Sitting in the team car and directing the Madison Genesis team, Roger Hammond always has the best view of the race. The inaugural RideLondon : Surrey Classic was no exception so read on for his report of this spectacular event!
Posted On: 6th August, 2013
Sitting in the team car and directing the Madison Genesis team, Roger Hammond always has the best view of the race. The inaugural RideLondon : Surrey Classic was no exception so read on for his report of this spectacular event!
Listening to Mick Bennett outline the logistics of the Surrey Classic in the manager's meeting prior to the race, I was really wondering how the day was going to pan out. Some of the stats were, quite frankly, staggering. The largest ever road closure across one of the most densely populated areas in the world, combined with the largest cycling sportive in the UK and the first attempt at all of the above... “Ambitious” was my first thought but that ambition was rewarded with fantastic memories of an amazing day of cycling in the Capital.
From the start at the infamous Olympic Park, the riders were cheered and applauded for the entire 140 mile route that initially crossed the centre of London, passing the majority of the landmarks on its way towards the Surrey hills. A small loop in the countryside including the tricky climb of Leith Hill had to be negotiated three times before the race headed back towards the city centre via the iconic climb of Box Hill. The Mall, with Buckingham Palace as a backdrop was the location for the finish line and was as spectacular as any finishing straight in the world.
For Madison Genesis the race was also going to be unique in that the Surrey Classic was going to be the longest international road race for the team this year in the UK - everybody was motivated to ride well. With live coverage on the BBC all day, getting into the early breakaway was the first objective. Getting there can be a very tricky thing to achieve though, with only a handful of the 150 starters ever allowed freedom off the front. In the end it's usually lady luck that makes the difference between being away all day and just not making it. After 60 kilometres of constant attacking, eventually a small group started to go clear, in the distance behind on the Garmin screen in the car, we could see Liam making his way across the gap and after a massive effort he made contact with the group only to be taken out of the back almost immediately by the last rider of the group, making the smallest of errors on a corner. It was enough though, the loss of momentum combined with the initial effort to get there in the first place and Liam had to return to the main group. The scene was set for the rest of the day.
The breakaway worked well together but were never really given anywhere near a potential race winning advantage, with Team Sky doing the lion’s share of the pace setting in the main group. On the climbs of Leigh Hill the accelerations were initially not at all as violent as we had anticipated, to the point where the first ascent was quite sedate with the entire group making it over intact. The third lap was a different story though : The bunch disintegrated ,shedding two big groups of riders but Andy, Ian and Liam all made the select front group. Eventually there was a brief regrouping just before the final climb of the day, Box Hill, and once again the pace in the main group increased significantly. This time an elite front group of 11 riders formed with Madison Genesis’ Ian Bibby leading the way over the top. The problem was the accelerations had come too late in the race and the (predominantly tail wind) 40 kilometre fast run in to the city encouraged a general regrouping. By the time the riders made the final corner away from the embankment onto the final 600 metre stretch up the Mall the front group was nearly 100 riders strong. The inevitable "bunch sprint chaos" occurred and Andy, who had been looking strong throughout the race, was boxed in and couldn’t really get his sprint going - in the end finishing 32nd. All of the team finished the race and five riders in the front group is quite the achievement.
"That was a fantastic experience from the team car, let alone from the bunch. I think the riders will cherish those memories for many years to come ; it was quite simply that impressive. From a team performance point of view, I thought they did very well. With Dean Alex and Jack in a support role, Liam was able to ride a very aggressive first part of the race and so very nearly made the break of the day. Ian showed once again when the best in the world accelerate uphill he can more than match them. It is a pity the groups rejoined on the way into the finish, as I feel Andy had the legs to really get close, but with such a large group you have to either have a very good lead out or a lot of luck. At the end of the day it will have done wonders to the team’s confidence knowing they can race hard over 140 miles with some of the best riders in the world." Team manager – Roger Hammond
Click here for a full race report
Photos by Larry Hickmott and Andy Jones