by Chris Maher | Jun 14, 2016
All images ©Copyright www.chrismaher.co.uk | CyclingShorts.cc
The Aviva Women’s Tour 2016 is a UCI Women’s World Tour event. Starting in Southwold on June 15th and finishing in Kettering on June 19th. Covering a total distance of six-hundred-and-twenty-one kilometers in total is the longest distance covered so far in this third edition of the Women’s Tour. With an increase to under seven-thousand-four-hundred meters of ascending, this is by-far the toughest Tour to date.
The five day stage race’s longest individual stage is stage two from Atherstone to Stratford-upon-Avon at a distance of one-hundred-and-forty kilometers. This years Tour will visit seven counties; five, new to the Tour.
Marianne Vos makes a welcome return to the Tour this time around after missing most of last seasons racing. Vos won the inaugural Women’s Tour back in 2014 riding with Rabo Liv and returns again with her Rabo Liv team-mates to reclaim her crown winning races already this year in Europe Vos will still be a force to recon with this Tour.
Defending champion Lisa Brennauer returns to the Women’s Tour in the re-jigged Canyon-SRAM team along with the winner of the final stage from last year in Hemel Hemstead, Hannah Barnes. Hannah was back in America last weekend riding the Philadelphia Classic, the last round of the UCI Women’s World Tour where American National Champion Megan Guarnier, Boels Dolmans took the victory.
The Aviva Women’s Tour is the second longest event in the UCI Women’s World Tour calendar in 2016. The longest being Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile starting on July 01st and ending on July 10th.
Listen to the Pre Tour Press Conference below with Marianne Vos, Lizzie Armitstead, Emma Johansson & Lisa Brennauer.
With less than 24 hours to the start of the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour CyclingShorts.cc brings you the pre race press launch with Marianne Vos, Lizzie Armitstead, Emma Johansson & Lisa Brennauer.
Pre Race Press
Mick Bennett: He can’t remember having such a line up! Defending Champion Lisa Brennauer, World’s number one Emma Johansson, Olympic Champion Marianne Vos and the World Champion Lizzie Armitstead.
Press: Aims for the week?
Lizzie: Finishing my first ever Women’s Tour, with a chuckle! I’ve managed to do that. Lizzie went on to say that she just wanted to enjoy being the (World) Champion and having a good race. She wants to come out of this weeks Tour feeling stronger than she has coming into it.
The girls are all eager to get a good GC contention for themselves or one of their team mates, Emma had said that should they get a good first result, they would fight all the way to Sunday.
Press: Women’s Cycling has grown significantly over the past few years. How important is the Tour in the Women’s Calendar?
Lizzie: Races like these are the blueprint of how they should be put on. In 2016, this is how it should be done. The Women’s Tour is leading the way. She went on to say that the UK has the most prestigious stage race in Women’s Cycling. In terms of professionalism and race organization the Tour leads the way.
They all agree that the Tour has a really good feel to it and that the crowds that line the roads are the best in Women’s Cycling too. They love the school children on the roadside and the enthusiasm.
Mick Bennett hinted that it’s Sweetspot’s intention to make it a seven day stage race next year, and the possibility of a time-trial or team-time-trial too! The Women’s Tour has a very, very good future with stars like this here year-on-year!
UCI Women’s World Tour Ranking after the Philadelphia Classic
Words by Chris Maher
by Chris Maher | Jun 8, 2016
Results
1 Claire Rose – Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa 0:44:12.821
2 Nikki Juniper – Team Ford Ecoboost 0:44:24.718
3 Alice Barnes – Drops Cycling Team 0:44:24.750
4 Grace Garner – Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa 0:44:24.946
5 Annie Simpson – Drops Cycling Team 0:44:26.913
6 Hayley Jones – Team Breeze 0:44:27.955
7 Dame Sarah Storey – Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa 0:44:47.236
8 Charlotte Broughton – Team Ford Ecoboost 0:45:49.677
9 Charlotte Alston – Team 22 0:45:49.745
10 Lydia Moylan – Team WNT 0:45:49.843
Team Results on the Night
1 Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa 103
2 Drops Cycling Team 81
3 Team Ford Ecoboost 74
4 Team WNT 62
5 Team Breeze 59
6 Boot Out Breast Cancer Cycling Club 39
7 Sunsport Velo 27
8 Velo Schils – Interbike RT 23
9 Aprire HSS Hire 18
10 Team Jadan-Weldtite 10
11 Team Footon Velosport 6
by Chris Maher | May 31, 2016
Jon Mould, JLT Condor p/b Mavic claims round six of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series in Durham, chasing hard, then finishing the final lap with a big effort and a third successive victory.
