Week 4 Wrap: Johnston takes the win in harsh conditions to keep the pressure on Berry at the top of the standings

Horrific rain and a freak crash test the rider’s mettle

After so many weeks of pleasant weather at Odd Down, round four of the women’s series faced torrential rain and a cold, murky evening of racing. With the race restarted following an early crash after a rider snapped her chain attacking out of the group, the bunch was not together for long as the strongest riders drove the pace. The wet corners and spray turned it into a test of grit and nerves as the battle for the overall took shape.

Lauren Johnston (Avid Sport) and Charlotte Berry (VeloVitesse) were looking to take advantage of the absence of series leader Lucy Driver (Forever Pedalling) and third overall Molly Hodges (Avid Sport) to establish their overall position. And it was this pair that set about shrinking the group with only Aimee Parsons (Avid Sport), Elizabeth Pressage University of Bath) and young Laura Curle (Liv Halo CC) able to make the selection.

Berry was still not content though, and with three laps to go she attacked with Johnston on her wheel. With an Avid Sport teammate in the chasing group, it was clear that the pair wouldn’t be caught and Johnston was able to come off Berry’s wheel in a repeat of the round one result to take the win. Berry’s second place sees her move up into first place overall on the series standings and Aimee Parson’s best result of the series in third sees her move up into fifth place overall as she took the sprint from group two.

Laura Wells (Mickey Cranks CC) has been frustrated in rounds two and three, finishing second behind Avid Sport’s Fran Bromley. But with her rival out with illness, Wells was able to seize her opportunity to claim her first win at Odd Down. Wells had shown her sprinting legs in both the previous weeks, and despite the bad weather was happy to trust her turn of speed to take the win this time around. Olivia Hall (Performance Cycles) was her closest challenger in second with Joanna Goodhead (Avid Sport) taking her second podium in two weeks ahead of Sally Crocker (Salt and Sham CC).

Berry now takes the overall series lead with 165 points, fifteen ahead of Johnston who moves from fourth to second. Despite not racing this week, Lucy Driver still sits in third place overall.

Results:

4th Cat

1	5	Laura	Wells	Mickey Cranks CC
2	4	Olivia	Hill	Performance Cycles
3	3	Joanna	Goodhead	Avid Sport
4	2	Sally	Crocker	Salt & Sham CC
5	7	Frankie	Durbin	University of Bath Cycling Club
6	8	Mia	Hawkins	University of Bath Cycling Club
7	6	Janet	Horton	UCY

E/1/2/3

1	4	Lauren	Johnston	Avid Sport
2	10	Charlotte	Berry	VeloVitesse
3	5	Aimee	Parsons	Avid Sport
4	14	Elizabeth	Pressage	University of Bath Cycling Club
5	12	Laura	Curle	Liv Halo CC
6	9	Miriam	Whitehurst	Somer Valley CC
7	1	Sophie	Barnes	Army Cycling Union
8	11	Heidi	Blunden	Racing Chance Foundation
9	3	Imogen	Hutchings	VC Venta
10	8	Emily	Slavin	IRIS Race Team
11	13	Karen	Spiteri	Avid Sport
DNF	6	Stephie	Prince	VeloVitesse
DNF	7	Elena	Shaw	Cardiff Ajax

Series Standings:

1	Charlotte	Berry	VeloVitesse	–	45	40	35	45	165
2	Lauren	Johnston	Avid Sport	–	50		50	50	150
3	Lucy	Driver	Forever Pedalling	–	40	45	45		130
4	Molly	Hodges	Avid Sport	–	35	35	40		110
5	Aimee	Parsons	Avid Sport	–	20	20	25	40	105
6	Miriam	Whitehurst	Somer Valley CC	–	30	30		25	85
7	India	Lee	Hargroves-Ridley-Montezuma’s	–	30	50			80
8	Laura	Wells	Mickey Cranks CC	–		25	25	30	80
9	Stephie	Prince	VeloVitesse	–	30	25		11	66
10	Joanna	Goodhead	Avid Sport	–	10	14	20	20	64
11	Frances	Bromley	Avid Sport	–		30	30		60
12	Sophie	Barnes	Army Cycling Union	–	25	15		20	60
13	Karen	Spiteri	Avid Sport	–	14	20	11	12	57
14	Maria	Powell	Radeon-Cycology RT	–	25	25			50
15	Jen	Horton	UCY	–	13	20		12	45
16	Sally	Crocker	Salt & Sham Cycle Club	–	12	13		15	40
17	Elizabeth	Pressage	University of Bath Cycling Club	–				35	35
18	Joss	Winter	Athletique	–		13	20		33
19	Karen	Whyte	VeloVitesse	–	15	15			30
20	Ashia	Fenwick	VC Venta	–		30			30
21	Rebekah	Nash	University of Bristol	–	15		15		30
22	Clare	Parkin	Elitevelo Kalas Sportswear CRT	–			30		30
23	Laura	Curle	Liv Halo CC	–				30	30
24	Heidi	Blunden	The Racing Chance Foundation	–	13			15	28
25	Rosie	Nunnerley	DAS RAD KLUB	–	12	14			26
26	Megan	Dickerson	Forever Pedalling	–	25				25
27	Olivia	Hill	Performance Cycles	–				25	25
28	Lauren	Booth	Camac Planet X	–	11		12		23
29	Stephanie	Parsonage	Army Cycling Race Team (ACRT)	–	20				20
30	Amanda	Karlsson	VeloVitesse	–	20				20
31	Elizabeth	Sanders	University of Exeter Cycling Club	–	15				15
32	Naomi	Eaton	0	–		15			15
33	Lucy	Rowe	DAS RAD KLUB	–	14				14
34	Alexandra	Sheehan	Bianchi Dama	–	14				14
35	Frankie	Durbin	University of Bath Cycling Club	–				14	14
36	Imogen	Hutchings	VC Venta	–				14	14
37	Olive	Holliday	Somer Valley CC	–			13		13
38	Mia	Hawkins	University of Bath Cycling Club	–				13	13
39	Emily	Slavin	IRIS Race Team	–				13	13
40	Claire	Lawrence	Sodbury Cycle Sport	–	11				11
41	Nicki	Carr	Tri UK	–	10				10
42	Elena	Shaw	Cardiff Ajax	–				10	10
43	Deborah	Sterling		–	9				9