Mark Christian and Simon Yates of 100% Me fought off a determined effort from Alex Dowsett of Sky and Tom Murray of IG Sigma Sport to take Gold in a very fast paced National Madison Championship at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester. The afternoon session crowd were also treated to Future Stars Madison races and the qualifying session from the Sprint competition.
James Shaw and Fabio Close of Sky Procycling took the win in a very close DHL Future Stars Boys Madison
Before the big race of the afternoon got underway, the Boys from the DHL Future Stars competition took to the track for their 15km – 60 lap – Madison. With only three sprints – on laps 40 and 20 and at the finish – a lap taken would almost certainly have beaten any realistic points tally in such a competitive field.
Oliver Wood and Jake Womersley of Chep UK took the first sprint from favourites Chris Lawless and Jacob Ragan of Maxgear Racing with Andy Shackel and Kristian Woolf of Team UK Youth/Rapha Condor Sharp in third and Charlie Tanfield of Cunga Bikes riding with Christian Braybrooke of Rouleur taking the final point. The second sprint saw Wood and Womersley consolidate their lead – taking third to bring their total to 7 points. Maximum points went to James Shaw and Fabio Close of Sky Procycling with Jake Scott and Luc Hall second and Lawless and Ragan taking the Final point.
Matt Cross and Owen James of Howies lapped the field -and briefly – took the lead, before the bulk of the field unlapped themselves. Cross and Owen took the final sprint, but those were their only points of the race. Wood and Womersley picked up the last of the points, crossing the line behind Adam Lewis and Joe Evans of Cunga Bikes – but it wasn’t quite enough. Second place for Shaw and Close left them tied on points with Wood and Womersley but taking the win by virtue of finishing ahead of their rivals on the final lap.
DHL Future Stars Boys Madison – 15km
1 James SHAW/Fabio CLOSE Sky Procycling 8 pts
2 Oliver WOOD/Jale WOMERSLEY Chep UK 8
3 Matt CROSS/Owen JAMES Howies 5
4 Chris LAWLESS/Jacob RAGAN Maxgear racing 4
5 Jake SCOTT/Luc HALL Chep UK/Maxgear Racing 3
6 Adam LEWIS/Joe EVANS Cunga Bikes 2
7 Charlie TANFIELD/Christian BRAYBROOKE Cunga Bikes/Rouler 1
8 Andy SHACKEL/Kristian WOOLF Team UK Youth/Rapha Condor Sharp 2 -1 lap
9 Tristan ROBBINS/Jason PITT Team UK Youth -1 lap
10 Alan TROLOVE/Jack HOYLE Rapha Condor Sharp -1 lap
11 Joe WILTSHIRE/Peter COCKER Howies/Sky Procycling -1 lap
Mark Christian and Simon Yates of 100% ME built an early lead – taking the first two sprints and to dominate the early stages of the race. First time over the line it was Joe Kelly and Jon Mould of 100% ME who took second place from Tom Moses and Alistair Slater of – you guessed it – 100% ME. Adam Duggleby of Sportscover Altura RT and Alistair Rutherford of Vanillabikes.com prevented a complete landslide by the Academy boys by taking fourth. Alex Dowsett of Team Sky and Tom Murray of IG-Sigmasport took second place in the second sprint, with Kelly and Mould taking two points to move in to second place with Moses and Slater taking the remaining point.
With Dowsett taking double stints in full-on time trial mode, Dowsett and Murray took the third sprint from Moses and Slater, Christian and Yates and Kelly and Mould. Christian and Mould struck back with 120 laps to go with Moses and Slater taking second, Duggleby and Rutherford third and Doug Dewey of Terra Footwear-Bicycle Line and Dave Sinclair of GWR Team-Swindon Cycles taaking the final point.
