English
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Going back 4-5 weeks ago I saw a press release on the British Cycling website about an invitation-only cyclocross event call the Rapha Super Cross. The event was designed to bring three days of super-charged cyclocross racing to venues around the UK and to set a new trend in the British Cyclocross scene – with Belgium beer, frites, mass crowds and cowbells. Loving what I was reading, I pitched the idea to the guys behind the scenes at Wiggle HQ about getting a team involved. A couple of emails later we were entered and the task of putting to together the Wiggle dream team began…
After a couple of up’s, down’s, in’s and out’s we finally managed to submit our team line-up to the series organiser and prepare for the event. The week leading into the first weekend of racing the event had generated quite a lot of press and the thought of us being part of the whole experience was getting quite exciting… the weekend couldn’t come quickly enough.
We left on Friday heading far north to Lake Windermere where the Wiggle riders, Wiggle mechanics (Ben, Pete & Ham) and our two media guys (Tom & Alex) all crashed in a Premier Inn near the venue so we could be up and ready for the first day of racing the next morning.
The Wiggle Dream Team:
Ben Simmons & Lee Williams
Andrew Baum & William Worrall (U’23)
Seb Batchelor (U’23)
After a good sleep and a continental breakfast we headed to the venue (around 11am) and although our elite race wasn’t due to kick off until 2:30pm there was already a good atmosphere with crowds ringing cowbells for the kids racing. En route to setting up the Wiggle EZ-Up in the event village, we got our first glimpse of the course and despite there not being a cloud in the sky the course was surprisingly wet and muddy – it was clear it would be a tough race.
As soon as there was a gap in the races the team headed for a couple of practice laps of the course and on completion I was happy that the course would suit the mountain biker, so I knew I would have a good chance. I think on the whole most of the team seemed to be praising the fresh challenging course with a few climbs and rooty / muddy wooded descents to keep you on your toes – making it a great series opener. Pretty soon it was time to prepare and our Wiggle riders were getting a lot of attention during their warm up in the EZ-Up, with many photographers taking photos.
On the start line (probably in the brightest kit…), we all lined up as a team for the battle ahead and to be honest the competition was pretty hot with teams from Hargroves, Hope, Rapha/GB etc. We would have to be riding pretty strong if we wanted to achieve our target / goal of 3rd overall by the end of the series.
On the gun we tore into the opposition the best we could – the top ten consisted of Wiggle riders… it was great! Unfortunately, approaching the first set of hurdles it was Seb that was first to experience some bad luck. He took a massive stack sending him face first into the mud and with the carnage of the race was pretty much trampled over and sent to the back of the field. The rest of the Wiggle riders continued their own battles moving up and down positions on the tough course – tackling mechanicals but generally getting Wiggle in the points for the series opener.
Will Worrall rode strong for a lot of the race but slightly tired towards the end of the race, but this guy is a Junior riding as a U’23 in an Elite race and will be one to watch in the next couple of years! A great ride also came from Seb making his way back from his early crashes to be 2nd scorer – then with Andy as 3rd scorer and with myself pleasingly going on to take the win. Despite Hope Factory Racing going on to take the team win, I felt that as a team we made a statement that we’re here to compete and there were a few words buzzing round the series about Team Wiggle being marked men. Job done!
After the podium presentation we packed up and headed again for another Premier Inn in Huddersfield (venue for round 2) where, after checking-in, we all sat down to a team evening meal – nattering about the first day. Afterwards we went back to our rooms to chill out for the next round tomorrow!
Again after another good night’s sleep and breakfast we made our way to the venue for round two where we were greeted by a course completely different to the previous day. This time we would be racing round fast hard pack fields with average speeds probably creeping towards the 20mph mark. Personally I prefer the more technical courses as opposed to the fast stuff, but this was still a great venue and after a couple of practise laps (where the media guys attached 3 GoPro cameras to our bikes) – I was actually looking forward to the torture ahead.
Again, the Pro set up, turbo’s buzzing and tunes pumping from the Wiggle van only fuelled the adrenaline for today’s race… the boys are ready…
This time the gun greeted us with a massively wide start – straight where it was every man for himself as we fought for the first bend where the course narrowed. Fortunately for Team Wiggle, ALL of our 5 man team were sitting in the Top 10 and quite clearly at that point, we were the leading team of the day. That’s not good… that’s impressive!!
Unfortunately, Andy took the big hit of the day taking a massive stack on the first lap ending up in hospital with a broken collar bone – so our thoughts go out to him for a speedy recovery. Turned out Will was also involved in the crash, so we went from all in the top ten to two out. Still, we only needed three riders to count so we were still riding in a good scoring position.
With the pace being completely relentless, Ben Simmons ever so slightly faded outside the top ten but crossed the fishing line as 3rd scorer. Seb rode a strong race throughout (coming 2nd in a 5 man bunch sprint taking 9th) and I finished just off the podium in 4th.
I think as a team we bettered our performance on Day Two and cannot wait until the final round in London next week – where I believe we can make our podium overall! Bring on the Battle!!
TEAM – OVERALL AFTER TWO ROUNDS
1. Hope 20pts
2. Scott UK 18pts
3. Rapha / GB 14pts
4. Wiggle 14pts
5. Hargroves 14pts
6. Sigma Sport 10pts
7. Charge 8pts
To Be Continued…
