being pursued by last week’s runner up John Russell (Bristol RC) with Johnny Arcg for company.

When the race restarted, there was no catching Revell who powered away for a win by a significant margin. Russell and Arcg were less comfortable with the bunch winching in their 10 second gap. On the final lap Arcg could no longer hold on and that left Russell clear to take second whilst his breakaway companion was swallowed up by the fast closing bunch. Will Page took the sprint for third on his Winter Series debut and Rob Hardyman (Forever Pedalling) improved on his eighth-place finish last week to come in fourth.

The women’s E/1/2/3 race was also taken by a long-range breakaway – with Elizabeth Pressage (University of Bath CC) showing her TT skills to leave the rest of the field behind going into the last phase of the race. The group had stretched several times over the course of the race but had never split apart – with the exception of IRIS Race Team’s Emily Slavin who had to chase back on several times. Slavin admitted that she needs to get back to the circuit to practice her cornering, but it was an impressive show of persistence and strength to fight her way back to the group on numerous occasions.
As the pace ramped up on the final lap for the sprint behind Pressage, it was Round One’s winner Jenny Bolsom (Bikechain – Ricci) who looked to have put herself clear of the others with Radeon BikeScience’s Maria Powell her closest challenger. However, as they came into the finish straight it was Slavin who completed another miraculous recovery to sprint past Bolsom merely metres from the line for second. Bolsom had to settle for third and closing to within five points of the series leader Lauren Johnston.

Johnston preserved her lead in the standings the same way as she had established it by taking yet another win in the women’s 4th cat race. Rebekah Nash (University of Bristol CC), who had been second to Johnston in both the previous rounds immediately set to work ripping the field to pieces on the front. With such a large group though, it took an attack from Johnston, joined by Nash and Avid Sport’s Molly Hodges, to fully establish a gap.
This trio were in a familiar position now to both the previous rounds and again showed why they have been the class of the women’s 4th cat field. They worked hard together to put the top three positions beyond doubt, with again Johnston overhauling Nash in the sprint. All three of them now move up to third cat, opening the door for the other 4th cats in the next races. One to watch will be the fast finishing Katherine Moore (Das Rad Klub) who used her cyclocross form to great effect to take the group sprint for fourth place ahead of Claire Nott (Army Cycling Union).

With the same riders consistently showing their form at the front of the women’s 4th cat race, it was no surprise to see Andrew White (Okehampton CC – last week’s winner), Ben Osborne (NFTO RT – last week’s third place) and Jamie Atkins (University of Bristol CC – second place in Round One) make the decisive move midway through the 4th cat men’s race. Numerous other riders were alert to the danger and tried to get into the move, but the pace at the front was too fierce and so a second chasing group of five riders formed with the main group behind.
With what might have been a hard pursuit the race could have all come back together, but the gaps between each group were only growing as Osborne, White and Atkins pressed home their advantage. By the closing stages of the race the leading trio had such a gap that although Atkins slipped off the pace he was still comfortably third across the line ahead of his pursuer from Round One: Ed Gray (University of Bath CC) who took the sprint for fourth from the chasing group. There was no denying White at the front though, who didn’t hesitate in the sprint this time to comfortably take the win.
White moves up into joint third (with David Mixell – Bikestrong UK) in the overall standings behind Revell (2nd) and Russell (1st).

Results:

Women’s 4th Cat

Pos	Number	First Name	Surname	Club
1	71	Lauren	Johnston
2	15	Rebekah	Nash	University of Bristol CC
3	3	Molly	Hodges	Avid Sport
4	14	Katherine	Moore	Das Rad Klub
5	4	Claire	Nott	Army Cycling Union
6	1	Sophie	Barnes	Army Cycling Union
7	8	Emily	Walton	Beeston Cycling Club
8	9	Heidi	Blunden	Racing Chance Foundation
9	18	Kate	Millard	Clevedon
10	13	Aimee	Parsons	Avid Sport
11	2	Sally	Crocker	Salt and Sham CC
12	5	Taegan	Pomeroy	Royal Navy and Royal Marines CA
13	10	Joanna	Goodhead	Avid Sport
14	12	Emily	Harford
15	16	Sarah	Crowther	Avid Sport
16	7	Deborah	Sterling
DNF	6	Stephie	Prince	Cotswold Veldrijden
DNF	11	Janet	Horton	MCC