Duggleby and Rutherford took the sprint at the mid-point of the race but Christian and Yates took second to maintain their lead with Dowsett and Murray third, ahead of Moses and Slater. But it was the mid-race charge by Dowsett and Murray that brought the race to life with the pair taking sprint six en route to gaining a lap (along with Atkins and Doull) and taking the lead of the race – albeit briefly. While Christian and Yates had failed to score for the first time in sprint six – Tom Arnstein of Equipe Velo Eccose and Marc Stewart of Spokes Racing Team taking three points, George Atkins and Owain Doull, also of 100% Me, two and Dubbleby and Rutherford one – they struck back three times in quick succession. They took the lap back, then took maximum points in the next two sprints.
Dowsett and Murray picked up a single point in the first of those and three in the second but with two sprints remaining they were 11 points behind Christian and Yates with only 10 more up for grabs. It was going to need the boys in GB kit to lose a lap to lose the title and it never really looked likely. Kelly and Mould took the penultimate sprint before Doull and Atkins had a pop at gaining the lap in the closing stages. They took the final sprint but Christian & Yates never let them get too far ahead and held on for a healthy win. Still, it had been a cracking race – with Dowsett and Murray’s charge and Christian and Yates’ fight back – and it left many of us wondering, yet again, what the UCI was thinking when it removed this event from the Olympics.
National Madison Championships
1 Mark CHRISTIAN/Simon YATES 100% ME 31 pts
2 Alex DOWSETT/Tom MURRAY Team Sky/IG-Sigmasport 23
3 George ATKINS/Owain DOULL 100% ME 9
4 Adam DUGGLEBY/Alistair RUTHERFORD Sportscover Altura RT/Vanillabikes.com 14 -2 laps
5 Joe KELLY/Jon MOULD 100% ME 14 -2 laps
6 Tom MOSES/Alistair SLATER 100% ME 12 -2 laps
7 Doug DEWEY/David SINCLAIR Terra Footwear – Bicycle Line/GWR Team – Swindon Cycles 4 -5 laps
DNF Tom ARNSTEIN/Marc STEWART Equipe Velo Ecosse/Spokes Racing Team
DNF Stephen BRADBURY/Jack KIRK AW Cycles/Agiskoviner Cycling Team
Ellie Coster of Howies beats 3-times DHL Future Stars Champion Emily Kay of Cunga Bikes to the first Sprint in the Girls’ Madison
The Girls’ Madison was less frenetic than the Boys’ event but still saw some good battles with Rebecca Hunt and Ellie Coster of Howies sealing the win by taking the first two of the three sprints. Despite Emily Kay and Emily Nelson taking second on both occasions, they went in to the final sprint needing to win – with Hunt and Coster coming no higher than fourth – to snatch the win.
When it came to the final charge, though, it was Melissa Lowther and Abby-Mae Parkinson of Chep UK who took the five points to add to their single point from the second sprint. That secured third place, leaving the two Emilys in second behind Hunt and Coster. Victoria Kinrade and Megan Boyd of Maxgear Racing were the only pair to score in every sprint, taking two thirds and a fourth, which was enough to keep then in fourth overall – keeping them ahead of Megan Barker and Paige Millward of Rouleur who took second place in the final sprint. Grace Garner and Charlotte Broughton of Sky Procycling were the only other team to score a point – finishing fourth in the initial sprint.
DHL Future Stars Girls Madison – 15km
1 Rebecca HUNT/Ellie COSTER Howies 10 pts
2 Emily KAY/Emily NELSON Cunga Bikes 8
3 Melissa LOWTHER/Abby-Mae PARKINSON Chep UK 6
4 Victoria KINRADE/Megan BOYD Maxgear Racing 5
5 Megan BARKER/Paige MILLWARD Rouleur 3
6 Grace GARNER/Charlotte BROUGHTON Sky Procycling 1
7 Lauren O’BRIEN/Zoe ARMSTRONG Chep UK/Maxgear Racing
8 Alice BARNES/Abbie DENTUS Team UK Youth
9 Kim ENGLISH/Beth HAYWARD Rapha Condor Sharp
10 Hannah BLOUNT/Flora GILLIES Sky Procycling/Rouleur -1 lap
11 Emily HAYCOX/Jessie ANSELL Howies/Cunga Bikes -1 lap
12 Bethany TAYLOR/Sara GENT Team UK Youth/Rapha Condor Sharp
Full report to follow.
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