Race Results

Cyclocross, 4th January

Kristof made the most of his New Year trip back home to Belgium by entering a local cyclocross race. He finished 10th in a field of 30 on technical course but thankfully didn’t have the snow seen in the recent elite races!

Gravesend CC 10 mile TT, isle of grain, 22nd March

Four Woolwich members entered the Gravesend CC club 10. With a 50km ride to the start (warm up!) for the first real race of the season we were hoping that this year did not see another level crossing end to the race and a complete 10 mile course rather than an abbreviated 9.5 mile course! As we arrived sign on was looking completed with only 1 rider with a number pinned on however the WCC contingent and a group from the organising club meant 13 riders got to the start line. Alex posted the best time of our riders with 22.35, Matthew with 25.41, Dave with 26.20 and Michele with 27.43. Alex’s time was the best of the day, by some margin, and WCC riders filled 4 of the top 6. Not a bad start for the first race of the season all things considered!

Gravesend CC 10 mile TT, isle of grain, 29th MArch

And then there was one! Only Alex had the time to ride out and compete in the second of the Gravesend CC TTs on the Isle of Grain. Despite the wind really picking up this week and making the course a lot tougher than last week Alex posted a time of 23.18.

UCI TT Qualification Event, Corneilla-la-Riviere, 23rd April

This event forms part of the qualification series of events for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships which are held every year for amateur cyclists from across the world. The course was 23km with 356m of elevation but neither climb was either too long or too steep to deter use of TT bikes.

On the day the wind was helpful on the way out up the first climb but from there on it was a difficult proposition, either a cross head or full headwind. The participants are heavily dominated by the French contingent but Spanish riders also feature with Spain only being a short drive away.

Woolwich rider Dave entered the event on a road bike and posted a time of 43 minutes 21.82 seconds for a creditable 66th place overall in a field of 115. The winning time was an impressive 33 minutes 23.34 seconds. In his age category, 60-64, Dave was 5th of 11 finishers. Unfortunately Dave did not qualify, only the top 3 from his age group qualified for the finals in Japan later this year.

Full results for the event, and others that occurred over the weekend in Perpignan, France can be found here.

UCI Gran Fondo Qualification Event, Canet-en-Roussillon, 25 April

This event forms part of the qualification series of events for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships which are held every year for amateur cyclists from across the world.

Woolwich rider Dave competed at the Medio Fondo distance which is the qualification event for men over 60 and women over 50. However, perhaps due to the preference of the event organisers, the entrants were not limited to only those who could compete for qualification places. Anyone from 19 and up could compete and many did to push the starting peloton to in excess of 600 riders. The distance was 138km with 1568m of elevation. The wind seen for the TT qualification had thankfully subsided but the temperature was on the up and peaked in the low 30C range during the middle of the day as the event was completing.

There was a 4km neutralised start to get out of town, which was definitely sketchy, the roads were open and a peloton of over 600 riders were squeezing past many pieces of road furniture and roundabouts as well the road traffic. The event was well marshalled but still not for the faint hearted. Once out of town the racing started. The peloton was strung out but still largely whole but now stretched over about a 1km of road. Crashes unfortunately did occur, the inevitable overlapping of wheels and road furniture causing problems.

Dave entered the event and was managing to hang in with the, well strung out, main bunch but was caught up in a crash when the rider in front of him touched wheels and bought Dave, and others down. Dave took some time to gather himself and assess the damage but with nothing broken and no sign of concussion he continued on to finish in a time of 4 hours 46 minutes 37.29 seconds which was 248th in a field of 517. In his age group, 60-64, this was 27th in a field of 61. Unfortunately Dave did not qualify, only the top 16 from the age group qualified for the finals in Japan later this year. PS the blood did come out in the wash!

Full results for the event, and others that occurred over the weekend in Perpignan, France can be found here.

VTTA (Kent) Group Championship, 26th April

Alex was the sole Woolwich rider present at the event which contained some well known names from the TT circle so competition was intense. This was Alex’s first outing on his time trial bike since June 2023 so the time of 55 minutes 11 seconds was very good and 7th place.

CC bexley evening TT, Gorse Hill, 29th April

The summer series run by CC Bexley kicked off on a particularly windy evening. Despite this the sun bought out a good number of riders and 10 were on the start line to get themselves into the rhythm.

Two Woolwich riders lined up, Dave who participated all through last summer and Stephen making his TT debut. The wind definitely impacted times, expect for one very rapid young lad on his TT bike. Dave posted 24.30 and Stephen posted 30.10. Both will be looking to improve over the coming weeks.

Interclub Round 2, Gorse Hill, 2nd May

Alex made an early start to head out for a warm up 9 mile TT in preparation for the club 25 competition tomorrow. An impressive time of 20.33 was the best road bike time and good enough for third overall beating many entrants on time trial machines.

Welsh Championship 25, Rhondda Cynon Taff, 3rd May

On the fast course RH25/3H Jack was representing Woolwich. This is, unsurprisingly, a popular event and saw 160 riders lining up on the start line. Jack posted a seriously impressive 50 minutes 10 seconds. Rapid, very rapid! Unfortunately due to a serious crash at the finish line the race was abandoned before all competitors could finish or even start their effort. However of the 50 recorded finishers Jack was 5th.

WIGmore cc, Bill Philbrook Memorial 25, Lenham, 3rd May

This was the nominated event for the club 25 mile time trial championship. Three Woolwich were there among the 23 starters to contest for the bragging rights. Alex was fastest 58 minutes 54 seconds, on his time trial bike, which was second overall, by the margin of only 10 seconds. Kristof, riding a road bike with a sub-optimal wheelset, posted 1 hour 4 minutes 21 seconds. Dave, also on a road bike, posted a time of 1 hour 10 minutes 27 seconds in his first attempt at a 25.

CC bexley evening TT, Gorse Hill, 6th may

Stephen and Dave were once again present for the evening TT. The wind had dropped from last week but so had the temperature! So much for summer! Both posted faster times than last week so trending in the right direction. Stephen posted 28:23 and Dave posted 23:55.

Brian Clayton Memorial & 98th Open 50 mile TT

Once again Jack was out competing, this time in a 50 mile TT. He produced a great time of 1 hour 55 minutes 16 seconds which gained him 10th place in a field of 60 finishers.

CC bexley evening TT, Gorse Hill, 20th May

Despite the threatening weather and cancellation of the previous weeks event Steve kept up his streak for competing in the evening TT series and posted 28:47.