Round 2 Banbury Star Women's Road Race

British Women's Team Cup (BWTC) Round 2

Banbury Star CC Women's Road Race

Sunday May 18th - Banbury, Oxfordshire

This long-established Team Cup race contains the infamous climb 'The Knowle' @ Edgehill, featured in the 100 best climbs and used in recent times for the tour of Britain. The race finishes on a shorter climb, so anyone caught out at Edgehill should push on over the top and may still find themselves in contention by the finish.

The 4 lap 91.7 km race (57 miles) featured a Queen of the Mountain on each lap of The Knowle Hill climb. As the race evolved, this was to be won by the same rider on every lap!

At 1pm 53 riders lined up in the neutral zone to sunny conditions, but a Northerly breeze would mean that the Warmington section of the course (10 km per lap) would be into a headwind. This would take its toll on the race.

In the Neutral Zone Jennifer Lemen - PDQ Cycle Coaching Property Elite suffered a mechanical with her front mech detaching from the frame. Neutral Service were quick to respond but, unfortunately, this put Jennifer on the back foot from the start and curtailed a chance of a high finish position.

The 1st lap saw the bunch splitting into 4 groups with a touch of wheels at the bottom of the first QoM climb also contributing to the split.

Sophie Holmes – CJ Oshea Racing Team took the 1st lap QoM win and had already formed a 15 second gap on the fragmented peloton.

Lap 2 saw the peloton further fragmented; a combination of the undulating course and breezy conditions playing its part. Sophie Holmes had also further extended her solo lead, that would extend to almost 2 minutes, fluctuating during the race.

Sophie also won the 2nd lap QoM! Showing her experience as a Time Trialist  she solo’d the race for approximately 70 km.

The first chasing group of 4 formed at Edge Hill on lap 2, but they had dropped Lotty Dawson – Brother UK On Form by the start of lap 3.  Meanwhile, Jennifer Powell – Performance Development Team had shown Lily Martin – London Academy and Isabel Rodriguez – Royal Leamington Spa CC how to do through and off to try and maintain their break from the main bunch.

Further small groups formed further down the field with riders trying to work together. The essence of the BWTC came to the fore with more experienced riders helping lower category racers. Riders reported afterwards how positive they felt riding the race as they always had something to chase after.

The 2nd chasing group of 20 riders caught the 1st chasing group by the start of lap 4.

Sophie maintained her solo effort all the way to the finish line, a very well-deserved win with a gap of 1min 52sec.

A reduced bunch  of 17 riders saw Lily Martin – London Academy and  Anna Boniface – FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing attacking at the bottom of the last hill with Lily just getting the better of Anna to take 2nd place.

The Combativity prize was awarded to Salsha Halsey of FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing. Sasha was dropped from the main bunch twice but twice fought back on and was instrumental in encouraging the other riders to work together and successfully catch the chasing group of 3 ahead of them by lap 4.

Individual Podium:

• 1st - Sophie Holmes – CJ Oshea Racing Team

• 2nd - Lily Martin – London Academy 

• 3rd - Anna Boniface – FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing

Team Podium:

• 1st - Fulfil The Potential-Racing Team – 208 points

• 2nd - London Academy - 205 points

• 3rd  - Brother UK - On Form Team – 152 points

A huge Thank You from BWTC to the BC Commissaires, Marshalls, NEG, First Aid, Banbury Star CC and all volunteers and helpers.

Photos:

• Matt de-Beger Gallery

• Gary Hibbert Gallery

• Trevor Hill Gallery