Eilidh Shaw secured her second consecutive win of the series and Matthew Bostock doubled up on his Round 1 victory with a stunning sprint at the Dudley Grand Prix in the fourth round of the Lloyds Bank National Circuit Series.
Women
Eilidh Shaw (Alba Development RT) continued her fine run of form, dominating the front of the 202020 Taxis Women’s Dudley Grand Prix with clinical precision, before handily dispatching her breakaway companions in the final sprint.
Round 1 runner up Dannielle Watkinson (Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon) and Jennifer Powell (Performance Development Team) were the first to string out the peloton early on, as riders struggled to match their fast pace from the start. However, the two early leaders were brought under control and the winner of round one, Frankie Hall (DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK), injected a further increase in pace to the leading peloton, distancing struggling riders off the back of a lined-out peloton.
The frantic pace at the front, driven mostly by Alba Development RT and DAS Hutchinson-Brother UK was causing splits to appear. The two teams had been locked in a tug of war at the top of the Series team standings and the Dudley Grand Prix was the latest battleground.
After close to 30 minutes of racing, disaster struck for many of the top-placed riders. A crash on a technical corner split the peloton, with multiple riders going down including last year’s winner, Lucy Glover (Shibden Apex RT) and the current series leader, Isabel Darvill (Doltcini-O’Shea), who required a bike change and did not see the front of the race again.
Meanwhile, the leading riders began to establish a gap and take advantage of the disrupted chase. This leading group was soon reduced to a group of four, as an attack by the Alba Development RT duo of Kiera Bond and Shaw, was soon joined by DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK riders, Hall and Lucy Lee, who bridged across with eight laps to go, sensing the danger of previous round winner, Shaw, going clear.
The four riders maintained an 11-second lead over the chasers for some time but, with the final lap approaching, they had stretched it out to 15 seconds and it seemed clear that the winner would come from this group.
Bond led the leaders through the line for the penultimate time and continued to ride on the front for the majority of the lap, with Hall sat in second wheel and Shaw in third. It wasn’t until the final corner that Shaw made her move, accelerating hard to gain a gap over the other three riders and maintaining her pace all the way to the line, securing her second consecutive win of the Series. Hall finished in second with Powell taking third. Abigail Miller (Tofauti Everyone Active) won the bunch sprint for fourth, but it was marred by a heavy crash for Corrine Side, recently signed by Spectra racing, who went down and broke her collarbone.
Darvill now leads the individual standings on countback, having finished the race tied on points with Side, nine points ahead of Hall. However, Side’s injuries mean she will miss the remaining rounds of the Series. DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK lead the team standings after four rounds.
Open
Matt Bostock (RIBBLE REBELLION) returned to winning ways in Dudley after struggling at the last round in Guildford, where his Series rival, Rob Scott (TEKKERZ CC) had managed to pick up the win.
The open race started with an early attack from Harry Macfarlane (TAAP Kalas), who established an impressive 12-second lead ahead of the peloton within the first lap. Macfarlane, who finished fifth at Guildford last week, maintained his lead throughout the second lap, with Joe Holt (TEKKERZ CC) leading the chase behind.
After five laps, the solo leader was joined by current series leader, Robert Scott (TEKKERZ CC), and Toby Barnes (Spectra Racing) with the trio holding a seven-second gap over the peloton. However, the chasing bunch was riding hard and, before too long, caught the leaders.
Next, it was the turn of RIBBLE REBELLION to take control of the front of the race. Max Rushby (RIBBLE REBELLION), Thomas Armstrong (Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli) and Alec Briggs (TEKKERZ CC), went clear, but a similar pattern occurred with the chasing group soon reeling the leaders back in.
Close to the halfway point, Rushby attacked again, forming a two-rider breakaway with Rhys Britton of Saint Piran working hard alongside him. The duo maintained a 14-second lead and, with the chasing group unable to close the gap, William Truelove (THRIVA-SRCT) jumped clear to bridge the gap to the leaders with 10 laps to go.
Three laps later, Rob Scott made his move, accelerating across the gap with a huge effort to bring the two groups back together. RIBBLE REBELLION’s Matt Bostock was quick to react and the leading bunch came back together, setting up what seemed to be a bunch sprint.
However, with just over two laps remaining, a group of seven riders pulled clear following another explosive attack from Scott. This was a dangerous move containing Bostock, his teammate Tom Couzens, Thomas Armstrong (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) and Britton.
With just over one lap to go, Armstrong saw his opportunity and attacked ahead a sharp descent coming into the final lap. He quickly gained a small advantage and, for a moment, it looked as though he might have the race in his grasp. However, Tom Couzens put in a huge effort for his teammate, Bostock, and dragged the rest of the breakaway back up to Armstrong’s wheel.
Around the final turn, RIBBLE REBELLION came through to the front, and it was the opening round winner, Matthew Bostock, who took his second victory of the 2024 Lloyds Bank National Circuit Series, beating Rhys Britton to second with Scott in third.
Scott still leads the overall individual standings with Bostock 28 points behind, while RIBBLE REBELLION lead the team standings, 66 points ahead of TEKKERZ CC.
The next round will take place on Wednesday 17 July at the Sheffield Grand Prix.
