Irish Podiums at the British MBS in Wasing
The 3rd round of the British Mountain Bike Series took place in Wasing estate near Reading last weekend and saw some strong performances from Irish riders who travelled over for the UCI C2 ranked event. Wet conditions made the woodland singletrack slippery and muddy on a relatively flat and flowy course which suited the Irish riders well.
In a close fought junior women’s race Claire Oakley (WXC Mountain Bike Team UK) began slowly but gradually moved up to 3rd place where a close battle with teammate Hannah Ferguson followed. Claire was unlucky to lose time crashing on a slippery corner but quickly caught British National Champion Katy Winton who had dropped back from 1st. The two riders duelled closely until the end with Claire eventually finishing 3rd, 31 seconds off the winner.
Claire Oakley – “Happy enough but would probably have been a different result if I hadn’t have fallen.”
In the Elite Women’s race Melanie Spath (Cycleways) and Cait Elliott (WXC World Racing) rode well in a competitive race. Early in the race there was a close battle for podium positions between 6 or 7 riders, with Cait starting strongly and riding in 2nd for much of the first 2 laps. By lap 3 Mel had moved up with Cait and British rider Mel Alexander following her wheel. Towards the end the riders began to string out a bit as continuous rain made the course increasingly slippery. Mel finished 3rdwith Cait in 5th.
Mel Spath – “I had a good race considering the recent inconsistent training due to sickness and as I am still recovering from a shoulder injury. I had a slow start and it took me a few laps to get into the race, but I didn’t panic and worked my way up steadily. By the penultimate lap I managed to get into 3rd place, building up a lead over 4th in the last lap, but not being able to close down on Maddie Horton in 2nd place.”
Cait Elliott – “I started a bit too well and couldn’t keep it up. I’ve been fighting injury recently and results haven’t been great but today I was starting to feel back to normal for the first time in ages so under the circumstances I’m happy enough”