Misfortune denied Tom Stewart, Madison Genesis the win on the night after riding an aggressive race all night and playing a part in the main break around the one-point-two kilometre cobbled circuit in Durham. Leading solo in the closing laps, Stewarts chain jumped as he was about to climb South Street for the penultimate time and the chasing group passed as he struggled to re-mount.
Local lad Harry Tanfield, Pedal Heaven big-ringed the final climb to get an impressive second place riding his first Tour Series event. Egged-on by the crowd, Tanfield said he relished the fact that so many people around the course shouted out words of encouragement as he too played a big part in driving the lead group around the course, making the decisive move mid-way through the hours hard effort.
Team-mate Jack Pullar took the Brother Cycling quickest lap setting a time of 2:09.42.
Playing a very tactical game, Team Raleigh GAC reformed having been in the lead group a couple of times through-out the night. Last rounds Blue Jersey holder Morgan Kneisky managed to claw his way back to the chase group and the team went into time-trial-mode as they lined up on the front to chase back Stewart. Finishing all with-in the top ten, Team Raleigh GAC took the team prize for Durham, with JLT Condor p/b Mavic retaining the overall series lead.
Chris Lawless, JLT Condor p/c Mavic and Pullar set-off after the neutralised lap, lighting-up an action packed evening around the busy Durham City circuit. Lawless continued as Pullar dropped back, and he was joined by Tanfield, Stewart, Matthieu Boulo and Adria Moreno of Team Ralaigh GAC. Lawless picked up the Chain Reaction Points prize for the Durham round.
Jonny McEvoy, NFTO bridged the gap and six riders led the race. Stewart and Lawless broke free for a couple of laps with Team Raleigh GAC chasing hard behind. Moreno joined them, making five in the first group. Leading the second group, Mould and Pullar to name a few. With back-markers getting pulled out after an hours racing, the two groups came together with Stewart out front and it looked like Madison Genesis were going to break JLT Condors stronghold on the series so far.
Race Result at Durham.
1 89 Jon Mould JLT Condor P/B Mavic 1:12:27.262 30
2 27 Harry Tanfield Pedal Heaven 1:12:29.805 30
3 70 Johnny McEvoy NFTO 1:12:30.797 30
4 41 Matthieu Boulo Team Raleigh GAC 1:12:33.110 30
5 12 Tom Stewart Madison – Genesis 1:12:35.651 30
6 47 Sebastian Mora Team Raleigh GAC 1:12:43.285 30
7 45 Morgan Kneisky Team Raleigh GAC 1:12:43.395 30
8 48 Adria Moreno Team Raleigh GAC 1:12:43.548 30
9 87 Chris Lawless JLT Condor P/B Mavic 1:12:48.678 30
10 62 Ian Bibby NFTO 1:14:27.318 30
Team Classification for Round 6
Rank Team Time Points
1 Team Raleigh GAC 4:50:43 10
2 JLT Condor P/B Mavic 4:55:00 9
3 NFTO 4:57:26 8
4 Pedal Heaven 4:58:05 7
5 Madison – Genesis 5:00:30 6
6 Team Wiggins 6:21:03 0
Team Overall Classification after Round 6
Rank Team Points
1 JLT Condor P/B Mavic 65
2 Madison – Genesis 59
3 Team Raleigh GAC 56
4 Pedal Heaven 53
5 NFTO 46
6 Team Wiggins 0
by Chris Maher | May 19, 2016
All images ©www.chrismaher.co.uk / CyclingShorts.cc
Graham Briggs solos to a third win for JLT Condor p/b Mavic on the cobbles under the view of Edinburgh Castle.
