East London Velo 6 Days of Winter 4 2014

Write-up and Pictures by Ben O’Dell and Tom Haines

East London Velo 6 Days of Winter Category circuit  racing.

The fourth race of the East London Velo 6 Days of Winter Cat 2/3 series held at Hog Hill (Redbridge Cycle Centre), NE London on February 2.

4th Cat race

The extremely gusty conditions played a major role in rider selection today with the field staying together for the first lap only. By lap two, there were only 20 riders in the main bunch with the rest scattered in their wake. On the fourth lap a four man break was established by Creswell, Haseler, Evangelidis and Pawlowicz. Led by Creswell, the previous weeks winner, the group was working well and began putting time into the bunch.

The fifth lap saw the chasers led by Bratt, roll through the Sprint Prime whilst focusing on catching the breakaway riders. By Lap seven, the fifteen chasers in the main bunch were completely strung out by the powerful cross winds at the Hoggenberg. The break managed to pull out a lead of 1:12 on the chasers before losing Evangelidis and Pawlowicz from their party. Creswell and Haseler realised they were competing for the win and started to look at each other, their race had now become tactical. Creswell, having led thus far was looking at Haseler to take his turn on the front. By this point Creswell and Haseler had a minute lead on lone chaser Michael Atkinson, who in turn had 20 seconds on the 11 man main bunch.

5 LAPS TO GO.

Creswell and Haseler began to work together once again, increasing their lead. The individual chasers Pawlowicz and Kirby fought hard to keep their respective gaps on the bunch. The race came to a close with Creswell beating Haseler to the line as they simultaneously lapped the bunch on the Hoggenburg.

All in all, the days racing saw a high attrition rate owing mainly to the powerful gusts sweeping across the circuit. Almost 60 riders took to the line and a mere 16 finished, with many of those having been pulled to enable to the finishing judges to accurately place the bunch. The two lead riders Creswell and Haseler ultimately lapped all but two chasers. An incredibly strong ride by all getting battered by the winds. The leaders, who have featured heavily in the series so far, will both be taking their upgrades to 3rd Category racing.

1. Jason Creswell – London Phoenix CC
2. Callum Haseler – Cotswold Veldrijden
3. Roman Pawlowicz – Ipswich BC
4. Laurence Kirby – Welwyn Wheelers CC
5. Gregory Niziskiotis – London Dynamo
6. Luke Lawrence – Private Member
7. Pete Dyson East London Velo
8. Jack Hardwicke – Plomsgate CC
9. Finn Johnson – London Dynamo
10. John Rumbold – North Road CC
11. Michael Atkinson – North Road CC
12. Jason Fitchew – Ford Cycling Club
13. Martin Ryan – Ford Cycling Club
14. Oliver Scott – Dulwich Paragon
15. James Dixon – Cambridge University CC
16. Alexander Evangelidis – London Dymano

2/3 cat race

The 2/3 riders endured an ice cold squall during the warm up. As the riders lined up for the start, the rain gave way to clear skies and a gusty crosswind which threw the riders about for the duration of the race.

The first lap was ridden at a moderate pace before a series of attacks in the second, none of which managed to stick. The Sprint Prime in the fourth lap was comfortably taken by Theo Doncaster (who is yet to claim his winnings). Following this, more attacks rode away and were subsequently reeled in. Eventually, last weeks 1-2 and series leaders Gunther Zechmann and Edmund Bradbury managed to successfully break the elastic and ride clear of the bunch. Burnette, Wood and Woolsey chased ahead of the bunch in pursuit of the two riders but were quickly reeled back in.

As the bunch chased down a counterattack by Wilson and Price the leaders advantage increased over the next few laps. Numerous chasers shot off the front of the bunch in a bid to join them with no success. After a volley of further attacks from the bunch, Wison and Wood broke clear. Soon after, another group of five chasers was established not far behind.

There were now four groups on the circuit, Zechmann and Bradbury, followed by Wilson and Price, then a three man chasing group closely followed by the bunch. The two leaders managed to lap the bunch by the 20th lap before going on to reel in three chasers as well.

