Pfeiffer Georgi regains title with solo win at British Road Championships

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Team DSM rider surges on final climb to distance silver medalist Claire Steels and bronze medalist Anna Henderson

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Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com - 25/06/2023 - Cycling - 2023 British National Road Championships - Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, England - Women’s Road Race - Pfeiffer Georgi of Team DSM wins
Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM) rides solo to win elite women's road race at 2023 British National Road Championships(Image credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM) reclaimed the elite women's road race crown with a powerful final climb at the British Road Championships on Sunday. Claire Steels (Israel-Premier Tech Roland) trailed five seconds behind in Saltburn-by-the-Sea for the silver medal. Anna Henderson (Jumbo-Visma) outsprinted Elinor Barker (Uno-X Pro Cycling) for the final spot on the podium.

A former winner of the national title in 2021 and finishing as the runner-up last year, Georgi made a decisive group of seven riders who battled across the final two circuits for the crown. After multiple attacks from riders failed, it was all together at the bottom of the final climb for Georgi to make her winning move. 

“It was a really hard course today, constantly up and down. It was really attritional,” Georgi said. “I wanted to keep it all together on the last lap and take those corners first on the descent to the climb, then go full gas. I believed in it but I’m still in shock; it’s really nice to win the title again.”

The women raced a total of 132km on a 18.8km circuit that took in hilly roads around Redcar and Cleveland leading to the seafront finish at Saltburn. 

Georgi attacked on the penultimate climb of the Saltburn Bank to begin the final lap, Alex Morrice (Canyon-SRAM), who had recovered from an earlier fall, trying to hold her back wheel. Also in the select group were Steels, Henderson, Barker, Anna Shackley (Team SD Worx) and Natalie Grinczer (Stade Rochelais Charente Maritime). 

Georgi never let up on the gas, and on the final climb of Saltburn Bank, she pushed the accelerator again and never looked back.

“A group of about seven of us were away for the last few laps. I wasn’t so confident on the climbs originally so I tried with one lap to go on the climb, and I felt strong there which gave me the confidence.”

With her fifth-place finish, Shackley took the U23 women’s title. Flora Perkins (Fenix-Deceuninck Development) won the silver, finishing ninth overall, and the bronze went to Elynor Backstedt (Trek-Segafredo), who was 10 seconds behind Perkins and 10th overall.

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Jackie Tyson
Jackie Tyson
North American Editor

Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. On the bike, she has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast), and spends time on gravel around horse farms in north Georgia.

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