Irish Mountain Bike Success in the UK
Round 4 of the British Mountain Bike Series took place at Margam Park in Wales last weekend. Heavy rain in the lead up to the race left the course extremely muddy despite hot weather on race day. The big climbs and technical conditions were well suited to the Irish riders who travelled over and enjoyed considerable success in the UCI C2 classified race.
In the Elite women’s race Mel Spath (Cycleways) had a great ride, moving into 2nd place early on behind cyclocross pro Nikki Harris and gradually building a gap on the chasers as the race went on. Cait Elliott (WXC World Racing) switched between 3rd and 4th throughout the race, eventually taking 3rd with a strong final lap after competitor Lee Cragie punctured. With one race remaining, Mel is now leading the series and Cait is in third.
Mel reports “I had a fantastic race, I went into it feeling good and gave it everything. I had a good start and got into 2nd place up the first climb and decided I wasn’t going to give that up again. I had to put in an extra effort in the last lap, when I lost my lower gears as the bike got clogged up with all the mud but it was enough to keep my place.”
Cait reports “Really tough race but loved it, the big climbs and muddy conditions suited me well. Started well but by lap three I was struggling a bit and resigned to finishing 4th but when Lee punctured I somehow found some reserves to pull out a good last lap.”
In the Elite men’s race Robin Seymour (Team Worc) had his best result of the season, enjoying the hot conditions to take 2nd behind race winner Oli Beckinsale.
Robin reports “I had a great race, personally, climbing well on the shorter climbs though still struggling on the long climb to the monument at the top of the hill. But everyone does!! Rode steady at the start and was about 15th to the first off road bit but picked people off in the first singletrack. I was catching riders on the descents and then passing them on the climbs on lap 1 to end up 4th but the end of the lap. Oli was gone for the day so rode as conservatively as i could to stay with Seb and Monty. They looked to be tiring on lap 3 but moved ahead into 2nd place on Lap 4 and they weren’t able to follow. Rode on my own for the last two laps. Great result for me. First proper podium since crow in 2009 where i was 2nd also. Very, very hard to win one of these with Oli and Liam at the races. Such a hard race.”
