Sheffield played host to the final round of the Premier Calendar Elite Circuit Series. Despite this being only the second edition of the Claremont Clinic Grand Prix the crowds and venue were superb.
Posted On: 26th July, 2013
Sheffield played host to the final round of the Premier Calendar Elite Circuit Series. Despite this being only the second edition of the Claremont Clinic Grand Prix the crowds and venue were superb. With the finish in sight of the town hall the race really was a city centre experience. Cobbles, narrow roads a steady climb and plenty of corners ensured the pure criterium specialists were left wanting for nothing.
What has amazed me this year is the ferociousness of the starts and today, once again, Sheffield didn’t disappoint. From the gun the peleton was strung out with riders already being distanced at the end of the opening 1.7km loop. The cobbled drag up to the beginning of the finishing straight seemed to be doing the most damage. Many riders seemed to struggle to regain the lost momentum creating gaps in the group each lap. By half way there hadn’t been any significant groups given any freedom at the front, rather, the selection was made from the back, constantly whittling the group down. Into the last quarter of the race and a brave move by Mark Christian caused some concern and another - fatal for some - acceleration in the main group, reducing the front group to 20 or so riders with both Andy Tennant and Dean Downing representing Madison Genesis. Both had been riding a clever race, biding their time in the group without wasting energy, an important tactic on such a wearing circuit. Three laps to go and Rapha Condor JLT started to the speed up for the bunch sprint in the hope Felix English could finish the job off. Unbeknown to them, Andy Tennant was helping Dean move to the front ready to take them on. There were no late attacks, a sure sign the speed was ridiculously high and by the time the front group hit the final corner there was daylight between the leading four riders (Russell, Dean, Felix and Graham Briggs) and the rest of the group. It wasn’t to be a straight sprint contest though. In a twist-of-fate, the leaders caught a group about to be lapped in the last 50 metres of the race! In the confusion the back markers seemed to spread across the road, baulking the lead riders, somehow in the melee Dean, using his criterium rider skills, managed to sneak though to celebrate his first Criterium win of the year after being so close on numerous occasions.
"What a race, what a crowd. That was a hard attacking race straight from the gun. A bit of confusion at the finish when myself, Briggs and Russ were sprinting for the win. Lapping riders on the line was not great but I was lucky I suppose to cross the line first in the middle of it all" Dean Downing
"That was a great race with loads of action and a superb atmosphere. It’s a pity the race ended like that as it would have been really good to see 3 local riders battle to be the champion of their local city in front of so many people! I’m amazed nobody crashed, a testament to the skills of these criterium riders. As a team we’ve had a few unfortunate racing incidents that haven’t favoured us so we’ll take this one to make up for the others! Nobody can dispute the fact it was definitely a popular victory! " Team manager – Roger Hammond
Click here for a full race report
Photos by Andy Jones