Going into round three of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series, JLT Condor p/b Mavic lead the way winning in the Isle of Man and Motherwell. They are five points clear as a treat of rain promises to dampen the one-point-six kilometre circuit that takes in the Grass Market and the foot of Edinburgh Castle along the way.
The peloton strung out gingerly as the light faded and the rain began to pour on the first official lap of the circuit.
Pedal Heaven’s Alex Paton lead the field along in the early stages and team-mate Rory Townsend powered over the slippy start-finish-line for the first sprint of the evening.
JLT Condor p/b Mavic’s Graham Briggs opened up a gap going into the second sprint and there was no reaction from the peloton.
With the peloton diminished, a nine man chase began pursuit. But slippy cobbles proved much of a hazard for many of the riders.
No one was able to break-away from the leading group as Briggs soloed to a soggy victory in Edinburgh.
With many teams having their riders pulled off the course in the final laps, Madison Genesis were the only team to finish four qualifying riders and take the Team Classification on the night, clawing back one point on series leaders JTL Condor p/b Mavic.
Individual Round Classification in Edinburgh
Rank – Bib – Name – Team – Race – Time -Laps Completed
1 82 Graham Briggs JLT Condor P/B Mavic 1:12:56.039 27
2 29 Rory Townsend Pedal Heaven 1:13:49.892 27
3 87 Chris Lawless JLT Condor P/B Mavic 1:13:49.986 27
4 12 Tom Stewart Madison – Genesis 1:13:50.944 27
5 51 Albert Torres Team Raleigh GAC 1:13:51.358 27
6 25 Jack Pullar Pedal Heaven 1:13:52.391 27
7 89 Jon Mould JLT Condor P/B Mavic 1:13:53.115 27
8 67 James Lowsley-WilliamsNFTO 1:14:03.417 27
9 155 Matt Nowell Wheelbase Altura MGD 1:14:04.735 27
10 20 Alex Paton Pedal Heaven 1:14:08.533 27
11 9 Gruff Lewis Madison – Genesis 1:14:10.114 27
12 2 Alex Blain Madison – Genesis 1:14:11.931 27
13 3 Matt Cronshaw Madison – Genesis 1:14:14.059 27
14 47 Sebastian Mora Team Raleigh GAC 1:14:17.419 27
15 41 Matthieu Boulo Team Raleigh GAC 1:14:57.195 27
16 104 Sam Harrison Team Wiggins 1:15:09.642 27
17 45 Morgan Kneisky Team Raleigh GAC 1:15:46.966 27
18 40 Evan Oliphant Team Raleigh GAC 1:15:47.042 27
19 23 Will Fox Pedal Heaven 1:05:00.711 23
20 70 Johnny McEvoy NFTO 1:05:01.240 23
Chain Reaction Cycles Points Overall Classification after Round 3
1 29 Rory Townsend Pedal Heaven 33
2 45 Morgan Kneisky Team Raleigh GAC 21
3 87 Chris Lawless JLT Condor P/B Mavic 17
4 23 Will Fox Pedal Heaven 17
5 51 Albert Torres Team Raleigh GAC 16
6 82 Graham Briggs JLT Condor P/B Mavic 15
7 89 Jon Mould JLT Condor P/B Mavic 15
8 12 Tom Stewart Madison – Genesis 10
9 47 Sebastian Mora Team Raleigh GAC 7
10 41 Matthieu Boulo Team Raleigh GAC
Team Classification for Round 3
1 Madison – Genesis 4:56:27 10
2 JLT Condor P/B Mavic 4:58:08 9
3 Pedal Heaven 4:58:10 8
4 Team Raleigh GAC 4:58:53 7
5 NFTO 5:26:55 6
6 Team Wiggins 5:56:55 0
Team Overall Classification after Round 3
1 JLT Condor P/B Mavic 39
2 Madison – Genesis 35
3 Team Raleigh GAC 30
4 Pedal Heaven 29
5 NFTO 27
6 Team Wiggins 0
by Chris Maher | May 18, 2016
All images ©CyclingShorts.cc/www.chrismaher.co.uk
Jon Mould relished the win in Motherwell for JLT Condor p/b Mavic after making the decisive five man break mid way through round two in Motherwell.
