Rapha Condor JLT: The Beaumont Trophy
Rapha Condor JLT put in a brave display of riding at the third round of the 2013 Premier Calendar The Beaumont Trophy, yesterday.
With a rolling course that was well suited to a bunch sprint, the Men In Black knew that aggression would be the key to success, and it was after the third and final ascent of the Ryals climb that the duo of Tour of Korea winner Mike Cuming and Richard Handley put in a valiant effort for victory.
The pair escaped from a thinned out peloton and gained a maximum advantage over the speeding bunch of 40 seconds with three laps of the finish circuit to go, before the other teams managed to organize a chase behind.
Team manager John Herety commented,
“We knew we had to take the race on, and once Rich and Mike were clear ideally we wanted two or three others to get across to them so there was a few more team represented in the front. That didn’t happen though, and the two of them just couldn’t break the bunch behind.”
The race eventually came down to a bunch finish, and with four riders still in the front group the team still harbored realistic ambitions of a top ten. A crash with 200m to go put paid to their chances though, taking out three of the team’s riders. Luke Mellor came down the hardest, but suffered only minor cuts and abrasions.
“It was a shame for Luke that the crash happened because he was well placed to get a result there. In all it was disappointing not to have done better but on a course that didn’t really suit us, and losing three guys in the final sprint there was not a lot else we could do.”
Herety also mentioned that the extra distance of the race (170km) had been a considerable challenge for the three first year seniors in the team, who were all racing that distance for the first time.
“I wouldn’t expect first year seniors to be able to be that competitive after 150km, so that final 20km would have been a good test for them, and none of them were in any difficulty before that point, so that is very encouraging from our development point of view.”
The team will be back in action this Wednesday at the National Criterium Championships in York, where they will be hoping to help former champion Ed Clancy to a second criterium title.
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