National Championships 2018 – United Kingdom – [Road Race – FULL RACE]

July 01, 2018

National Championships 2018 – United Kingdom – Stamfordham – Stamfordham : 185 km

The British National Road Race Championships cover different categories of British road bicycle racing events, normally held annually.

Connor Swift (Madison-Genesis) took the British national road race title after a solo attack on the final lap of the race. Two-time champion Adam Blythe (Aqua Blue Sport) took second after a chase in the final kilometres, while Owain Doull (Team Sky) took the sprint for third from a small chase group.

Having made the early break along with 16 other riders, including several from WorldTour teams, 22-year-old Swift took his chance to go it alone 15km from the line with the peloton out of picture. His sustained effort put off attacks from behind, with only Blythe able to put in a solo chase effort in the closing kilometres.

“It’s like a dream come true,” said Swift after the finish. “It’s amazing to do it for Madison-Genesis – a Continental team and one of the underdogs for the race. I can’t remember the last time a Continental team won the national championships. [Ed: It was Kristian House in 2009]

“I felt so good on the last lap and I could tell everyone else was struggling,” Swift added. “I rode off the front and thought, ‘I’ll go as hard as I can.’ I took a big risk and it paid off and I won the race. It’s mad!”

How it happened

The race took place in Stamfordham, in the north-east of England, and took in 185.6km of largely flat roads. Four laps of a 35.4km circuit and two of a shorter 22km circuit were punctuated by four ascents up Ryal hill (1.8km at 5.4 per cent), the last of which came 32km from the finish line.

Given the nature of the route, a sprint finish seemed likely, but that didn’t stop a large breakaway getting up the road early on. The group comprised 16 riders, and it was a strong one, including Doull, Swift, Blythe, Mark Christian (Aqua Blue Sport), and Gabriel Cullaigh (Team Wiggins).

The break quickly built a three-minute lead, with the small group of chasers hanging just 30 seconds ahead of the peloton. That would be the status quo for much of the race, with no major drama occuring besides a brief split in the peloton on the third ascent of Ryal.

Heading into the final 50km, with only the final ascent of Ryal remaining, the gap was 1:40 to a three-man chase group including Ian Stannard (Team Sky). The peloton, which held Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) among others, lay 2:30 back.

The final 30km saw attacks start among the break, with the peloton out of contention at over five minutes down. A move including the two Aqua Blue men was eventually brought back after a big turn by Doull, while Stannard’s group still chipped away a minute back.

An attack by Swift 15km from the line drew out a small group including Doull and Blythe, who hung around 15 seconds behind. He powered along, barely ceding any time to the chasers over the closing kilometres. Blythe made his move 3km out but couldn’t bridge the gap, leaving Swift to take the plaudits solo.

