Keira Bond and Toby Barnes soloed to incredible victories on the tight and tecnical circuit at the Sheffield Grand Prix as part of the fifth round of the Lloyds Bank National Circuit Series.
Women
Keira Bond (Alba Development RT) secured a stunning solo victory in the McLaren Automotive Women’s Grand Prix, taking her first win of the series at her home race in Sheffield.
Straight from the start, it was the current leading team, DAS-Hutchinson-Brother-UK, setting the pace with eight riders taking to the line, looking to defend their top spot in the standings ahead of Alba Development RT.
However, with two consecutive round wins to her name, Eilidh Shaw (Alba Development RT) and teammate Bond were never far from the front of the race.
During the early stages, the peloton remained intact, with Emily Proud (Le Col RT) leading the way around the tight and narrow course. It was Jenny Holl (Loughborough Lightning) who then injected some pace, lining out the bunch and ejecting riders from the back.
Last year’s national circuit champion, Meg Barker (TEKKERZ CC) sat close to the front of the strung-out bunch, with current series leader Isabel Darvill (Doltcini-O’Shea) also nearby.
However, it was round one winner Frankie Hall (DAS-Hutchinson-Brother-UK) who decided to increase the pace further, proving her current form and leading out this select front group of riders for over five minutes.
Eventually, Hall relented on the front and Alba Development RT pulled through. With 30 minutes of racing remaining, the pace slowed and Jo Tindley (Pro-Noctis-200º Coffee-Hargreaves Contracting Ltd) attacked, with Shaw immediately jumping onto her wheel.
Suddenly, disaster struck. As the peloton came back together, a heavy crash brought multiple riders down, resulting in the race having to be neutralised whilst riders received the necessary medical attention.
After around 25 minutes, the race recommenced, with the decision being made to shorten the remaining race distance to just eight laps.
Hall took to the front once again, leading the peloton through the line with seven laps to go. TEKKERZ CC Barker and Amy Perryman sat in second and third wheel, closely followed by Darvill and Shaw. Hall attempted to distance herself off the front with five laps remaining, but Shaw soon closed down the small gap that Hall opened up.
Immediately after, Bond decided to make her own well-timed move, and attacked with four laps to go. For the first time in the race, the gap for the leading rider continued to grow, with Bond now having 10 seconds over the bunch with just two laps remaining.
DAS-Hutchinson-Brother-UK took to the front on the final lap as a last attempt to bring back the solo rider, but for Bond, there was no sight of any riders behind her as she crossed the line to take her first national series victory.
Loughborough Lightning’s Holl won the bunch sprint to take second place, 15 seconds behind the winner, with Barker taking third.
Another crash in the final lap meant that 16 riders were unable to finish the race, including the series leader, Isabel Darvill (Doltcini-O’SHEA). This means that Shaw, who finished fourth in the race, is now leading the individual standings, seven points ahead of Hall.
With just two rounds of the series remaining, DAS-Hutchinson-Brother-UK still lead the team standings, but Alba Development RT, continue to close the gap, with 96 points between the two teams.
Open
Toby Barnes (Team Spectra Racing) showcased his talent by taking a solo victory at the BikeBox Alan Open Grand Prix, with a lead of over 30 seconds to the chasing peloton.
The race was shortened to just 25 minutes plus five laps due to the delayed start in response to the crashes that took place in the women’s event.
Keen to get this unusually short race underway, series leader Rob Scott (TEKKERZ CC) jumped straight into action, leading the riders off the line. Jack Hartley (Cycling Sheffield) came through to the front, continuing to keep the pace high throughout the first lap, stringing out the bunch behind.
Jacob Scott (REMBE Pro Cycling Team Sauerland) launched the first major attack of the night, with William Truelove (THRIVA-SRCT) straight onto his wheel. Jacob Scott was unable to get a meaningful gap, but this injection of pace meant that the peloton was split and a group of around 20 riders remained at the front of the race.
A flurry of attacks took place, with Will Roberts (Saint Piran) gaining a handful of bike lengths, but he was soon closed down again. Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli riders Callum Laborde and Thomas Armstrong also made attempts to get ahead of the leading group, but the riders all came back together with Matt Bostock (RIBBLE REBELLION) pulling at the front.
Rob Scott then launched a strong attack with 15 minutes remaining. Roberts joined him and the pair earned a small gap to the chasing riders.
Sensing the danger of letting the series leader go, Bostock chased hard to bridge across to the leading duo. However, the bunch soon came back together and it was the counterattack by Barnes with 10 laps to go that proved to be the winning move. Barnes quickly gained a five second gap, which continued to grow despite Bostock’s best efforts to close it down.
Soon, Barnes had a lead of over 10 seconds. Saint Piran took to the front of the chasing group, but Barnes maintained his gap going into the final five laps.
Going into the final lap, Barnes had a huge lead of 34 seconds, lapping riders as he headed for the finish line.
After 16 laps of relentless racing, Barnes secured a dominant win, finishing over 30 seconds ahead of last round’s winner Bostock, who sprinted to the line to claim second place. Armstrong finished in third with the series leader coming in sixth.
Scott is still leading the series standings, but Bostock is now only 20 points behind. Barnes has moved up to third place in the overall standings after his impressive performance in Sheffield.
Unfortunately for RIBBLE REBELLION, they were unable to score any points in the team standings after not having enough riders finish the race to qualify. This means TEKKERZ CC take the top spot, but with only 26 points separating the leading teams, it is still all to play for in the final two rounds.
The penulatime round of the series will take place on Tuesday 23 July at the Fort Vale Colne Grand Prix.