Women’s E/1/2/3:

Pos	Number	First Name	Surname	Club
1	3	Elizabeth	Pressage	University of Bath CC
2	4	Emily	Slavin	IRIS Race Team
3	1	Jenny	Bolsom	Bikechain – Ricci
4	2	Maria	Powell	Radeon-BikeScience

Men’s 4th Cat:

Pos	Number	First Name	Surname	Club
1	15	Andrew	White	Okehampton CC
2	18	Ben	Osborne	NFTO RC
3	21	Jamie	Atkins	University of Bristol CC
4	6	Edward	Gray	University of Bath CC
5	16	Steve	Martin	Tri UK
6	5	Alex	Ficke	Army Cycling Union
7	7	Spencer	Hardman	Salt and Sham CC
8	23	Will	Acworth	Bristol South CC
9	12	Peter	Smith	Cowley Road Condors
10	13	Thomas	Southey	University of Nottingham SCC
11	20	Andy	Butler	University of Bath CC
12	8	Mark	Hardyman	VC Walcot
13	3	Chris	Brennan	DHCyclesport
14	10	Daniel	Riggs	Corsley CC
15	4	Nigel	Burton	Bath CC
16	101	Matthew	Skeats	University of Bristol CC
17	22	James	Barber	University of Bath CC
18	19	Saxon	Ridley
DNF	14	Daniel	Tyrie	Imperial College CC
DNF	107	Darren	Hayter	Tri UK
DNF	9	Si	Potter	Mid Cornwall CC

Men’s 2/3:

Pos	Number	First Name	Surname	Club
1	101	Charlie	Revell	Team Tor 2000 Kalas
2	22	John	Russell	Bristol RC
3	27	Will	Page
4	8	Rob	Hardyman	Forever Pedalling
5	23	Kyle	Dovey	Ely RC
6	28	Colin	Smith	Ely RC
7	10	David	Mixell	BikestrongUK
8	25	Tim	Southcombe	SRC
9	14	Jack	Salvidge	Cycleservice Sidmouth
10	20	Daniel	Carr	Salt and Sham CC
11	9	Julian	Lockwood	Primera-TeamJobs
12	1	Thomas	Bass	Salt and Sham CC
13	18	George	Bazeley	Bristol RC
14	7	Samuel	Gaskin
15	32	Josh	Griffiths	Bristol South CC
16	102	Adam	Robertson	Contour Cycles RT
17	15	Richard	Smith	Bruton CC
18	21	Johnny	Arce
19	26	John	Carter	Radeon BikeScience
20	30	Stefan	Barnett	VC Walcot
21	6	Rowan	Ellis	1st Chard Wheelers
22	19	Richard	Franklin	VC St Raphael
DNF	24	Adrian	Reynolds	Somerset RC
DNF	31	Charlie	Kelly	BCDS
DNF	16	Daniel	Soltys	University of Bath CC
DNF	29	Tom	Turner	Ely RC
DNF	33	Nick	Price	Gateway Racing
DNF	2	Steven	Cottington	Bath CC

Overall Series Standings:

Women:

