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Dengie Marshes Tour 2011

Report & Images: LondonCycleSport.com
Hell of the East, the Dengie Marshes Tour (Chris Negus Memorial)
3 April 2011

A dry day and a remarkably dry March meant that numerous dusty sections of dirt track awaited the riders who lined up to tackle the 2011 Dengie Marshes Tour (Chris Negus Memorial) Road race on Sunday 3 April.

Such was the furious pace set by the Rapha Condor Sharp squad from the go that the field was soon stretched out and in danger of fragmenting. "I've never been shelled out within five minutes of a race start before" said one competitor. The opening section of narrow and sinuous pot-hole riddled tarmac saw Rapha Condor Sharp pull the race apart, and when they hit the South Minster farm track, the whole squad were on the front and they had already effectively split the race.

Here some didn't make it, including Andrew Maginer of Motorpoint who fell in the dirt. Notable riders chasing included Wouter Sybrandy of Sigma/Specialized.

Up Batts Hill for the first time, a huge chase group was beginning to bridge the gap to the leaders. From there it was into the aptly named 'Bomb Hole Alley' and Rapha Condor Sharp were once more at the head of the field: in fact every time they passed the watching fans, members of the men in black's team were setting the pace.

The lead group and chasers were to link together followed by further groups, or by riders fighting to finish, no doubt having had a dramatic ride.

Finally, on the last lap came the killer move as six riders went clear on the long, whence they came, route to the finish. Going into a head wind everyone was struggling, but Zak Dempster of Rapha Condor Sharp jumped away from them before the finish to win alone and vindicate his team's remarkable work-rate throughout the race.

The winner was followed just under a minute later by the other five riders of that late break, with his team mate Graham Briggs, who suffered four punctures on route, still having enough in his tank to hold off Magnus Backstedt, Luke Rowe and Sybrandy to claim second.

Result

1 Zak Dempster Rapha Condor Sharp
2 Graham Briggs Rapha Condor Sharp @ 43 Secs
3 Magnus Backstedt Team Uk Youth
4 Luke Rowe 100% Me
5 Wouter Sybrandy Sigma Sport/Specialized
6 Johnny McEvoy Motorpoint @ 1-27
7 Kristian House Rapha Condor Sharp @ 3-30
8 Tobyn Horton Motorpoint
9 Marcin Bialoblocki Motorpoint
10 Simon Gaywood Team Corley Cycles/Cervelo
11 Dan Craven Rapha Condor Sharp
12 Dean Windsor Rapha Condor Sharp
13 Kristian Downs Twenty3c-Orbea
14 Andrew Griffiths Twenty3c-Orbea
15 Simon Richardson Sigma Sport/Specialized
16 Martin Smith Primal Europe @ 5-20
17 James Sampson Motorpoint
18 Ashley Cox Team Corley Cycles/Cervelo
19 Erick Rowsell 100% Me
20 Frederik Johnasson Team Uk Youth

British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.