Durham University Cycling Club

With DUCC alumni Matt Rossiter the defending champion of the 3/4 series of the four round Hitchfield Spring Series it fell to the current crop of Durham riders to keep this prestigious jersey in the trophy cabernet.

Bryant wins the 3/4 series

Round one, held at our local Hetton circuit became a precession as Durham riders Dan Bryant and Andy Miles forced a 3 man break with local vet John Cann, of Blumilk Race Team. Working together in a perfect lead out Dan easily took the win with lead out extraordinaire Andy taking third. However, with Mr Miles busy finishing off his degree it fell to 2^nd year Dan Bryant to maintain the University’s dominance.

The 1km purpose built cycle circuit at Prisick was the hunting ground for Round 2 of the series. With the weather gods seeming completely unaware that it was spring, the race became more a Milan-San-Remo of the North as riders battled through horizontal sleet in sub-zero temperatures. Despite this Dan managed to break away in the final lap and, after a hard fought sprint, swept up 2^nd giving him an 8 point lead in the series overall.

As round three at Hetton approached the snow lingered and DUCC riders once again turned to the turbos causing untold frustration to housemates, neighbours and entire colleges alike. By Saturday the snow had just about cleared and the racing was back on. Now a marked man and having started to race with ‘the big boys’ in the E123 earlier in the day Dan was unable to force the break. A strong solo ride from Ilkley Cycle Club rider Ben Hallworth saw him embarrass an entire field by TTing ¾ of the race coming in nearly 1 minute ahead of the chasing bunch. Fortunately, and much to the surprise of all of DUCC, Dan was able to pull of a sprint finish to once again finish 2^ndand further consolidate the series lead.

The racing conditions were testing

The final round, a week after term ended, was once again a cold, hard, windy slog around Prissick. Having once again opted to race in a fast E123 earlier in the day and coming down with the dreaded man flu Dan was not feeling strong. Now fully marked and not feeling on form he was once again not able to make the break and when last weeks winner Ben Hallworth slipped off the front an inevitability became apparent – that was the last we’d see of Ben. With 3 laps to go he sat in trying to prepare for the sprint but in his daydreamy state he found myself ¾ of the way down the field with just 1 lap to go. An attack went off the front and it became all or nothing. Forced to open up a near sprint down the back straight and cut the 3^rd last corner – taking the mtbers line through the grass – he swung out at 6^th wheel in a long line of riders. With 3^rd guaranteeing a new shinny 2^nd cat licence he once again opened up the sprint early taking a further 3 riders, rolling over the line 5^th. He’d won the series but was an infuriating 2 points off 2^nd cat.

With the sprint crit races out the way DUCC are squeezing into their skin suits and donning the ‘sperm hats’ ready for three successive weekends of BUCS time trails.

Dan and Andy in the winning break

Big things were expected of the DUCC Pro Cycling team in the 3^rd/4^th category race at Hetton Lyons on Sunday 3^rdMarch. The boys had shown some impressive early season form, and the local circuit had been a happy hunting ground in the past. Around 40 riders lined up for the 45 minute race, including Durham’s Mike Ayre, Dan Bryant and Andy Miles. The race had all the makings of a classic, and to the relief of the hundreds of spectators who hung around for the evening race, the action did not disappoint.

  The Durham riders were on the attack from the off, with Miles particularly keen to get a shift on. No moves of note were sticking in the first few laps, and lone attackers, keen to test their spring form, were swiftly swallowed up by the hungry peloton. About a third of the way into the race, Miles saw an opportunity to escape the bunch, and bridged across to a solo rider at the head of the race. Fresher Mike Ayre sensed this was the move to follow, but was unfortunate to puncture whilst in pursuit, so had to head off for an early shower. The two leaders immediately started working well together and established a respectable lead, although more firepower was needed if the duo were to stay ahead until the end.

Much to the relief of the escapees, this firepower arrived a few laps later, with the in-form Dan Bryant bridging to the leaders with local veteran John Cann, of Blumilk Race Team. There was now a promising four-man break at the head of the race, although this was reduced to three when the pressure started taking its toll on the original instigator. With two out of the three riders in the break, and a healthy advantage on the peloton, this was Durham’s race to loose,and the local boys did not disappoint.

Dan and Andy stand proud on the podium!

