REDDITCH rider Beth Crumpton and Toby Barnes (Lichfield City CC) showed their early season form to secure victories in the opening round of the Ridley Lazer West Midlands Cyclo-Cross League.
The duo produced dominant displays to take comfortable wins in their respective races, while Stephen Knight (Team Jewson) and Darren Atkins (Ride Coventry) were superior in their veteran categories.
Abbey Stadium Sports Centre in Redditch was the brand new venue for the opening round and the wet weather throughout the day led to slippery conditions as the races wore on.
A course full of tight corners mixed with off-camber bankings led for exciting racing throughout the day and Crumpton (Storey Racing) was up to the challenge.
Junior rider Barnes showed his form ahead of a schedule of international World Cup races by taking the lead in the senior race from the opening climb and pulling out a winning margin of 26 seconds.
Atkins put in a superior performance in the veterans 40+ event, pulling out a winning margin of more than a minute ahead of Philip Glaze (Stourbridge CC), who beat George Richardson in a sprint for second.
Crumpton was in fine form in the women’s event and made light work of the tricky course, leading from the start and building up a winning margin of more than two minutes.
“It was nice to ride a different course and it was one I really enjoyed,” said Crumpton.
“I sprinted off from the start and built up my lead and kept pushing. I’ve got a new bike so I wanted to push that to the limit and see how fast I could take the corners.”
Crumpton was using the race in preparation for her trip to America, where she will be riding the opening two rounds of the Cyclo-Cross World Cup.
Lauren Humphreys (Aspire Bicycles) led the race for second, just edging out U23 rider Melissa Baker in the closing stages after the pairing had been locked in battle throughout the race.
Also testing her legs ahead of the international programme was national champion Nikki Brammeier (Boels-Dolmans) who chose to ride the veterans over 50 event.
She was beaten into second by the formidable Knight who led from the start and had a winning margin of nearly two minutes.
The youth event was one of the closest of the day as Simon Wyllie (Halesowen A&CC) joined Daniel Barnes (Lichfield City CC) at the head of proceedings throughout.
Wyllie eventually gapped his rival on the final lap to ride for victory, while Jack Rootkin-Gray (Solihull CC) took third.
In the girls’ event, U14 rider Grace Lister (Wolverhampton Wheelers) showed her early season form to take a narrow victory from first U16 Kinga Ingram (Halesowen A&CC), while Isla Mason (Redditch Road & Path CC) was third overall.
In the U12s race Spencer Corder (Stratford CC) took a clear victory in the boys’ event, while Tia Carr (Lichfield City CC) was fastest girl.
Abergavenny CC rider Cameron Reeves road to the boys’ victory in the U8s, with Tamsin Moss (Stratford CC) first girl.
