Connor Swift wins British national road championships
Blythe and Doull complete podium
Connor Swift (Madison-Genesis) took the British national road race title after a solo attack on the final lap of the race. Two-time champion Adam Blythe (Aqua Blue Sport) took second after a chase in the final kilometres, while Owain Doull (Team Sky) took the sprint for third from a small chase group.
Having made the early break along with 16 other riders, including several from WorldTour teams, 22-year-old Swift took his chance to go it alone 15km from the line with the peloton out of picture. His sustained effort put off attacks from behind, with only Blythe able to put in a solo chase effort in the closing kilometres.
"It's like a dream come true," said Swift after the finish. "It's amazing to do it for Madison-Genesis - a Continental team and one of the underdogs for the race. I can’t remember the last time a Continental team won the national championships. [Ed: It was Kristian House in 2009]
"I felt so good on the last lap and I could tell everyone else was struggling," Swift added. "I rode off the front and thought, 'I'll go as hard as I can.' I took a big risk and it paid off and I won the race. It's mad!"
How it happened
The race took place in Stamfordham, in the north-east of England, and took in 185.6km of largely flat roads. Four laps of a 35.4km circuit and two of a shorter 22km circuit were punctuated by four ascents up Ryal hill (1.8km at 5.4 per cent), the last of which came 32km from the finish line.
Given the nature of the route, a sprint finish seemed likely, but that didn't stop a large breakaway getting up the road early on. The group comprised 16 riders, and it was a strong one, including Doull, Swift, Blythe, Mark Christian (Aqua Blue Sport), and Gabriel Cullaigh (Team Wiggins).
The break quickly built a three-minute lead, with the small group of chasers hanging just 30 seconds ahead of the peloton. That would be the status quo for much of the race, with no major drama occuring besides a brief split in the peloton on the third ascent of Ryal.
Heading into the final 50km, with only the final ascent of Ryal remaining, the gap was 1:40 to a three-man chase group including Ian Stannard (Team Sky). The peloton, which held Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) among others, lay 2:30 back.
The final 30km saw attacks start among the break, with the peloton out of contention at over five minutes down. A move including the two Aqua Blue men was eventually brought back after a big turn by Doull, while Stannard's group still chipped away a minute back.
An attack by Swift 15km from the line drew out a small group including Doull and Blythe, who hung around 15 seconds behind. He powered along, barely ceding any time to the chasers over the closing kilometres. Blythe made his move 3km out but couldn’t bridge the gap, leaving Swift to take the plaudits solo.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis | 4:19:06 |
2 | Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | 0:00:22 |
3 | Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky | 0:00:25 |
4 | Robert Scott (GBr) Team Wiggins | 0:00:26 |
5 | Fred Wright (GBr) | |
6 | Ben Hetherington (GBr) Memil Ccn Pro Cycling | 0:00:27 |
7 | Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins | 0:00:34 |
8 | Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates | 0:00:59 |
9 | Joey Walker (GBr) Team Wiggins | 0:01:00 |
10 | Dexter Gardias (GBr) Canyon Eisberg | |
11 | Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | |
12 | Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor | |
13 | George Pym (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
14 | Daniel Bigham (GBr) | 0:01:03 |
15 | Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis | 0:01:13 |
16 | Charlie Tanfield (GBr) Canyon Eisberg | 0:04:24 |
17 | Thomas Stewart (GBr) JLT Condor | |
18 | Mark Donovan (GBr) Team Wiggins | |
19 | Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky | 0:04:27 |
20 | Alexandar Richardson (GBr) One Pro Cycling | 0:07:52 |
21 | Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon Eisberg | 0:08:16 |
22 | Dylan Kerfoot-Robson (GBr) Team Wiggins | |
23 | Peter Williams (GBr) One Pro Cycling | |
24 | Matthew Bostock (GBr) | 0:08:17 |
25 | Julian Varley (GBr) | 0:08:18 |
26 | Ben Turner (GBr) Corendon-Circus | |
27 | Michael Mottram (GBr) | |
28 | Joshua Hunt (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling | |
29 | Matthew Nowell (GBr) Canyon Eisberg | 0:08:19 |
30 | Christopher Latham (GBr) One Pro Cycling | |
31 | Zeb Kyffin (GBr) | |
32 | Max Stedman (GBr) Canyon Eisberg | |
33 | Mark McNally (GBr) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | 0:08:20 |
34 | Thomas Moses (GBr) JLT Condor | 0:08:22 |
35 | James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal | 0:08:25 |
36 | Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis | 0:08:36 |
37 | Thomas Baylis (GBr) One Pro Cycling | 0:08:40 |
38 | Thomas Pidcock (GBr) Team Wiggins | 0:08:44 |
DNF | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data | |
DNF | Rhys Britton (GBr) | |
DNF | Ethan Hayter (GBr) | |
DNF | Joe Holt (GBr) | |
DNF | Jake Stewart (GBr) | |
DNF | Matthew Walls (GBr) | |
DNF | Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | |
DNF | Mark Robertson (GBr) | |
DNF | Richard McDonald (GBr) | |
DNF | Charles Page (GBr) Canyon Eisberg | |