The trio continued to extend their advantage throughout the remainder of the race, with the chasing bunch unable to organise any chase. Bryant was particularly strong, and put in some impressive shifts to take the pressure off his ageing team-mate, who was now beginning to suffer. When it was clear the escape was not coming back, it was time to make arrangements for the podium. Bryant was clearly the superior rider in the break, so it was decided he was to go for glory. Miles lead into the finishing straight, opening out the sprint as the finishing drag began to bite. Cann came round in his bit for glory, but he had nothing on Bryant, who eased away to take another fine victory after his riot at Croft a fortnight ago. Cann held on for second, with Miles a respectable third, whilst the bunch fought for the minor placings a short while later.

Such a dominant display was reminiscent of the Armstrong era, with tactics derived straight from the textbook, and executed to perfection. The other teams will be wondering how to stop the Palatinates in the forthcoming races, with Round 2 of the Highfield Kitchens Series returning to Prissick next Saturday. Bryant will be keen to defend his leader’s jersey, and will hope for more strong support from DUCC Pro Cycling.

Kat in the final sprint for the line (Copyright Tony Todd 2013)

Saturday’s season finale of the Croft Winter Series was another chance to stretch the legs for DUCCs racing team. A strong showing in all races with DUCC wannabe who’s being sold out to Herbalife Leisure Lakes William Haynes opening up his season in the handicap. However, before then DUCC had some medals to win.

First off was our president, Kat Broadbent, was out to show why she is Queen of the DUCC Realm in the first women’s race of they year:

It was the first race of the new Women’s Series in the North East, a great initiative by British Cycling to get more women into the sport. Beforehand, there was some coaching by Michelle Evans and BC’s Andrew Johnston to brush up on some racing skills before the main event. The race was handicapped; the scratch group setting off half a lap behind the front group. New recruit and DUBC President, Lucy Glendinning, started in the front group and DUCC President, Kat Broadbent was in the scratch group looking to get in a solid start the season.
The pace was high from the off; the group working well together to catch the girls in front. As the race looked to be coming together, the attacks started. First from Michelle, then from the GB cycles women, as Iona Sewell and Karen Poole dug in to try and ride away from the group, tempting Kat with them, only to be chased down after a few minutes.
In the last 3 laps, as it looked like noone was going to escape up the road, the pace settled, eyeing each other up for the bunch sprint. With two team mates in the race, Iona was the one to watch. Kat latched onto the wheels of the GB cycles girls, hoping to benefit from their lead out. In the end it worked out perfectly, using the momentum of the GB lead out train, Kat managed to hold off Iona to the line and take her first victory of the season!

Next up was the 4th cat, an oportunity for the newer members of the team to try their hand at racing. A team of five DUCC riders were present, including masters student Alex Reid:

Near perfect conditions – and a large field of point hungry riders – made for a relatively pacey race destined for a large bunch finish. After a nervy opening couple of laps all 5 riders settled into the first half of the bunch and concentrated on keeping position. With such a large field (and in the interest of not crashing/puncturing), the more tactically savvy Mike Walker chose to ride right up at the front, dishing out his fair share of turns and inadvertently entering a breakaway on lap 4. Continuing on with his run of bad luck, Dan Jaffe was forced to take a lap out early doors for a mechanical, which was speedily resolved thanks to the help of DUCC directeur sportif Sam Walsh. All 5 riders back in the race, the last 3 laps saw an increase in pace and the odd attempted breakaway shut down. Coming into the final lap all riders looked to position themselves for the inevitable sprint finish, although special mention goes to Dan Jaffe for his gun-ho breakaway attempt that unfortunately wasn’t to be. Mike Walker narrowly edged out Oli Greenwood and Dan Jaffe in a sprint which sealed all 3 within the top 20, whereas Callum Stephen and Alex Reid finished further down in the bunch after some poor final lap positioning.

Finally Haynes lined up for the handicap. Despite riding hard the scratch group failed to catch a hard working 3/4 break of 7 riders who swept up the majority of the points. However, undeterred Haynes managed to snatch 3rd in the sprint for the minor placings and gaining his first, of many points of the year.

With the DUCC Spain preseason looming, thoughts turn to the prospect of a weeks riding in sunny Spain. Bikes are being packed, lycra scrubbed clean and legs shaved. So stay tuned for tales of sweltering climbs and truly epic descents.

It’s official, Presason starts next week!

Running from the 23rd September until the 30th; we’ll be riding everyday on the road, meeting 9am at the New Inn. All are welcome!

There is a crit race this saturday 22nd down at Prissick and a cyclocross race on sunday 23rd (also in Prissick), so get your race faces on if you want to participate in those.

We’re also planning a trail centre trip, at the end of the week, for those who fancy railing some berms and hitting some sweet booters!

DUCC has enjoyed a busy and successful season, here are some of the highlights!

