UK Edition
Defending champions strike back in Aberystwyth OVO Energy Tour Series
Canyon-Eisberg made it a clean sweep of the penultimate week of the OVO Energy Tour Series as Commonwealth Games Silver medallist Harry Tanfield became the third rider from the team to take an individual win at the fifth round in Aberystwyth on Saturday, following on from success for Jack Pullar and Andy Tennant in Durham.
There were dominant maiden winners in both the men and women’s events, with Tanfield crossing the line alone, hands aloft, to win by 24 seconds from ONE Pro Cycling’s Jacob Scott, who had chased alone. Anna Henderson took her first ever Tour Series victory for Team OnForm earlier in the evening.
However, despite the successes of their riders, with both winners also taking the respective Brother Fastest Laps, neither Canyon Eisberg nor Team OnForm were the team victors on the night, with defending champions JLT Condor and Trek-Drops taking the honours.
The win for JLT Condor, thanks to the presence of Graham Briggs (third), Eisberg Points leader Matt Gibson (fourth) and Jon Mould (sixth) in the lead group of eight – who lapped the main field – moved them to second overall, three points behind Madison Genesis, who retain the Series lead.
Aberystwyth saw a first win for Trek-Drops in the women’s Series, the team having been missed recent rounds following injury and illness, but with Team Breeze coming second, the British Cycling development squad extended their lead in the Series to three points over NJC-Biemme-Echelon.
Early on in the race Henderson struck out for home by herself, saying: “I went round the [final] corner, you know take the risk round the corner, and one of the girls dropped the wheel and you know what I thought ‘take a risk’ and yeah, it paid off. That's a big effort from me – it was a pretty cool technical course that suited me and I really enjoyed that.”
The 19-year-old, who emerged as one to watch during last year’s Series continued saying, “I'm still very new you know I'm learning every minute of every race and my team manager and my coach, everybody in the team is guiding me. And yeah it's just a continuous upward spiral.
Nikki Juniper finished second on the night, ensuring that Henderson only marginally trimmed her lead in the Eisberg Points Jersey, with the NJC-Biemme-Echelon rider still holding a 25-point advantage heading to Monday’s Bank Holiday event in Stevenage.
Juniper had chased with Trek-Drops’ Lizzie Holden, who took third, with freshly-crowned Welsh Criterium Champion Dani Rowe taking the bunch sprint for fourth from Ejay Harris (Storey Racing).
For full results from the men and women’s races, please click here.
Highlights of the Aberystwyth event of the OVO Energy Tour Series are on ITV4 at 22:00 on Monday 28 May with a repeat the following morning (Tuesday 29 May) at 07:30. All the 2018 highlights are also available on demand via the ITV Hub catch-up service.
Action resumes at Round Six in Stevenage on Bank Holiday Monday 29 May which includes a team time trial event for the men’s teams. For more details please visit www.tourseries.co.uk