Smith takes overall CX series victory at Blanchelande
The final round of the Cycleworld Cyclocross series returned to Blanchelande College – a popular venue amongst riders who seem to enjoy the challenging terrain and muddy conditions.
A spokesperson for the club said; “The club is extremely grateful to Blanchelande College for allowing us to race here. The land allows the organisers to be creative with the course design and we hope the riders have enjoyed coming back here for the third time. Every course is unique in our series and we have been fortunate this year to complete every race as planned without cancellation – credit to everyone who volunteers their time to ensure the races can go ahead. Thank you to all riders who raced this season to make this a great series”.
Wet conditions greeted the riders and the warm up laps gave everyone a chance to get used to the varied terrain.
Zach Smith made light work of the circuit putting in an impressive performance to take the race win and secure the CX championship. He completed 13 laps in 53.14 taking the lap record and lapping everyone except his closest rival and second place in the race, Mark Le Page.
The Under 16 rider battled with fellow Under 16 and Utmost & Ian Browns Academy rider Charlie Tourtel later in the race before the mountain bike rider pulled away to win the race outright, leaving Smith to race alone and take the overall CX crown for the third year.
“My race was interesting. I took an early lead and built a gap on the first lap and never looked back. I enjoyed the course, the hills and technical sections suited me. I’m very happy to retain my crown and cant wait for next year.” Said Zach after the race.
Zach and Mark had traded wins all series and going into this final round it was winner takes all.
Reflecting on the race and the overall series, Mark said; “Unfortunately it was one of those days where I just didn’t have the form I needed to fight for the top position. Zach had a good gap on me from the start. As the surface became more slippery, it was harder to stay upright and a few mistakes made the gap too big to close down.”
After a long season of racing, the Island Games MTB rider is looking forward to a break from racing before focus turns to the XC series next year.
Despite the series being a two horse race, the racing continued to the flag for everyone with Mark Smith taking the final podium on the day and third place overall. Mark also took the Veteran honours after strong performances throughout finishing fifth or higher in every round. Behind were Veterans Mark Naftel, Ben Walden, Simon Francart and Tom Fotheringham, with Sam Nichols and Tristan Robilliard rounding out the top ten. Esther Reid was eleventh, securing the overall Ladies CX title for the third year.
In the Mountain Bike category, Charlie Tourtel dominated the race finishing over three minutes ahead of Seth Davey (who took the fastest lap). Tourtel won every race of the series he attended and would have been higher in the series points had he not missed two rounds. Overall series winner Adam Torode finished fourth behind John Mapley, Peter Sargent’s series win quest ended early after a broken chain meant he was unable to complete the race. Top female in the series Jamy Petit Fulgoni secured ninth overall after eleventh place in the race ahead of youth rider Amy Smith and senior Emily Squire.
In the sport race, Freddie Martel secured overall CX honours after winning his fifth consecutive race, ahead of Alex Hutchinson. Jacob Piercey won the race and the overall Mountain Bike win after a series long battle with Luka Robilliard and Arun Scales. The Youth B riders all raced superbly throughout the series.
Race 5 concludes the Cycleworld Cyclocross Series for this season. Anyone considering trying Cyclocross or any other form of racing is encouraged to contact the club for more information.
Full results and standings can be found at gvc.gg.