Results :
1 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis 4:19:06
2 Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport 0:00:22
3 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:25
4 Robert Scott (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:00:26
5 Fred Wright (GBr)
6 Ben Hetherington (GBr) Memil Ccn Pro Cycling 0:00:27
7 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:00:34
8 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:59
9 Joey Walker (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:01:00
10 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
11 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
12 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor
13 George Pym (GBr) Madison Genesis
14 Daniel Bigham (GBr) 0:01:03
15 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:01:13
16 Charlie Tanfield (GBr) Canyon Eisberg 0:04:24
17 Thomas Stewart (GBr) JLT Condor
18 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team Wiggins
19 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:04:27
20 Alexandar Richardson (GBr) One Pro Cycling 0:07:52
21 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon Eisberg 0:08:16
22 Dylan Kerfoot-Robson (GBr) Team Wiggins
23 Peter Williams (GBr) One Pro Cycling
24 Matthew Bostock (GBr) 0:08:17
25 Julian Varley (GBr) 0:08:18
26 Ben Turner (GBr) Corendon-Circus
27 Michael Mottram (GBr)
28 Joshua Hunt (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling
29 Matthew Nowell (GBr) Canyon Eisberg 0:08:19
30 Christopher Latham (GBr) One Pro Cycling
31 Zeb Kyffin (GBr)
32 Max Stedman (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
33 Mark McNally (GBr) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:08:20
34 Thomas Moses (GBr) JLT Condor 0:08:22
35 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:08:25
36 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:08:36
37 Thomas Baylis (GBr) One Pro Cycling 0:08:40
38 Thomas Pidcock (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:08:44
DNF Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
DNF Rhys Britton (GBr)
DNF Ethan Hayter (GBr)
DNF Joe Holt (GBr)
DNF Jake Stewart (GBr)
DNF Matthew Walls (GBr)
DNF Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
DNF Mark Robertson (GBr)
DNF Richard McDonald (GBr)
DNF Charles Page (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
DNF Alex Paton (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
DNF Jack Pullar (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
DNF Louis Rose-Davies (GBr)
DNF Harry Tanfield (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
DNF Tom Elwood (GBr)
DNF Joseph Clark (GBr)
DNF Morris Bacon (GBr)
DNF Gary Freeman (GBr)
DNF Richard Taylor (GBr)
DNF Leon Mazzone (GBr) Holdsworth Pro Racing
DNF Jake Womersley (GBr) Holdsworth Pro Racing
DNF Dominic Schils (GBr) Java Partizan
DNF Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor
DNF Edmund Bradbury (GBr) JLT Condor
DNF Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor
DNF Edward Clancy (GBr) JLT Condor
DNF Matthew Gibson (GBr) JLT Condor
DNF James Gullen (GBr) JLT Condor
DNF Jonathan Mould (GBr) JLT Condor
DNF Oliver Wood (GBr) JLT Condor
DNF Neil Phillips (GBr)
DNF David Bolland (GBr)
DNF Kinsey McIlquham (GBr)
DNF Charles Quarterman (GBr) Leopard Pro Cycling
DNF George Atkins (GBr) Madison Genesis
DNF Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis
DNF Tobyn Horton (GBr) Madison Genesis
DNF Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
DNF Isaac Mundy (GBr) Madison Genesis
DNF Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis
DNF Robert Orr (GBr) Memil CCN Pro Cycling
DNF Jacob Tipper (GBr) Memil Ccn Pro Cycling
DNF Stephen Bradbury (GBr)
DNF Jacob Scott (GBr) One Pro Cycling
DNF Rhys Howells (GBr)
DNF John Archibald (GBr)
DNF William Brown (GBr)
DNF William Corbett (GBr)
DNF David Hewett (GBr)
DNF Richard Jones (GBr)
DNF Alex Luhrs (GBr)
DNF Jacky Ruez (GBr)
DNF Matthew Clements (GBr)
DNF Tobias Dahlhaus (GBr)
DNF James Jenkins (GBr)
DNF Oliver Maxwell (GBr)
DNF Thomas Power (GBr)
DNF Luke Ryan (GBr)
DNF George Wood (GBr)
DNF Antony Richardson (GBr)
DNF Fraser Martin (GBr)
DNF Stephen Williams (GBr) SEG Racing Academy
DNF Frazier Carr (GBr)
DNF Douglas Coleman (GBr)
DNF Rupert Graham (GBr)
DNF Anthony Moye (GBr)
DNF Charlie Passfield (GBr)
DNF Jordan Peacock (GBr)
DNF Matthew Downie (GBr)
DNF Andrew Nichols (GBr)
DNF Oliver W Bates (GBr)
DNF Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Callum Ferguson (GBr)
DNF Will Fox (GBr)
DNF Andrew Turner (GBr)
DNF Daniel Patten (GBr)
DNF Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky
DNF Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
DNF Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Sky
DNF William Bjergfelt (GBr)
DNF Nathan Draper (GBr) Team Wiggins
DNF Jacques Sauvagnargues (GBr) Team Wiggins
DNF Reece Wood (GBr) Team Wiggins
DNF Jesse Yates (GBr) Team Wiggins
DNF William Perrett (GBr)
DNF Ruari Grant (GBr)
DNF Liam Davies (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling
DNF Harrison Jones (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling
DNF Grant Martin (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling
DNF Alex Dalton (GBr)
DNF Jack Stanton-Warren (GBr)
DNF Paul Double (GBr)
DNF Joseph Nally (GBr)
DNF Marcus Burnett (GBr)
DNF Matthew Clarke (GBr)
DNF Peter Cocker (GBr)
DNF Finn Crockett (GBr)
DNF Andrew Disley (GBr)
DNF George Evans (GBr)
DNF Tim James (GBr)
DNF Matt Langworthy (GBr)
DNF Daniel Nieto (GBr)
DNF Daniel Pullen (GBr)
DNF Charlie Renshaw (GBr)
DNF Fraser Rounds (GBr)
DNF Joseph Sutton (GBr)
DNF Bradley Symonds (GBr)
DNS Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
DNS Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data
DNS Laurence Kirby (GBr)
DNS Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNS Louis Szymanski (GBr)
DNS Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNS James McLaughlin (GBr)
DNS Mitchell Webber (GBr)
DNS Russell Downing (GBr) Holdsworth Pro Racing
DNS Daniel Whitehouse (GBr) Interpro Stradalli Cycling
DNS Germain Burton (GBr) JLT Condor
DNS Edward Laverack (GBr) JLT Condor
DNS Jacob Vaughan (GBr)
DNS Andy Brown (GBr)
DNS Tom Chandler (GBr)
DNS Ken Buckley (GBr)
DNS Dante Carpenter (GBr)
DNS Jake Kelly (GBr) One Pro Cycling
DNS James Knox (GBr) Quick-Step Floors
DNS Lawrence Carpenter (GBr)
DNS Gruffudd Lewis (GBr)
DNS James Rix (GBr)
DNS William Harper (GBr)
DNS Steve Lampier (GBr)
DNS Joe Swinnerton (GBr)
DNS Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
DNS Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
DNS Etienne Georgi (GBr) Team Wiggins
DNS Oliver Robinson (GBr) Team Wiggins
DNS Adam Kenway (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling
DNS Timothy Torrie (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling
DNS Jake Alderman (GBr)
DNS Cameron Jeffers (GBr)