A great period for the team with lots of events scheduled in a short space of time. Great learning experiences for the newer hands and some great results for the whole team to take immense pride in:
The past few weeks have been extremely busy for the team. Starting in Slovenia with Elinor Barker, we went to race the UCI 1.2 ranked individual time trial. Elinor rode extremely well, finishing 3rd in her first big test of the season as she looks to gain selection to the GB team for the World Championships.
Next up was the UK National Championships held on Isle of Man with a 22km time trial on Thursday followed by the road race on Sunday. The TT course wasn’t simple, with a tough start through small roads, followed by wide open sea front roads. Elinor was riding well, and very much in contention at the half way point, however a flat while on the 80kmph descent put pay to her challenge for a medal. Corrine Hall road fantastically, finishing 15th and showing good form ahead of the road race. Elinor eventually finished 5th.
The road race took the peloton over ‘the mountain’, and it was on that climb that Elinor escaped in a group of 3 riders. Entering the 6 finishing laps, Elinor looked to go solo and managed to hold off the peloton until around 2km to go. Sadly finishing 4th, to add to her 5th in the TT, it was a case of so near but so far. The performance has hopefully put Elinor on the map and shown what a valuable team member she can be for any road race team later this year in Norway.
Corrine finished safely in the main peloton; while not taking part in the sprint she rode strongly and can look forward to more solid solo performances as the season continues.
The following week it was Lora and Corrine who took to the tandem for the first time this season, and raced in Emmen, Holland. In the road time trial it was a silver medal, showing how strong the paring is, despite little time on the tandem. In the road race, despite making the break, there was no medal for Lora and Corrine finishing in 4th.
The last events of the past few weeks saw Elinor and Laurine head to Ireland to race in the Dublin International Track meeting. Laurine took wins in both her events, the Keirin and the Sprint. Elinor performed amazingly to take 3 wins from her 4 events, taking to the top step of the podium in the Omnium, Points and the Individual Pursuit. Elinor all took 3rd in the scratch race.