Riding The Tour of Cambridgeshire

Well done to the organisers for bringing Gran Fondo racing to the UK, hopefully there will be more to come. I think that this could be a great new direction for mass participation events over here. Although the logistics and infrastructure required to run such event means that entry prices are going to be more than any other event, they are well worth it. Where else are you going to race or ride on roads that have been fully closed, with cheering crowds urging you on? For us weekend warriors it was a chance to emulate our heroes, while for those at the sharp end it was a chance to take home a rather sizeable winner’s cheque!

First man over the line was Andrew Williams of Cwmcarn Paragons

So what was happening at the sharp end of the Tour of Cambridgshire? Well a four man break managed to pull itself away from the leading group and final honours went to Andrew Williams of Cwmcarn Paragons in just over three hours and nine minutes. First woman home Laura Massey of Ikon Mazda, was two minutes behind in the following group.

Laura Massey of Ikon Mazda was the first female rider home

The UCI were very impressed with organisers Vericool and said on their Facebook page “The inaugural Tour of Cambridgeshire set a very high standard in its first edition. The number of participants and professionalism of the organization was of a level that most events can only achieve after years of hard work and experience”. There were a number of official UCI riders taking part in the Gran Fondo to see how the event went from the rider’s point of view. All winners were to be drug tested as well as a random selection of riders from the peloton. Good to see the UCI is keeping an eye on the grass-roots.

Interestingly, with ten weeks to go, the Tour of Cambridgeshire is sending more entrants to the world championships than any other event in the UCWT. 176 out of 675 registered so far.

Tom Caldwell from organisers Vericool Sports Management was equally pleased; “We’re overwhelmed with the response from riders and the public to the event. We’ve worked really hard to get the event to a UCI world-class level in our first year and we’re already working on ways to improve the experience for next year”.

 
It seems most riders were happy with the event as well, when the organisers released five hundred ‘early bird’ entries for next year’s event, they sold out in a day!

So there we go, the first Tour of Cambridgeshire Gran Fondo, done. It was a great experience and I will definitely do it again. Although this time I’ll make sure I have some racing miles in my legs and more importantly get in line a lot earlier!

 
Tour of Cambridgeshire
 
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