As the leaders were eventually reeled to-with-in jumping distance, they were joined by another four riders before the elastic snapped one-more.
Approaching the back-end of the race, rain fell and soaked the course, and the risk to push-on became ever-more dangerous.
The nine leaders maintained a healthy gap with Ian Bibby, NFTO trying hard to chase them down.
Mould had been joined by Olympian ‘teamie’ Ed Clancy, just back in the country from a block of altitude training and they positioned themselves carefully on the front into the final slippy corner, before power-sprinting up-towards the finish-line. It was Mould, Albert Torres, Team Raleigh GAC, then Clancy, one, two, three.
Extending their lead overall, JTL Condor p/b Mavis will wear the leaders Pearl Izumi jerseys as we cross to the eastern side of Scotland and round three of the Tour Series in Edinburgh on Thursday 19th.
1 JLT Condor P/B Mavic 4:37:27 10
2 Team Raleigh GAC 4:37:32 9
3 Pedal Heaven 4:37:34 8
4 Madison – Genesis 4:37:34 7
5 NFTO 4:37:37 6
6 Team Wiggins 5:46:00 0
Team Overall Classification after Round two
1 JLT Condor P/B Mavic 30
2 Madison – Genesis 25
3 Team Raleigh GAC 23
4 Pedal Heaven 21
5 NFTO 21
6 Team Wiggins 0
Chain Reaction Cycles Points Competition
1 51 Albert Torres Team Raleigh GAC 15
2 23 Will Fox Pedal Heaven 14
3 89 Jon Mould JLT Condor P/B Mavic 12
4 12 Tom Stewart Madison – Genesis 6
5 29 Rory Townsend Pedal Heaven 5
Chain Reaction Cycles Points Competition overall after Round two
1 45 Morgan Kneisky Team Raleigh GAC 17
2 29 Rory Townsend Pedal Heaven 17
3 23 Will Fox Pedal Heaven 17
4 51 Albert Torres Team Raleigh GAC 15
5 89 Jon Mould JLT Condor P/B Mavic 12
Round Two Individual Results – Motherwell
1 89 Jon Mould JLT Condor P/B Mavic 1:08:57.901 40
2 51 Albert Torres Team Raleigh GAC 1:08:58.398 40
3 80 Ed Clancy JLT Condor P/B Mavic 1:08:58.990 40
4 23 Will Fox Pedal Heaven 1:08:59.339 40
5 12 Tom Stewart Madison – Genesis 1:08:59.362 40
6 67 James Lowsley-WilliamsNFTO 1:08:59.568 40
7 41 Matthieu Boulo Team Raleigh GAC 1:08:59.734 40
8 70 Johnny McEvoy NFTO 1:09:00.204 40
9 25 Jack Pullar Pedal Heaven 1:09:00.276 40
10 4 Felix English Madison – Genesis 1:09:02.705 40
11 87 Chris Lawless JLT Condor P/B Mavic 1:09:44.155 40
12 2 Alex Blain Madison – Genesis 1:09:45.197 40
13 62 Ian Bibby NFTO 1:09:45.572 40
14 82 Graham Briggs JLT Condor P/B Mavic 1:09:46.284 40
15 47 Sebastian Mora Team Raleigh GAC 1:09:46.772 40
16 29 Rory Townsend Pedal Heaven 1:09:47.042 40
17 9 Gruff Lewis Madison – Genesis 1:09:47.099 40
18 45 Morgan Kneisky Team Raleigh GAC 1:09:47.163 40
19 20 Alex Paton Pedal Heaven 1:09:47.663 40
20 164 Joe Nally Scotland Cycling Team 1:09:49.655 40
by Chris Maher | May 18, 2016
Images ©CyclingShorts.cc/www.chrismaher.co.uk
Woaw! A Big Deal for Eileen Roe as she seals her first win of 2016 in Round One of the Matrix Fitness GP in Scotland, wining a four-way sprint up-to the finish-line for Lares.