First Name	Surname	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
Lauren	Johnston	30	50	30	110
Jenny	Bolsom	50	15	40	105
Rebekah	Nash	25	45	25	95
Maria	Powell	45		35	80
Molly	Hodges	15	35	20	70
Elizabeth	Pressage		20	50	70
Frances	Bromley	20	40		60
Emily	Slavin		13	45	58
Lucy	Austin		30		30
Stephie	Prince		25	1	26
Katherine	Moore	9		15	24
Rebecca	Gregson		14		14
Aimee	Parsons	8		5	13
Vanessa	Royals		12		12
Claire	Lawrence	10			10
Claire	Nott			10	10
Kate	Millard	3		6	9
Sophie	Barnes			9	9
Sally	Crocker	4		4	8
Emily	Walton			8	8
Janet	Horton	7			7
Joanna	Goodhead	5		2	7
Heidi	Blunden			7	7
Olive	Holliday	6			6
Taegan	Pomeroy			3	3
Victoria	Jones	2			2
Sarah	Crowther	1		1	2
Hannah	Cockerill	1			1
Emily	Harford			1	1
Deborah	Sterling			1	1
Janet	Horton			1	1

Men:

First Name	Surname	Round One	Round Two	Round Three	Total
John	Russell	50	45	45	140
Charlie	Revell		50	50	100
David	Mixell	40		20	60
Andrew	White		30	30	60
Jared	Linden	30	25		55
Rob	Hardyman		15	35	50
Joe	Twelvetrees	25	20		45
Nathan	Hallett	45			45
Thomas	Bass	20	14	11	45
Jamie	Atkins	25		20	45
Ben	Osborne		20	25	45
Edward	Gray	20	7	15	42
Will	Perrin		40		40
Will	Page			40	40
Scott	Fryer		35		35
James	Dudden	35			35
Samuel	Gaskin	14	9	9	32
Daniel	Martin		30		30
Thomas	Collins	30			30
Kyle	Dovey			30	30
Spencer	Hardman	6	15	8	29
Iain	Duggan		25		25
Colin	Smith			25	25
Steven	Cottington	13	8	1	22
William	Acworth	10	5	7	22
Adam	Robertson		13	7	20
Richard	Smith	8	3	6	17
Josh	Griffiths	9		8	17
Simon	Starling	15			15
Anthony	Corke	15			15
Tim	Southcombe			15	15
Jack	Salvidge			14	14
Tom	Allport	9	4		13
Adrian	Reynolds		12	1	13
Daniel	Carr			13	13
Nick	Anderson	12			12
Daniel	Soltys		11	1	12
Julian	Lockwood			12	12
Felix	Young	11			11
William	Hayes		10		10
Thomas	Grigson		10		10
George	Creasey	10			10
Daniel	Tyrie		9	1	10
Johnny	Arcg		5	5	10
Steve	Martin			10	10
George	Bazeley			10	10
Alex	Ficke			9	9
Elliot	Barratt		8		8
Will	Clarke	8			8
Peter	Smith	1	1	6	8
Luke	Churchus		7		7
Guy	Tucker	7			7
Edward	Jackson	7			7
Stefan	Barnett		4	3	7
Joel	Thomas		6		6
Graeme	Rout		6		6
Ian	Hicks	6			6
Dave	Cullen	5			5
Si	Potter	4		1	5
Thomas	Southey			5	5
Mark	Hardyman		1	3	4
Andy	Butler			4	4
John	Carter			4	4
Noel	Charlton		3		3
Graham	Townsend	1	2		3
James	Kay	2	1		3
Jonathan	Oakley	3			3
Daniel	Riggs	1	1	1	3
David	Gwynne	1	1		2
Jonathan	Ashby	1	1		2
Luke	Craddock		2		2
Nigel	Burton		1	1	2
Charlie	Kelly		1	1	2
Matthew	Skeats	1		1	2
Chris	Brennan			2	2
Rowan	Ellis			2	2
Tom	Moffat		1		1
Martin	Andrews		1		1
Michael	Parkin-White		1		1
Jack	Enright		1		1
Jeremy	Bigg		1		1
Alan	Adams		1		1
Paul	Watkins		1		1
Alexander	Atkins	1			1
Joanathan	Ashby	1			1
Chris	Parry	1			1
Michael	Banfield	1			1
Alex	Williams	1			1
Joel	Thomas	1			1
James	Barber			1	1
Saxon	Ridley			1	1
Dareen	Hayter			1	1
Richard	Franklin			1	1