Clayton Velo Spring Classic 2017 (Handicap)
It is great to see Steve Whittington back road racing again for the first time since a bad crash in Belgium brought his international career to a premature end: for the full story of his early days see this article. After a good winter’s training including Centreville’s sweat-drenched roller sessions Steve was ready to dip his toe back in the waters. The Clayton Velo Spring Classic is a hell of a race to pick, with a classy field and having been won by Ian Stannard and Rob Hayles in previous editions.
Steve writes:
“This was my first open road race since 1993, but as a tardy vet nowadays and an even tardier 3rd cat, I was pleased to start in the scratch group with an 8 minute advantage over the elite and first cat whipper snappers from teams such as Madison-Genesis and Raleigh GAC.
Within five miles of the flag dropping, I found myself in an attack consisting of 5 other riders. “In for a penny, in for a pound” so we all got stuck in to some through and off to see if we could stay away for the remaining 55 miles.
It was a tough ask of 6 vets to hold of a bunch of professional riders and 1st cat riders, especially on the 15 lap undulating course with strong winds, but we fought hard and managed to stay out front for 11 laps of the race. When it all came together is when it all exploded, with the main peleton quickly fragmenting into many smaller groups. I managed to hold onto the main lead group for about half a lap, but by this time, having spent 40 miles working hard in a small break, my legs were giving up and I lost touch in an echelon caused by the strong crosswinds.
I found myself working with two other riders, one a 1st cat, and the other an elite to minimize our loses and by the end we finished around 4 minutes down on the leaders.
Overall I came in 24th out of 60 starters despite being out in front for most of a tough race, not too bad for an old dog I thought.”
You’ve got that right Steve, the first of many to come….class will out!
Full race report on Velo UK includes Steve in a pic and a video
A terrific performance and a champion write up
Very inspirational. Well done mate