DNF | Alex Paton (GBr) Canyon Eisberg | |
DNF | Jack Pullar (GBr) Canyon Eisberg | |
DNF | Louis Rose-Davies (GBr) | |
DNF | Harry Tanfield (GBr) Canyon Eisberg | |
DNF | Tom Elwood (GBr) | |
DNF | Joseph Clark (GBr) | |
DNF | Morris Bacon (GBr) | |
DNF | Gary Freeman (GBr) | |
DNF | Richard Taylor (GBr) | |
DNF | Leon Mazzone (GBr) Holdsworth Pro Racing | |
DNF | Jake Womersley (GBr) Holdsworth Pro Racing | |
DNF | Dominic Schils (GBr) Java Partizan | |
DNF | Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor | |
DNF | Edmund Bradbury (GBr) JLT Condor | |
DNF | Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor | |
DNF | Edward Clancy (GBr) JLT Condor | |
DNF | Matthew Gibson (GBr) JLT Condor | |
DNF | James Gullen (GBr) JLT Condor | |
DNF | Jonathan Mould (GBr) JLT Condor | |
DNF | Oliver Wood (GBr) JLT Condor | |
DNF | Neil Phillips (GBr) | |
DNF | David Bolland (GBr) | |
DNF | Kinsey McIlquham (GBr) | |
DNF | Charles Quarterman (GBr) Leopard Pro Cycling | |
DNF | George Atkins (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
DNF | Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
DNF | Tobyn Horton (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
DNF | Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
DNF | Isaac Mundy (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
DNF | Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
DNF | Robert Orr (GBr) Memil CCN Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Jacob Tipper (GBr) Memil Ccn Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Stephen Bradbury (GBr) | |
DNF | Jacob Scott (GBr) One Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Rhys Howells (GBr) | |
DNF | John Archibald (GBr) | |
DNF | William Brown (GBr) | |
DNF | William Corbett (GBr) | |
DNF | David Hewett (GBr) | |
DNF | Richard Jones (GBr) | |
DNF | Alex Luhrs (GBr) | |
DNF | Jacky Ruez (GBr) | |
DNF | Matthew Clements (GBr) | |
DNF | Tobias Dahlhaus (GBr) | |
DNF | James Jenkins (GBr) | |
DNF | Oliver Maxwell (GBr) | |
DNF | Thomas Power (GBr) | |
DNF | Luke Ryan (GBr) | |
DNF | George Wood (GBr) | |
DNF | Antony Richardson (GBr) | |
DNF | Fraser Martin (GBr) | |
DNF | Stephen Williams (GBr) SEG Racing Academy | |
DNF | Frazier Carr (GBr) | |
DNF | Douglas Coleman (GBr) | |
DNF | Rupert Graham (GBr) | |
DNF | Anthony Moye (GBr) | |
DNF | Charlie Passfield (GBr) | |
DNF | Jordan Peacock (GBr) | |
DNF | Matthew Downie (GBr) | |
DNF | Andrew Nichols (GBr) | |
DNF | Oliver W Bates (GBr) | |
DNF | Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin | |
DNF | Callum Ferguson (GBr) | |
DNF | Will Fox (GBr) | |
DNF | Andrew Turner (GBr) | |
DNF | Daniel Patten (GBr) | |
DNF | Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk | |
DNF | Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky | |
DNF | Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky | |
DNF | Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Sky | |
DNF | William Bjergfelt (GBr) | |
DNF | Nathan Draper (GBr) Team Wiggins | |
DNF | Jacques Sauvagnargues (GBr) Team Wiggins | |
DNF | Reece Wood (GBr) Team Wiggins | |
DNF | Jesse Yates (GBr) Team Wiggins | |
DNF | William Perrett (GBr) | |
DNF | Ruari Grant (GBr) | |
DNF | Liam Davies (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Harrison Jones (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Grant Martin (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Alex Dalton (GBr) | |
DNF | Jack Stanton-Warren (GBr) | |
DNF | Paul Double (GBr) | |
DNF | Joseph Nally (GBr) | |
DNF | Marcus Burnett (GBr) | |
DNF | Matthew Clarke (GBr) | |
DNF | Peter Cocker (GBr) | |
DNF | Finn Crockett (GBr) | |
DNF | Andrew Disley (GBr) | |
DNF | George Evans (GBr) | |
DNF | Tim James (GBr) | |
DNF | Matt Langworthy (GBr) | |
DNF | Daniel Nieto (GBr) | |
DNF | Daniel Pullen (GBr) | |
DNF | Charlie Renshaw (GBr) | |
DNF | Fraser Rounds (GBr) | |
DNF | Joseph Sutton (GBr) | |
DNF | Bradley Symonds (GBr) | |
DNS | Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data | |
DNS | Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data | |
DNS | Laurence Kirby (GBr) | |
DNS | Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
DNS | Louis Szymanski (GBr) | |
DNS | Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
DNS | James McLaughlin (GBr) | |
DNS | Mitchell Webber (GBr) | |
DNS | Russell Downing (GBr) Holdsworth Pro Racing | |
DNS | Daniel Whitehouse (GBr) Interpro Stradalli Cycling | |
DNS | Germain Burton (GBr) JLT Condor | |
DNS | Edward Laverack (GBr) JLT Condor | |
DNS | Jacob Vaughan (GBr) | |
DNS | Andy Brown (GBr) | |
DNS | Tom Chandler (GBr) | |
DNS | Ken Buckley (GBr) | |
DNS | Dante Carpenter (GBr) | |
DNS | Jake Kelly (GBr) One Pro Cycling | |
DNS | James Knox (GBr) Quick-Step Floors | |
DNS | Lawrence Carpenter (GBr) | |
DNS | Gruffudd Lewis (GBr) | |
DNS | James Rix (GBr) | |
DNS | William Harper (GBr) | |
DNS | Steve Lampier (GBr) | |
DNS | Joe Swinnerton (GBr) | |
DNS | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | |
DNS | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky | |
DNS | Etienne Georgi (GBr) Team Wiggins | |
DNS | Oliver Robinson (GBr) Team Wiggins | |
DNS | Adam Kenway (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling | |
DNS | Timothy Torrie (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling | |
DNS | Jake Alderman (GBr) | |
DNS | Cameron Jeffers (GBr) |
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