Velo29 Cycling Team » Race Results

Early season race roundup

Dan — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:52:41 +0000

The quality of results this year definitely deserves a quick write up. With the signing of 3 new Rob’s (Wheeler, Graham & Carter) to the team over the off-season and also to U16 Alex Hopper things are really picking up.

Seniors
Croft Circuit: 3rd Dan Smith, 8th Rob Graham
Wansbeck RR: 4th Rob Carter, 6th Dan Smith
Chapters RR: 3rd Rob Carter, 10th Dan Smith
Tour of the Border St1: 5th Dan Smith, 15th Rob Graham. St2: 11th Dan Smith, 12th Rob Carter
Tour of the Border OA: 4th Dan Smith, 17th Rob Carter
Phil Russell RR: 6th Rob Carter
Bridlington CC Spring RR: 1st Dan Smith
Croft TLI Round 1: 4th Dan Smith

Youths:
Riverside Crits: 1st Charlie Tanfield (U14), 1st Alex Hopper (U16)
Yarborough Crits: 1st Charlie Tanfield (U14)
Dolan Youth Series 1: 1st Charlie Tanfield
Dolan Youth Series 2: 2nd Charlie Tanfield
Manchester Track League (Fri Night): Numerous wins for Harry Tanfield!

Well done to everyone in the results and apologies to anyone missed out! Good luck to all of the V29ers for the rest of the season.

Season Opener at Croft

Dan — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:12:42 +0000

Last Saturday saw the North East road season opener at Croft Motor Racing Circuit in sunny but cold conditions. Velo29 were represnted in both the 3/4/V/W/J and the E/1/2/3 races. New signings Rob ‘the badger’ Wheeler and first year junior Levi ‘leipheimer’ Lawrence took part in the the first race of the day. Unfortunately things didn’t go quite to plan when the Badger went flying across the tarmac, ripping a hole in his new shorts, puncturing his front tub and scuffing his new saddle… He was however scraped up and put back on his bike so that he could finish the race! Levi did very well to get round with no mishaps in what was his first ever bunched road race. For those of you who take pleasure in other people’s misfortune, have a look on the Velo29 Facebook Page and go to 4mins19 in for the action! I bet you’re the same people that laugh at people getting hurt on You’ve Been Framed!

The E/1/2/3 race was more promising with Dan Smith and yet another new signing Rob Graham taking to the start line. Both riders finished in the top 10 with Rob taking 8th and Dan 3rd. The race was won in style by Jon Sturman from Activ-Cycles in what was an excellent race for his team. With half a dozen riders from Activ-Cycles in the race and their man in the break, the rest of their team rode an almost perfect tactical race that helped their man stay clear of the bunch.

Next race for the Velo29 Cycling Team is the Neil White Memorial Road Race on the 7th March, where the team will be trying to retain the trophy the won in 2009!

Team Round-up 2009

Dan — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:40:11 +0000

The Velo29 Cycling Team has had a fantastic first year in the peloton. The team has been represented at all level of racing from local to international with success at all levels. The success of some riders has meant that they can now move on to semi-professional teams on the continent, where they will get the opportunity to find new limits and to hopefully one day ride the biggest races like the Tour De France. This means that there will be a few changes to the team roster for 2010, and it will give new local riders the opportunity to push through the ranks and hopefully onto a professional career.

The Youths

The Velo29 youth contingent has raced with considerable success this year thanks to brothers Charlie and Harry Tanfield. Wins and podiums in their respective age groups on both track and road around the country culminated in selection for the UK School Games, which is a multi-sport event styled on the Olympics. The event was an excellent learning experience, and one in which they can both return in future years thanks to being among the younger competitors to be selected! Harry has also been competing in the prestigious Revolution Track Series (stars of the future category) in Manchester, where if he carries on progressing can expect to compete against the world’s best professional cyclists. Harry also retains his place on the National Talent Squad which aims to pull riders through to represent Great Britain at the Olympics… fingers crossed that everything goes to plan!

The National Team

It was an up and down year with some excellent results and also some important lessons learnt. Simon Thomas had a slow start to the year having spent most of the winter with Tonsillitis, before finally having a tonsillectomy at the beginning of the season. By the end of the year he was back on form with good places in road races during a trip to Belgium and also some good wins in his local Time Trials in England.