Medal sweep at the BUCS Hill Climb

Durham Domination at Prissick

The season started well with a good turn from DUCC at the Velo29 winter series at Croft. Notably, Ruari Grant and Matt Rossiter gained their 3^rd cat licences in their first few races.

The next round of criteriums was to be help at Prissick, near Middlesbrough, at the Highfield Kitchens Spring Sheild Series – we saw wins from Will Haynes (riding for Blackhawks) in the E/1/2/3, Matt Rossiter in the 3/4 and Sam Walsh in the 4^th cats.

Yellow and Red Jerseys for Rossiter and Garrett

Consistently good performances from the team saw Matt Rossiter take the yellow jersey overall (and his 2^nd cat licence) in his category and Ed Garrett, the dominant sprinter taking the primes each week, won the red point jersey for the series in the same category. Will Haynes also finished the series with the E/1/2/3 yellow jersey.

BUCS BUCS BUCS………..not too shabby

DUCC were the dominant team at the BUCS hill climb last October. Holly and Ben Page won individuals silvers, backed up by their team mates to win men’s team silver (Ben Page, Alex Clayton, Rob Lambton) and women’s team gold (Holly Page, Fiona Hunter Johnston). A phenomenal result for Durham!

Again, Durham hosted BUCS Cyclocross at the Racecourse in the city centre. Once again, it was a excellent event organised by our road captain, Andy Miles, with some witty commentary from the legendary Mr John Davidson. A huge field took to the start line on a chilly November afternoon, unfortunately for DUCC, Will Haynes suffered an early puncture and was out of the race. In the end, we gained team fourth in both the men’s and women’s competitions. Perhaps we were a little disappointed after winning bronze and silver medals last year, but it was a great day and we look forward to hosting again next year.

BUCS Time Trials also brought some success, with the 3-up TTT the first of the series. We had high hopes for both the men’s and

Matt beasts BUCS 10 TT

women’s teams; the men’s first team suffered some bad luck when one of their number punctured. Matt Rossiter and Will Haynes went on to finish in a good time, but unfortunately it would not count. The women (Holly Page, Gail Brown, Kat Broadbent) recorded  the best time ever by a Durham girls team but it was only good enough for second place on the day, after an incredible effort by Cambridge.

At the BUCS 10 mile TT, it was Matt Rossiter’s time to shine! Previously an outstanding rower for DUBC, he stormed the 10 mile course near Cambridge, only to come second to an elite professional racer riding for Cambridge. Nice one, Rossi!

In the final league table, Durham is sat in fifth with 108 points. This is an improvement on last year, but not as good as our annus mirabilis of 2009/2010. We’ll have ‘em next year!

It’s been an excellent season so far for DUCC’s Will Haynes. Riding for Blackhawks this season, he has racked up a number of podium places, most notably taking the yellow jersey in the E/1/2/3 category of the Highfield Kitchens Spring Shield Series and a win at the Sloan trophy Road Race.

First to cross the line at the Sloan Trophy

Speaking to Will recently, he said, “I reckon my season’s gone really well, I’ve achieved all my aims with no major problems”. One of these aims was gaining his 1^st cat licence, which he achieved easily by the end of June. Shortly after, Will was introduced to the world of Premier Calendar racing at the Beaumont trophy, followed by the Velo29 Stockton cycling festival Road Race; “I rode the Stockton Prem. Cal. in July and that was again pretty tough, I lasted a lot longer this time and made it onto the finishing circuit, but was too far back and having to sprint out of every bend eventually snapped my legs and I rolled in a couple of minutes behind the front group, but at least I finished”.

It is no surprise that such performances on the bike have brought Will to the attention of some bigger teams, and so this summer he joined Herbalife Leisure Lakes Bikes as a staigaire and has already scored a number of top 10 results in his new team kit. But Will is not done with his season just yet, “I’m going to keep racing till the end of September and see if elite happens (only 95 points away!)”.

Riding for Herbalife Leisure Lakes at the Bashall Eaves CDNW race

Perhaps what makes Will’s progress this season all the more impressive is that he has to manage both training and studying for his Chemistry degree. “Training isn’t normally too hard to fit in as even the hardest degrees are still less than a full time job in terms of contact time but you do need a bit of discipline to drag yourself out in the dark and rain of December/January”.

So what does next season hold for Mr Haynes? “I want to get elite and just keep getting stronger really; get a top 20 in a Prem. and win a national B road race. Apart from that, I just want to be able to put in some good performances for the team and be able to live with the pace of some of the domestic pro teams a bit better”.

Apologies for the lack of news over the past few months, we are currently in the process of updating the website.