Round one of the Matrix Fitness Grand Prix took place in Motherwell this year. One of six-in-the-series, saw former National Circuit Champion and Scottish local Eileen Roe take the victory in a four-way sprint up-to the finish-line to the cheers of a home crowd.
Now riding for Belgium outfit Lares-Waowdeal on the continent, Eileen had wanted to returned home, feeling a little lonely after a nine-week stint in Europe. Being the only fluent English speaking girl on the squad, rode the first Women’s Lincoln Grand Prix on the weekend before finishing tenth, behind winner Alice Barnes, Drops Cycling Team, and Nikki Juniper, Team Ford Ecoboost who came in seventh.
It was Barnes that initiated the first move in Motherwell after Aprire-HSS Hire, Team WNT and Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa drove the peloton for a couple of laps of the relatively square one-point-two-kilometre-circuit that finished with a long drag from the bottom final corner.
Juniper had counter-attacked and Roe knew which girls she had to look out for. She had seen how well Barnes rode to victory at Lincoln, and decided to go with group, with Annasley Park, Team Breeze joining them as the peloton strung apart, they soon built up a fifteen second lead.
The race was run over forty-five minutes with five final count-down laps to the finish line.
With two laps to go there was a pile up which unfortunately took out Mel Lowther who was later taken to hospital to be checked over.
The four leading riders increased to a twenty-five second gap on the chasing group as they started passing back-markers. An aggressive ride by Barnes also saw her claiming the two sprints and the jersey along the way.
It looked at one point like the main peloton would reel-them-in with Podium Ambitions Gabby Shaw and Lauren Creamer chasing hard, and Jo Tindley and Lydia Boylan, Team WNT taking over, but the impetus went off and the four extended their lead.
With the final laps quickly approaching, the girls started looking across at each-others moves, trying to anticipate who would be their biggest rival.
As the final one-hundred meters marker pasted, it was Eileen that kicked the hardest to win the second visit to the Motherwell round on the Matrix Fitness GP.
Chris Maher of CyclingShorts.cc catches up with the delightful Eileen Roe after her solo effort at round two of the Matrix Fitness GP in Motherwell.
Talking to Eileen after the race she had said, “There was a rider represented from each team” in their group, and she though if they worked together, they would say away to the end”.
“I guess that they weren’t bothered about myself because the Tour Series is all about the “team” this year. So I think they were happy to have me along with them and contributing to the work”.
She went on to say that she wouldn’t be contesting any more of the Matrix Series as she returning back to her own team duties shortly before starting a big block of European racing on the continent. Firstly a big 1.1 UCI event in Belgium, the Gooik-Geraardsbergen-Gooik on May 29th, from then-on it continues every week, she went on to say. Check out this Testogen review that is one of the most popular fitness products that can really work out for you.
This is Eileen’s first win of the season, finishing third in the recent Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Results:
Team Classification & Overall after Round One
Rank Team Points
1 Drops Cycling Team 98
2 Team Breeze 79
3 Team Ford Ecoboost 78
4 Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa 70
5 Team WNT 52
6 Aprire HSS Hire 25
7 Velo Schils – Interbike RT 23
8 Sunsport Velo 21
Sprint 1
1 100 Alice Barnes Drops Cycling Team 5