Richard Meadows has also had a mixed year with some less than perfect winter training out in Spain before joining Velo29 for the 2009 season. He had some excellent results by mid-season in local races, so Richard decided to try his luck with a couple of months racing in Belgium where he progressed quickly to take several top tens before returning to the UK. Thanks to his success with Velo29 Richard has managed to secure a place with a semi-pro outfit in Brittany (North West France) for next season!

Regular guest rider Shane Leadley has also been signed up to race in Brittany next year. Shane represented Velo29 in all the biggest UK races this year. His best ride was at the Girvan Premier Calendar race in April when he finished alongside some well established British professional riders.

Finally, Dan Smith finished the season the way he started it; with a win. He won the Neil White Memorial Road Race near Stokesley in March and finished with a stage win at the International Tour of Senegal in November. In the middle he had some consistent performances in the National Premier Calendar Series along with many top 3 positions in local races.

Regional Development Team

The development team have come on in leaps and bounds. Despite the occasional mishap such as following the sat-nav to the wrong location for a race, Chris Wood is determined to go up another level for next season.

Mike Coward has decided to concentrate his efforts on the National MTB series for next season. He won’t be quitting the road completely though and will continue to represent Velo29 in local road races. He certainly has the talent to get results in the local 2/3/4 cat races if he can get the best out of himself next year.

Mike Guymer is the most senior team member, but has never been so motivated or dedicated to his racing. With an excellent attitude to his training he sets a great example for his younger counter-parts. Mike will next year be aiming to get some podium positions in Veteran and regional races.

And finally a word of thanks to the team backers www.velo29.com online bike shop and Subway in Guisborough without whom the season would have been less successful!

Good Results from Leazes Park

Dan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:07:55 +0000

A successful day out for Velo29 saw Harry Tanfield taking the win in the youth category (still with a pot on his wrist), and Dan Smith taking 3rd place in the senior race.

On what was a perfect night, there was no rain and not even a slight breeze to hinder the racing. Hats off to the organiser for putting on a race that dragged in the crowds as well as the riders to produce an event with a superb atmosphere!

Unfortunately the evening was ruined for Shaun and Josh Teasdale who had their 2 bikes stolen. Please join their Facebook Group and keep an eye out for their missing rides!

Latest Results from Croft and the Divs

Dan — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:49:34 +0000

There were more good results from the Velo29 team this week. On Sunday the Senior North East Region Championships took place on a very hilly course north of Newcastle. Velo29’s only representative for this race was Dan Smith who took the bronze medal behind Matt Kipling and James Moss.

At Croft last night Harry Tanfield managed 2nd in the youth event despite still having a pot on his fractured wrist! Fortunately the pot will be off on Monday, so he’ll be able to get back to full training and full sprint power!

Dan Smith also came 2nd, but in the senior event having escaped early on with Matt Kipling, Craig Anderson and Marcus Smith. The breakaway group was soon whittled down to 2, Matt and Dan, but Matt fresh from the Irish Ras International Stage Race took the sprint.

Another win for Velo29!

Dan — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:13:14 +0000

Richard Meadows claimed the first round of the TLI Croft Series on Tuesday, despite competing in the 3 day Tour of the Girvan which finished the previous day!

Proving that his Time Trialling form is spot on, he soloed to victory ahead of Marcus Smith (Cleveland Wheelers) and Simon Baxter (Adept Precision RT). Also high up there in the top 10 of the classification were Benoit Jouanigot and Shane Leadley. Richard, Simon, Shane and Benoit all rode for Velo29 at the Girvan!

40th Tour Of Girvan Race Report

Dan — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:50:59 +0000

Easter weekend saw the 40th Edition of Scotland’s Premier Bike Tour and also Velo29’s first outing of the Premier Calendar team.

The Givan is a true Classic Cycle Race and the list of previous winners read’s as a who’s who of British Cycling. This year’s race promised to be another great year, with some changes to the course, most notably the final day taking in three 1st Category climbs on the 72mile run-in to Girvan.

The start list included all the Nation’s top team’s, Plowman-Craven, Rapha-Condor, Halford’s Bike Hut, Pinarello and of course, Velo29.

From Velo29 we had Daniel Smith, Richard Meadows, Simon Baxter, Shane Leadley and joining us from Brittany, France we had Benoit Jouanigot and David Toullec.