If you would like to get in contact with us; please email a member of the new executive committee (see below).  Keep your eyes peeled for information (coming very soon) on “preseason”, which is likely to be 22nd to 29th September (details tbc).

President: Kat Broadbent

katharine.broadbent@durham.ac.uk

Vice President: Will Haynes

w.j.haynes@durham.ac.uk

Treasurer: Andy Miles

andrew.miles@durham.ac.uk

Road Captain: Rob Lambton

r.p.lambton@durham.ac.uk

Mountain Bike Captain: Sam Oakes

sam.oakes@durham.ac.uk

Secretary: Ollie Greenwood

oliver.greenwood@durham.ac.uk

Sponsorship Secretary: Alex Humphries

alexander.humphries@durham.ac.uk

BUCS XC Championships
Sunday 13th March 2011

Durham University – Aura Cycles fielded 9 riders in the BUCS Cross Country Mountain Bike Championships over the weekend, held in Moelfre, Wales. The XC races concluded the prestigious weekend of racing after the downhillers competed for glory on the Saturday.

Setting off from Durham on Saturday morning, we were all anxious to get down there and check the course out. Was it going to be a straightforward fire track sprint as in previous years or was it going to push the rider’s technical ability to the limit? On arrival, we soon realised that this was not your average XC race, but instead the course consisted of a ridiculously steep, gravel climb up to the top of the hill overlooking the campsite, followed by a steep, technical descent down the old downhill track. How hard can it be? So after a short while sorting the bikes out and fiddling with tyres we headed off for a few practise laps. With a few exceptions, everyone safely negotiated a couple of circuits and we were confident that come race day tomorrow we could hold our own in the race.

There was even time for a few eager members of the team to try their hand on the 4X track. This was never going to end well, and within a few minutes Pete Ward had crashed hard and snapped his collarbone in two. A trip to the first aid tent revealed the extent of the injury and he was then taken off to the awaiting ambulance. Pete is still in the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital waiting for surgery on Tuesday and he can now have a matching metal plate on his collarbone to the one already in his arm. On behalf of everyone at DUCC we wish Pete a speedy recovery so that he can get back on his bike as soon as possible to practise his jumping technique.

The racing on Sunday started with the XC Sport Champs, a fun, ‘less-competitive’ race before the main event. Durham was represented by international sensation Giacomo Pieraccini (racing his first mtb race) and former student Ewan Brown. Despite Ewan’s last minute decision to race and the subsequent lack of preparation, he flew around the 4 laps at breakneck speed to record a brilliant victory, completed in style with a popular wheelie over the line. Giacomo also held his own to record a credible 80th place.

The 6 lap Championship race started shortly afterwards, with Durham riders Andy Charlesworth, Andy Durnan, Andy Miles and Matt Wilson in the men’s race and Kat Broadbent and Lizzie Dingle in the women’s race. The gridding system at the start avoided too much chaos as 130 riders fought to get onto the climb in the best possible position. Fortunately, the course had dried out nicely after the torrential rain the night before, so conditions on the ground were surprisingly good. Add to this bright sunshine and hundreds of hungover/still drunk/loud/abusive downhillers and the scene was set for a mental race. And this it proved, with complete carnage as soon as the race hit the descent for the first time. Andy Miles was keen to get in on the action with a perfect execution of a mounted flying front somersault on the second lap. Matt Wilson was also keen to rub his face in the dirt and is now covered head to toe in bruises. Mtb captain Andy Charlesworth lead from the front with unrivalled flair and showed his ‘roadie’ teammates a thing or two about going downhill fast. Andy Durnan also had little difficulty mastering the descents, even if he did have to stop every lap and drop his seat! Unfortunately, Lizzie had to abandon at half way due to snapping her chain, which meant Kat was the sole remaining Durham representative in the women’s race. She demonstrated masterful tactical ability by playing the waiting game as her rivals sped around the course and repeatedly lapped her, resulting in Kat only having to complete two laps of the hellish course. There have also been rumours circulating that Kat Broadbent is hoping to do the double next year and race the downhill as well, watch this space for more on that!

Results

XC Champs – Male
28th Andrew Miles @ +1 lap
53rd Matt Wilson @ +1 lap
77th Andy Charlesworth @ +2 laps
94th Andy Durnan @ +2 laps
(from 113 finishers)

XC Champs – Female
17th Lizzie Dingle @ +2 laps
18th Kat Broadbent @ +2 laps

XC Sport – Male
1st Ewan Brown
80th Giacomo Pieraccini @ +3 laps
(from 111 finishers)