2 147 Annasley Park Team Breeze 4
3 256 Eileen Roe Lares Waowdeals 3
4 180 Nikki Juniper Team Ford Ecoboost 2
5 27 Jo Tindley Team WNT 1
Sprint 2
1 100 Alice Barnes Drops Cycling Team 5
2 256 Eileen Roe Lares Waowdeals 4
3 147 Annasley Park Team Breeze 3
4 180 Nikki Juniper Team Ford Ecoboost 2
5 27 Jo Tindley Team WNT 1
Sprints Classification & Overall after Round One
1 100 Alice Barnes Drops Cycling Team 10
2 256 Eileen Roe Lares Waowdeals 7
3 147 Annasley Park Team Breeze 7
4 180 Nikki Juniper Team Ford Ecoboost 4
5 27 Jo Tindley Team WNT 2
Individual Round Classification
Rank – Bib – Name – Team – Race Time – Laps Completed – Points
1 256 Eileen Roe Lares Waowdeals 0:46:02.227 24 40
2 100 Alice Barnes Drops Cycling Team 0:46:02.404 24 38
3 180 Nikki Juniper Team Ford Ecoboost 0:46:02.803 24 36
4 147 Annasley Park Team Breeze 0:46:02.817 24 34
5 102 Ellie Dickinson Drops Cycling Team 0:46:10.183 24 32
6 20 Lydia Boylan Team WNT 0:46:10.751 24 30
7 142 Hayley Jones Team Breeze 0:46:11.007 24 29
8 109 Annie Simpson Drops Cycling Team 0:46:11.495 24 28
9 2 Lauren Creamer Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa0:46:12.406 24 27
10 11 Gabriella Shaw Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa0:46:12.605 24 26
11 65 Louise Laker Aprire HSS Hire 0:46:12.661 24 25
12 182 Charlotte Broughton Team Ford Ecoboost 0:46:13.067 24 24
13 120 Lou Collins Velo Schils – Interbike RT 0:46:13.164 24 23
14 27 Jo Tindley Team WNT 0:46:15.979 24 22
15 205 Alice Sharpe Sunsport Velo 0:40:18.392 24 21
16 243 Neah Evans Scotland Cycling Team 0:46:53.406 24 20
17 110 Abi Van Twisk Drops Cycling Team 0:46:59.443 24 19
18 183 Henrietta Colborne Team Ford Ecoboost 0:47:00.483 24 18
19 4 Amy Gornall Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa0:47:00.952 24 17
20 143 Emily Kay Team Breeze 0:47:14.119 24 16
21 3 Grace Garner Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa0:48:09.436 24 15
22 187 Charline Joiner Team Ford Ecoboost 0:45:43.561 23 14
23 28 Hannah Walker Team WNT 0:45:43.972 23 13
24 160 Madison Campbell Team Footon Velosport 0:45:44.071 23 12
25 106 Rose Osbourne Drops Cycling Team 0:45:46.540 23 11
26 47 Jenny Holl Team Jadan-Weldtite 0:45:49.554 23 10
27 85 Kelly Murphy Boot Out Breast Cancer Cycling Club0:45:57.220 23 9
28 163 Suzetta Guerrini Team Footon Velosport 0:46:13.646 23 8
29 68 Gemma Sargent Aprire HSS Hire 0:40:13.426 20 7
30 203 Josie Knight Sunsport Velo 0:40:14.430 20 6
31 184 Julie Erskine Team Ford Ecoboost 0:40:15.218 20 5
32 61 Lucy Chittenden Aprire HSS Hire 0:40:16.366 20 4
33 208 Genevieve Whitson Sunsport Velo 0:40:16.870 20 3
34 206 Maddy Scott Sunsport Velo 0:40:17.026 20 2
35 84 Nikola Matthews Boot Out Breast Cancer Cycling Club0:40:18.558 20 1
36 82 Monica Dew Boot Out Breast Cancer Cycling Club0:40:18.574 20
37 246 Tanya Griffths Starley Racing 0:40:30.932 20
38 126 Nicola Soden Velo Schils – Interbike RT 0:41:02.256 20
39 41 Sarah Bradford Team Jadan-Weldtite 0:41:15.743 20
40 21 Sam Burman Team WNT 0:41:23.097 20
41 44 Rhona Callander Team Jadan-Weldtite 0:41:23.302 20
42 200 Eileen Burns Sunsport Velo 0:41:32.233 20
43 124 Sandra MacKay Velo Schils – Interbike RT 0:39:56.977 19
44 123 Katherine Kimber Velo Schils – Interbike RT 0:40:32.075 19
45 121 Caroline Guest Velo Schils – Interbike RT 0:41:12.207 19
46 80 Ellie Coster Boot Out Breast Cancer Cycling Club0:39:46.289 18
47 83 Kristy Howells Boot Out Breast Cancer Cycling Club0:40:41.746 17
Non-finishers
146 Melissa Lowther Team Breeze
25 Keira McVitty Team WNT
9 Katie Prankerd Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa
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