Round 1 The Florrie Newbery Classic

British Womens Team Cup

Round 1 The Florrie Newbery Classic

Sunday April 27th - Hanningfield, Essex

Southend Wheelers Cycle Club gave us a spectacular 1st round of  this year’s British Women’s Team Cup competition with The Florrie Newbery Classic Women’s Road Race. 

Florrie was the first female to join Southend Wheelers on 3rd February 1937 and  went on to lead many club runs, competed in club time trials, encouraged local women to join and was also their first female committee member, a pioneering woman in the sport.

This National B women’s road race is dedicated to Florrie. The race offers a testing course  with a long climb and a fast descent. Best suited to an all-rounder with a liking for a rolling course. The 10 lap 98.8km (61.6 miles) featured a Prime Lap (4th lap) prize generously given Primo Race Team.

At 2pm 52 riders lined up outside South Hanningfield Village Hall in ideal April conditions, 18 degrees, almost no wind, the odd cloud (along with trees on the route) to offer some element of relief from the sun. A 9km neutral zone gave riders a chance to get the legs spinning.

The flag dropped and, from the start, the riders wanted to show how their hard training over the winter had improved their strength. A group of 40 riders broke away.

A crash on the second lap (no serious injuries) required a restart with multiple early attacks marking a hotly contested race.

An early break was initiated by Lucy Neatham of London Academy on Lap 3  but she was soon chased down and it was all back together again by Lap 4.

Noemie Thomson of Southborough and District Wheelers won the Prime Lap and continued her attack but was closed down by the bunch. The bunch continued to be active but no attacks stuck.

The win went to a remarkable solo effort by Noemie Thomson of Southborough and District Wheelers in her first road race as she attacked on the penultimate lap and got a gap of 14 seconds. The bunch now containing 35 riders just couldn’t quite catch Noemie  with Isabella Johnson of Jadan Vive  Le Velo sprinting to close  in 4 seconds behind and half a wheel in front of 3rd placed Anna Lloyd of  Shibden Apex.

Noemie is definitely “One to watch” as she jumped from Cat 4 to Cat 3 after winning at HogHill only 2 weeks ago!. Clearly her background in Cyclocross racing has developed her bike handling skills enabling her to pick her way around the crash, her Triathlon experience giving her the confidence to ride off the front – we were all very impressed!

The BWTC combativity prize  was awarded to Alice Butcher of Wolfox CAMS Le Col RT for making many attempts to  rejoin the bunch and most importantly persevering to finishing the race earning those important Team Cup points!

Podium:

• 1st Noemie Thomson - Southborough and District Wheelers

• 2nd Isabella Johnson - Jadan Vive Le Velo

• 3rd Anna Lloyd - Shibden Apex RT

Ruby Isaac 1st Junior- Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco +10 sec

BWTC Overall Team Points Standing:

• 1st Brother UK – On Form – 232 points

• 2nd The Phoenix Collective – 161 points

• 3rd Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon – 160 points

A huge thank you from the BWTC to Matthew Stock for organising, the BC Commissaires,  Accredited Marshalls, NEG, First Aid and all the Southend Wheelers CC volunteers. We were particularly thankful for the teas and marvellous home made cakes! Chapeau and we very much look forward to seeing them all again next year!

Photos:

• Mark James Gallery

• Matt de-Beger Gallery

• Trevor Hill Gallery