Wyman wins her ninth national cyclo-cross title
Harris and Last complete the podium
Helen Wyman (Kona FFSA Factory Team) beat Nikki Harris (VZW Young Telenet Fidea) to take her ninth British cyclo-cross championship in Abergavenny, on Sunday.
The 33-year-old beat Harris by around 15 seconds after a close race.
Annie Last produced a late charge to pick her way through the field to take third place.
The race was always going to be about Nikki Harris (Young Telenet-Fidea) and Helen Wyman (Kona FSA Factory Team) – Wyman started the race with eight titles to her name, having won every year from 2006 to 2014 except 2013, when Harris won, and both of them wanted the title badly.
It’s been a tough season for them both, with Harris suffering from tendonitis and a knee injury, and Wyman having a series of crashes in November and then a virus over Christmas – but with Worlds looming, they fought together for two laps before Wyman pulled away, extending her lead from six seconds to 16 after half an hour of racing.
No matter what Harris tried, she couldn’t pull back, and had to settle for second, Wyman taking her ninth title.
Behind the leading pair, the battle for third was hard-fought. 2014 Junior Champion and local rider Ffion James made a strong start, but was soon overhauled by Annie Last, racing as an independent, and Amira Mellor (Paul Milnes Cycles – Bradford Olympic). At just 17, Mellor has had a strong season, winning the overall National Trophy Cyclo-Cross Series at the beginning of January, while Last is better known as a cross country MTB rider.
Their different skills were evident throughout the race, Last breaking away on the long runs and Mellor catching and getting ahead on the technical sections. They duelled together up until the second half of the last lap, when Last finally shook her rival off to gain the bronze medal – Mellor finished fourth, but took the National Junior title as compensation.
Full results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Helen Wyman (Kona / FSA Factory Team) | 0:39:29 |
2 | Nikki Harris (Young Telenet Fidea CT) | 0:00:29 |
3 | Annie Last (Individual Member) | 0:01:44 |
4 | Amira Mellor (Paul Milnes Cycles) | 0:02:04 |
5 | Alice Barnes (T-Mo Racing) | 0:02:18 |
6 | Hannah Payton (The Kinesis Morvelo Project) | 0:02:22 |
7 | Evie Richards (T-Mo Racing) | 0:02:57 |
8 | Annabel Simpson (Hope Factory Racing) | 0:03:48 |
9 | Ffion James (Abergavenny RC) | 0:04:03 |
10 | Isla Rowntree (Islabikes) | 0:04:23 |
11 | Tracy Moseley (T-Mo Racing) | 0:04:57 |
12 | Sarah Murray (www.cxmagazine.com) | 0:05:15 |
13 | Ruby Miller (Hargroves Cycles Ridley RT) | 0:05:34 |
14 | Diane Lee (Team Mulebar Girl Sigma Sport) | 0:05:51 |
15 | Isla Short (Team Thomsons Cycles) | 0:06:04 |
16 | Abigail Van Twisk (Cycle Lab) | 0:06:25 |
17 | Kate George (Team Empella Cyclo-Cross.com) | 0:06:59 |
18 | Rebecca Preece (Contessa Scott Syncros) | 0:07:08 |
19 | Rachel Fenton (Trek Bicycle Coventry) | 0:07:27 |
20 | Martha Gill (PH-MAS Cycling) | 0:08:54 |
21 | Claire Beaumont (Vicious Velo) | 0:09:03 |
22 | Joanna Rycroft (www.cxmagazine.com) | 0:09:21 |
23 | Laura Greenhalgh (Imperial Racing Team) | 0:09:28 |
24 | Emily Barnes (Team Mulebar Girl Sigma Sport) | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
25 | Anna Cipullo (Hargroves Cycles Ridley RT) | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
26 | Alice Miller (Look Mum No Hands!) | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
27 | Clover Murray (Braintree Velo Cycle RC) | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Elanor Cadzow (PMR@ToachimHouse) | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Hannah Saville (North Midlands Youth Squad) | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Verity Appleyard (Brotherton Cycles) | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
'I missed out delivering the result the team deserved' - Pedersen gutted with fourth at Milan-San Remo
Lidl-Trek impressed as a team but Dane finished fourth in Via Roma sprint -
Jasper Philipsen: 'I begged Mathieu not to work with Pogačar because I had great legs' in Milan-San Remo
'Oh how I would have loved to have ridden to the finish with Tadej,' admits world champion Van der Poel -
Tour de Normandie: Lauren Stephens takes solo win on stage 3
Van Dijk leads by one second ahead of final stage -
As it happened: Milan-San Remo decided by a sprint photo finish
Jasper Philipsen beats Michael Matthews and Tadej Pogacar at the finish line