Thomas Mein and Alderney Baker extended their series leads with wins at Round 2 of the Lloyds National Trophy Series.
Elite women
Alderney Baker (Team Empella) proved that her win in Derby was no fluke with a convincing solo victory that came at the end of a gripping six-rider battle on the windswept South Shields coast.
Junior national champion Imogen Wolff (Visma-Lease A Bike) led the bunch away, keen to stay towards the front on what can be a challenging course for those stuck in the middle of the pack. Behind her, Team Spectra Racing had the numerical advantage with five riders in the top 10 surrounding an isolated Baker.
Throughout the first lap, Wolff maintained her position, leading through the sand traps, then distancing the rest by a handful of seconds through the hurdles. However, she stumbled slightly while riding a steep off-camber turn and Xan Crees (Spectra Racing) was the first to make contact with the leader again.
Behind, Baker led Ffion Gilbert in a desperate attempt to come back on terms with Wolff’s early accelerations. Just as the duo made contact, Crees pressed on the pedals and put in a dig of her own, temporarily distancing Gilbert as she sought to recover from the effort.
By the halfway point, three more riders had made their way back into contention to make a lead group that was working together on the flats, while taking it in turns to pile on the pressure in the more technical sections. Wolff made the most of her superior running skills to gain an advantage on each pass of the hurdles, but the presence of the series leader and the Team Spectra Racing trio – Elena Day, Anna Flynn, and Crees - meant that any advantage was short-lived.
On lap five of seven, disaster struck for Wolff as she slid out on one of the sandy corners. She was up and away quickly, but the gap between her and the leaders was now too much for one rider to overcome and, in spite of a spirited chase that saw her hold the gap at 30 seconds, she wouldn’t see the front of the race again.
Meanwhile, Baker was showing her strength at the front of the race. With two laps to go, she led Gilbert and the three Spectra riders across the hurdles, clearly testing her companions and putting them under pressure at every opportunity. Gilbert struggled to hold the wheel and with a little over one lap to go, Baker emerged from the sand pit with only Crees for company. One more acceleration from Baker dispatched Crees and then it was a battle to hold onto her slim advantage.
As Baker crossed the line for the penultimate time, the gap was just five seconds. For a moment, it looked as though Crees would make her way back up to Baker’s wheel, but she couldn’t close the gap.
By the time Baker crossed the finish line, she had 12 seconds over Crees, who finished just a handful of seconds ahead of her teammate, Anna Flynn. Wolff would settle for fourth, having worked her way back after her earlier crash.
Baker extends her lead in the Lloyds National Trophy Series over Crees, while Day leads the under-23 competition.
Elite open
Thomas Mein (Hope Factory Racing) underlined his dominance in the British cyclo-cross scene with another peerless victory at his home race in South Shields. The defending series champion led from start to finish and beat out Toby Barnes and Jenson Young of Team Spectra Racing.
Mein lined up as the overwhelming favourite after his performance at Round 1 of the Lloyds National Trophy Series in Derby and, having won at his home round in South Shields in 2022 and 2023, he was the marked favourite.
The whistle blew and Mein was fastest off the line, leading the Spectra Racing trio of Toby and Dan Barnes, and Simon Wyllie into the series of sharp turns that marked the beginning of the race.
As the riders hit the sand pit for the first time, Mein had the Barnes brothers for company. The three leaders bogged down in the deep sand, but they were quickly off their bikes and running, barely breaking their stride.
However, just a few minutes later, Mein stamped on the pedals through a series of switchbacks and began to distance his two companions. At first, the gap was just a few metres, but Mein’s raw power and unique line choice over the steep sandy wall on the seafront added seconds to his advantage and he was soon flying solo at the head of the race.
Toby Barnes led the chase behind, but his brother was losing ground as Young made his way back through the bunch after a slow start. It was clear that riders were taking risks to maintain speed on the fast course, and the loud bangs of wheels hitting the hurdles was testament to this as the riders chose to bunny-hop them.
The status quo was set at the front of the race, with Mein lapping considerably faster than the chasers, and it was clear that the battle would be for the remaining podium positions.
With a few laps to go, Young caught Daniel Barnes and made the pass. The latter had slowed and was rapidly losing time while Young had found his rhythm on the flowing course. Ahead, Toby Barnes was locked almost 90 seconds back on a flying Mein.
After just under an hour of racing Mein crossed the line with plenty of time to spare, raising his arms as the undisputed champion of South Shields and taking his third victory there in as many years. Behind, Toby Barnes cruised in for second ahead of Young and Daniel Barnes. Mein leads the overall series competition going into a short break.
Junior women
Zoe Roche (Ribble-Verge Sport) doubled up in South Shields, riding to an assured victory after a measured performance saw her get the better of Ellie Mitchinson (Montezuma's Race Team) and Arabella Blackburn (TRINITY Racing).
Roche laid down a marker with her early pace, putting 15 seconds into second place Anna Patterson (Ignite) on the course by the time they reached the sand pit for the first time.
Patterson led the charge behind with Mitchinson on her wheel, but Roche was setting an infernal pace at the front of the race and the lead had stretched out to 20 seconds before the halfway point.
Mitchinson moved into second place and dropped her chase companion, pressing on alone and slowly chipping away at Roche’s advantage. Roche was slowing and the gap was coming down quickly.
Over the next two laps, there was a battle of wills, with Roche desperately trying to hold onto her advantage, while Mitchinson could sense the gap was coming down and pressed on, edging ever closer with the leader in sight.
However, Mitchinson’s late charge wasn’t quite enough to deny Roche and the Ribble-Verge Sport rider held onto a slim lead coming into the finale, crossing the line 10 seconds ahead of Mitchinson, with Blackburn a further seven seconds behind, having overtaken Patterson in the closing stages of the race.
Junior open
Oscar Amey (TRINITY Racing) came out on top in another duel with Milo Wills, beating the GKR Racing rider after a back-and-forth battle.
Amey had a slow start, finding himself swamped by the bunch as Declan Oldham (Hope Factory Racing) and Wills led from the line. However, the TRINITY Racing rider was quick to correct his error and he soon made his way through the melee back to the front of the race.
Halfway through the first lap, Amey and Wills were alone at the head of the race. Wills was glued to Amey’s wheel, and it seemed as though he had learnt from the lesson of Derby in an attempt to hold onto the series leader.
The two were impossible to separate for the first half of the race, but Wills was struggling to hold the pace and, after three laps, the elastic snapped. Amey powered away and he was free to ride his own race, slowly pulling away at first, before opening his lead up on the penultimate lap.
Amey led into the final lap with a 20-second lead on Wills, who had a further 40-second buffer on Oldham, and only a disaster would stop Amey now. Coming into the final straight, Amey could enjoy the victory and he wheelied across the line in celebration.
Wills and Oldham rounded out the podium, and Amey extended his lead in the Lloyds National Trophy Series.
