Duncan Murray Team Cup Road Race, 31 July 2022

I came into the sixth round of the Women’s National Team Cup with a bit of a confidence boost from a very successful last race. As usual, there was a very strong line up of 53 riders, including 3 of my teammates, so my aim was to stick in with the front group and get us all in the top 20. The course was on a very rolling course in Northamptonshire so I wasn’t familiar with the roads, but on arrival we drove on parts of the course and it looked to be fast course with a good chance of the race ending in a bunch sprint. Something I found unusual was that we were racing on the course with the men at the same time, but starting 10 minutes later, so it was interesting to see how that was going to go.

After warming up, we had a team talk and our aim was to get to the front and have the 4 of us getting in the right end of the split and finish in the top 20. We had a really short neutralised (400 metres), and the pace was high. I was in a good position, but it was like an obstacle course. There were lots of parked cars on the descent and trying to move up the bunch was a bit more challenging than normal.

All was going well until just before reaching our first left turn. I saw riders in front crash but before I could react to crash, I also slipped and crashed too. 18 of us on the floor feeling frustrated and curious as to what we slipped on. Turns out it was a mixture of rainwater, linseeds, rape seed, and oil! We weren’t given any warning about the dangers of that corner (despite the men’s race also having crashed on that corner). At this point, my only thought was to get my chain back on and get back to the front group to help my teammates. Unfortunately one of my teammates was also involved in the crash so it was looking unlikely for us to get a top 20 finish. Luckily my team manager and one of the parents from my team came to help me get my chain back on and give me push to get me going again. Thankfully I only cut my knee and felt that I was fine to carry on.

I was joined by a Welland Valley rider who was also involved in the crash, who told me to sit on her wheel so we could try and get back to the front group. I could just see the back of the front group up ahead, but it was quite windy, so it was difficult to get back on. I felt like my race was over, and I didn’t even complete a quarter of the first lap! Suddenly the race was suspended temporarily. I was so relieved as it felt like a second chance to get back into the race. There was a 15 minute delay whilst we had to wait for the mens race to pass, as well as getting the first aid team to come to the race scene.

Once first aid arrived, I got my knee checked out, while my team manager checked my bike over and let out some air from the tyres. We were given the all clear and the race restarted neutralised again, and would be neutralised on that corner for the rest of the race. The pace was more controlled and I was able to move up to the top 10 and stayed there for quite a while. We approached a short, sharp hill and I had a good position. The pace pushed on over the hill and I did lose one of my teammates.

I carried on sitting in the front group, and was feeling pretty comfortable (apart from the sore knee). The second lap was quite fast too. We even had a tractor on the course, followed by a car towing a caravan. My positioning wasn’t great at times, but my legs were still feeling ok. We approached a long stretch of road with lots of potholes and gravel. I lost my water bottle on this road (my bottle cage cracked from the crash), and we weren’t allowed a feed zone today so I had to rely on my remaining bottle on my bike for the rest of the race. As we reached the short hill, there was an attack and sadly one of my teammates who was involved in the crash lost the front group. This left me and one of my teammates left in this group. My legs were starting to fatigue a little after the attack over the hill, and then the fast pace on the flat sectors. But, with only one of my teammates left in this group, I knew I needed to bury myself to stay in and help my teammate for the finish.

We got to the third lap, and the pace was still quite quick. My legs were definitely hurting and I was just about hanging on at the back of the group. I knew that I was in a bad position but it was all I could do! Luckily I was in a small group at the back. We managed to move up and I got into a much better position, near the front. The pace was more controlled at this point which helped me recover and refuel for the finish. This continued onto the last lap where we had a more controlled pace and it was getting more tense in the bunch trying to move up. My teammate did a long turn on the front on the flat sector, so when we approached the short hill, I was at the front of the group putting the pressure on, along with Awen and 2x riders from Pedal Mafia, while my teammate was somewhat recovering. I managed to wiggle back to some shelter and I was happy with my position- I just needed to keep it. I was currently sitting 3rd wheel from the front, and although my legs were feeling fatigued, I felt that I was ready to follow some moves.

With 400 metres to go, Awen did an attack on the bottom of the uphill finish , which I managed to follow and with a few others (including one of my teammates). We managed to break away from the rest until the last 100 metres where a couple of riders overtook me. My legs was screaming at me at this point, but I crossed the line in 11th place, and my teammate finished a fantastic 3rd. Another brilliant result for the team. I was really happy to have finished in the top 15 after being involved in the crash. It felt really nice to have helped my teammate get a podium finish, and have contributed to yet another brilliant team result!

Amy Harvey