On the bell lap Zechmann and Bradbury slowed to decide who would lead into the finish, each looking for the advantage on the final sprint up the Hoggenberg. The Chasing groups maintained their integrity during the as further attacks from the front of the main bunch strung out the field. After a final ascent of the Hoggenburg Bradbury took the win as series leader Zechmann sat up just before the line. After an impressive session out front George Wood took third place chased by Ray Wilson in fourth. Charles Pearson out-sprinted the other members of the chasing trio to claim fifth place.

1 Edmund Bradbury Cambridge University CC
2 Gunther Zechmann London Phoenix CC
3 George Wood Neon Velo.com
4 Ray Wilson London Dynamo
5 Charles Pearson Cambridge CC
6 Theo Doncaster Cycle Club Ashwell (CCA)
7 Richard Price London Phoenix CC
8 Philip Holloway Southend Wheelers
9 Patrick Martin Wyndymilla
10 Robert Seeley Brixton Cycles
11 Daniel Tulett Hargroves Cycles-Specialized-Trant-Next-Elliott’s
12 Lewis Bulley Sports Traider Race Team
13 Marcus Burnett Sports Traider Race Team
14 James Freeman Dulwich Paragon CC
15 Colin Bailey North Road CC
16 Lee Desborough St Ives CC
17 Antonius Wubben Private Member
18 David Barnes Sports Traider Race Team
19 Jake Charlton VC Deal
20 Andrew Edwards Pretorius Bikes
21 Graham Galvin East London Velo
22 Frank Rawlins North Road CC
23 Rhys Keepence Dulwich Paragon CC
24 Matthew Clements Cycle Lab
25 Cameron Judson Kingston Whls CC
26 Paul Saunders Glendene CC
27 Neil Murphy Cycle Club Ashwell (CCA)
28 Antony Buchan Private Member
29 Aaron Piper Pretorius Bikes
30 Daniel Maynard Welwyn Whls CC
31 Andrew Carter Portsmouth North End CC
32 Vojtech Blazejovsky Brixton Cycles
33 Adam Capes Finchley Racing Team
34 David Mclean Cambridge University CC
35 Will Sloper Cambridge University CC
36 Cameron Woolsey Cycle Club Ashwell (CCA)
37 Michael Smith Cambridge University CC
38 Rod Archibald Adalta
39 Clover Murray Braintree Velo Cycle Racing Club

Series Standings

With Gunther and Ed having pulled out a significant lead the series win must surely come from one of these two. Barring injury or ill fortune, the main action now seems to be from 3rd place down. Prize fund details are below the standings.

1 Gunther Zechmann – London Phoenix CC – 54
2 Edmond Bradbury – Cambridge Uni CC – 42
3 Will Hayter – London Dynamo – 20
4 Joel Natale – Dulwich Paragon CC – 17
5 Theo Doncaster – CC Ashwell – 15
6 Colin Bailey – North Road CC – 12
7 Luke Merrilees – WyndyMilla – 11
8 George Wood – Neon Velo – 10
9 Kieran Brady – Citycyclecentre.com – 9
10 Jonnie Blackman – Beckenham Rugby Club – 8
11 Lewis Bulley – Sports Traider RT – 8
12 Jack Finch – PMR@Toachim House – 8
13 Charles Pearson – Cambridge CC –8
14 Ray Wilson – London Dynamo – 8
15 Adam Capes – Finchley Racing Team – 6
16 Patrick Martin – WyndyMilla – 6
17 Rhys Keepence – Dulwich Paragon CC – 4
18 Richard Price – London Phoenix CC – 4
19 Frank Rawlins – North Road CC – 4
20 James Freeman – Dulwich Paragon CC – 3
21 Jason Jeffers – East London Velo – 1
22 Iain Palmer – Twickenham CC – 1
23 Seeley Robert -Brixton CC – 1
24 Daniel Tullett – Hargroves Cycles – 1