Simply some excellent efforts out there tonight. The course started off a little more friendly than in previous weeks i.e. not straight up a 20% hill. There was then 2-3min to gather your thoughts and persuade yourself that in fact it was going to be ok. It wasn’t. The first climb took us from the River Avon’s banks up to the Clifton Suspension Bridge. For those that don’t know it. Even the cars judder their way to the top and it was fair to say it was an emotional climb. What should have happened after that was a consolidation, but the climb had splintered the field. Small groups managed to come together however, and it was these groups that made the remainder palatable. That said, some lost their groups and were swallowed up greedily by those that followed.
Up front there were some fierce battles but along the route skirmishes were raging. The final 10km went on forever and was a proper war of attrition. Congratulations to all those involved. Next week involves much less climbing, around 60% of this week.
Results:
With a few DQs well over the HC we have:
- G. Calas 3.5wkg
- G. Taylor 3.1wkg
- J. Garcia 3.5wkg
The all-important Combativity Award though as voted for by fellow riders:
Nominations were plentiful tonight:
- V. Benita
- L. Jeffreys
- U. Donigiewicz
- K. Lange
- B. Lowe
- J. Kristensen
Ultimately though it went to B. Lowe who lost a pedal at the start of the race but still managed to battle back and support riders near the front of the race. Congratulations!