Stage 1

The first stage got underway at 11 o’clock Saturday and the initial pace was very high. The first hour saw 27 miles covered on undulating roads, already this promised some good racing.

The sun shone brightly over the Ayrshire roads as we covered the 62 miles of stage one. There were constant attacks throughout the race but none were able to gain an advantage until a group of 7 riders broke free at the foot of the last climb.

Sadly, it is around this time that Simon Baxter was involved in a nasty crash, breaking both front and rear wheels when flung into a hedge at the side of the road following a touch of wheels. A quick change saw Simon back on his bike and he bravely continued to the finish but after only a few laps of that evening’s crit it was race over for Simon, suffering too much pain to continue.

The group of 7 stayed away until the finish where the sprint was won by Tom Murray of Plowman Craven. The rest of the Velo29 squad finished safely in the Peleton on a tough stage with an average speed of 26.4 mph!

Stage 2

A short break and the evening’s criterium was underway. 15 Laps of Girvan’s Victory Park in front of 100’s of spectators. The crit is always an exciting and tough race where the big teams look to protect any time gains from the morning’s road stage.

The action was underway from the gun and the first lap saw the field strung in a long line around the park. Dan Smith was superbly placed near the front of the race, keenly watching the big names for attacks. After only 5 laps the race was split to pieces, Dan made the split to the front group of 20 riders and they moved clear from the rest of the chasing group. Benoit and David sat comfortably in the Peleton whilst Shane and Richard, exhausted from the efforts earlier in the day, were part of a chasing group a few seconds down on the main group.

The stage was won by Graham Briggs in an exciting sprint finish with Dan finishing just outside the front group loosing only 22 seconds to the stage winner. This excellent ride moved Dan into the top 30 on GC, only 1:40 down on the Yellow Jersey.

Stage 3

The 3rd Stage of the 40th Girvan again started in Girvan but this year finished 30 miles South in the town of Newton Stewart.

This stage was the flattest of the race with only 2 classified climbs but was the longest at 76 miles.

Again, a fast start to the racing and the first 25 miles were ran off in well under 1 hour. A puncture for Benoit at the foot of the first climb was particularly bad luck and despite big efforts to regain contact with the peloton, he spent the majority of the day in a chasing group finishing 20 minutes down on the stage winner Russ Downing.

The race was split to pieces on the long 2nd climb with many big names including National Champion Rob Hayles been flung out the back. Big attacks saw a leading group of 3 gain an advantage of 5 minutes by the finish over the chasing group which included most of the Velo29 team.

Some tough racing saw the day’s average speed at 25mph and the average speed on GC at 25.6 mph. This is one of the fastest Girvan’s on record.

Stage 4

The final stage of this years Girvan was a tough one, 72 miles and 3 first category climbs, one 3rd Category climb and the highest point of the Tour, all in the first 50 miles!

Some tired legs set out from Girvan for the last time and the race headed south towards the first climb of Glenalla. Already exhausted riders were being spat out the back and some big names were losing time already.

The Velo29 squad rode well and maintained their position near the front of the Peleton on the long dangerous decent to the foot of Hadyard Hill for the start of the tough 1st Category Climb.

It was at this point, Richard Meadows finally cracked, after a long weekend of racing Richard popped and after a hard chase for 20 miles was finally mopped up by the broom wagon.

Shane punctured but a fast change saw him soon back in contention, however a terrible crash at the half way point caught all of the Velo29 riders apart from Benoit who rode an excellent race to finish 17th on the final run in to Girvan.

Dan, Shane and David all worked hard following the crash and in a group of 17 riders rode well to get to the finish in Girvan only loosing a small amount of time.

Four of our six riders finished and they were all well positioned on GC. In the team GC we beat some more established teams. This is a strong performance we can build on for the rest of the season.

Some excellent racing, a fantastic weekend of weather and a brilliant first outing for the Premier Calendar team. “We are really pleased with the way the weekend has gone, the riders all gave 100% with every turn of the pedal” commented team Chairman Richard Williamson before getting in the team car for the journey home. “It’s been everything we could have hoped for, a huge ‘well done’ goes to all the riders, it’s been a fantastic weekend which we can build on for future races.”

I’d like to give a big thanks to all the helpers from the weekend who did a brilliant job and also to the organisers for putting on another brilliant Girvan, see you next year!

The next big event for Velo29 is the Rutland International Classic on April 26th; check back for some pre race info and full race report.