Gibb Triumphs in the Hillingdon Grand Prix
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Story posted May 18, 2010; Gerry McManus for Team CyclePremier.com – Metaltek
Tony Gibb (www.CyclePremier.com – Metaltek) had plenty of time to celebrate as he crossed the line to win the Hillingdon Grand Prix in West London on Sunday 16th May. Gibb unleashed such a powerful sprint in the last 200m, that he opened up a gap to the charging bunch and had time to coast over the finish line after two hours of racing at the Minet Park circuit in Hillingdon. He punched the air full of emotion having finally won the big annual event run on his ‘home’ circuit. Jon Mozley (Kuota-Road CC) took second place ahead of Marcel Six (Orbea-For Goodness Shakes) in third.
“It felt great to win it,” said Gibb: “I have been second, third and fourth in the past and this is the circuit I race on most weeks so it is great to finally win the big race here. The whole team rode so well today. Ben (Price) got into an early break and we policed the all the right moves. The boys got on the front and pulled back all the dangerous breaks when we needed to. Jason (White) got fifth too and this all bodes well ahead of the Halfords Tour Series that starts in London on the 25th May.”
The race field had swelled to 86 competitors with on-the-day entries signing up to challenge for first prize of £400 on offer for the winner. The race was brisk from the outset as the bunch enjoyed sunny but blustery conditions on the exposed one-mile purpose built cycle racing circuit. There were plenty of attempts to escape the clutches of the field from some of the best riders in the UK from top teams Raleigh, Pendragon-Le Col, Big Maggies – Wilier, Orbea, Rapha-Condor and Kuota.
Gibb had sensibly conserved much of his energy tucked in the bunch on the windy circuit but had done enough tactically early on when he put the hammer down to make it across to a small breakaway group and showed that he was going to be a contender for first prize. Later on in the stage, the former World Championship and Commonwealth Games track medal winner went full gas on the front and had the whole field in one long line behind him as he piled on the pressure.
The CyclePremier.com – Metaltek team finally stopped working in the bunch when Gibb made it into a nine-mine move that contained riders from all the big teams and it looked like the winner would come from this elite group. Suddenly new orders went out to the CyclePremier.com – Metaltek team and they hit the front to chase down the break in a move that had spectators puzzled.
“I asked Tony if he was happy to let the break stay clear,” said team manager Rod Freeman: “Tony told me that we should send the boys up. We didn’t want to leave anything to chance and the other teams outnumbered Tony. There were two riders each from Pendragon, Orbea and Big Maggies teams in the break and we knew they would work together to make sure Tony would have to continually react to attacks in the closing stages."
"With the bunch back in one piece, Tony had the support of the rest of the team to help hold things together and hopefully give him the perfect lead-out to win the sprint and the race. The lead-out did not go completely to plan when two riders attacked with two laps to go and it changed things a lot. There was a big crash on the final lap and half the field stalled but we finished four riders inside the top 15. Simon Wilson managed to get 15th place despite having to go on the grass to avoid the crash and I am delighted with the whole team performance.”
“Some of the guys in the break were left scratching their heads about our team tactics today,” explained Gibb: “I told them that the numbers were not right for me. We simply called up the reinforcements with a few laps to go. It’s better to have seven riders helping you in a bunch sprint than to have seven working against you in a break.”
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