Cycling Weekly – August 22, 2019

16 | August 22, 2019 | Cycling Weekly

NEWS

J

ames Shaw led a one-two for

SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling in the

Ryedale Grasscrete Grand Prix in

North Yorkshire on Sunday, while

Claire Steels (Brother.uk Fusion)

won the earlier women’s race.

The final round of the National Road

Series for both men and women, the races

near Ampleforth were hard fought despite

both overall series titles having been

decided previously.

Shaw, the 23-year-old from Nottingham

who won the Tour of the Reservoir earlier

in the season, took victory at Ryedale after

having worked well with team-mate Jacob

Scott in the closing laps of the 150km

men’s race.

After early breaks had been pulled back

the race came back together until Shaw

and Scott decided to shake things up with

an attack.

They built a lead of around two minutes

by one point, and although Steve Lampier

Shaw (r) and

Scott’s pot-

shot paid off

bitten off more than we could chew coming

into the final lap.”

Women’s race winner Claire Steels was

also glad to see the finish line, after timing

her attack to perfection and securing her

first series win after previously placing

second and third.

She had been part of a four-rider break

which went clear after her attack on a climb,

and after it had gone down to three riders

Steels decided against a sprint finish and

attacked again as they came into the

grounds of Ampleforth Abbey towards the

end of the 94 kilometres.

“I had to go early in the finish

because I don’t really have a

sprint,” she said. “The finish line

couldn’t come soon enough!”

Men’s series winner Matt

Holmes (Madison-Genesis) came

home eighth, while in the women’s

series Rebecca Durrell (Brother.uk

Tifosi) was 16th at Ryedale.

(Saint Piran) almost chased them down he

had to settle for third, while Shaw crossed

the line just ahead of his team-mate.

“The other teams were riding quite

conservatively so we decided to go for it,”

said Shaw. “I’m over the moon, there

couldn't have been a better way of ending

the series than with a one-two.

“We saw an opportunity so we went for

it, but I think we were both regretting it

with a lap to go.

“Lampier was breathing down our necks,

and I’m not sure what we would’ve had left

if he had caught us. I think we had both

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Close-fought victories in the final round of the National Road Series

Steel (c) held her

nerve, and her

power, to

claim victory

Shaw

and Steels

reign in

Ryedale