Thursday the 26th saw Lou Collins and Iona Sewell
on the start line in the 2015 Tour Ta Malta stage race. Iona previously won
the GC in 2010 and our own head mechanic Mark Lovatt won the men’s version in
1991! The first stage of this years event was an individual time trial over
25km held over 4 laps of an out and back route with dead turns at each end. It
was windy and wet in place but both the girls showed their strength with Lou
finishing 2nd and Iona finishing 6th.
Thursday also saw Nicola Soden take part in the Lea Valley
track league. Nic, currently working in Portsmouth is making the most of the track
league to hone her form, with aggressive performances all evening picking up 3rd
place in the Points race.
On Friday and back in Malta for the 2nd stage,
this time a 60km road race on a rolling circuit. Even while riding to the
start, things started to go a little wrong with Iona puncturing. A quick stop
at the mechanic’s for a wheel change saw her on the start line. Another strong
showing from both Lou and Iona commenced, with Lou setting the tempo on the
climbs. Unfortunately for Iona she punctured again, but rode on slippery roads on a flat until she got a wheel change. Lou, this time finished 3rd on the stage to keep her 2nd
overall and a monumental effort by Iona saw her take 7th.
Saturday was meant to be the 3rd stage, a 40km
road race. Unfortunately, adverse weather coupled with roads made of limestone
that turn to glass like surfaces when wet meant that this was cancelled.
Meanwhile back in the windy UK, Sarah Cramoysan rode the Highfield Kitchens Spring Shield on
a closed circuit in Middlesborough. Sarah came a fine 7th although
missed the vital move when a break went but made a valiant effort to catch them,
unfortunately the blustery winds put paid to that.
It was also the season opener on the infamous V718 10 mile
time trial course at South Cave near Hull. This course has a reputation of
being the fastest 10 mile course in the Country, dependant on the wind
direction. With Saturday’s wind being in totally the wrong direction for fast
times, everyone knew it would be a tough day. Sole team rider Stewart Smith
faced the timekeeper, seeded at number 30, he set off into the tail/cross winds
for the opening 4 mile stretch. With an average speed of 30.2mph at the turn,
it was going to be a tough 6 mile return leg and true to form, battling a
head/cross wind saw his average drop to 28.2 mph. Stewart finished the distance
with a time of 21.21 and came 30th overall out of the 100 starters, which
show’s how slow the day was.
Also on Saturday were the first races of the season at Forge Valley in Sheffield, a custom built circuit on the site of Myers Grove School. James Vickers and Peter Morris were the team riders with Peter finishing in 9th after bridging to the leading break in his first ever crit.
Sarah Cramoysan (who clearly can't get enough of the bad weather) was on the start line again on Sunday, this
time in a 47 mile women’s 2,3,4 category event at Capenwray. With heavy rain
and strong, blustery winds to contend with, Sarah made a valiant effort just to
finish this race, on a course that doesn’t suit her strength’s, it was always
going to be a tough mental as well as physical test. Sarah battled on to finish in 25th place.
This takes us to the 4th and final stage of the
2015 Tour Ta Malta.
With just a 30km stage to try and claw back her 23 second deficit. Lou attacked
from the gun, setting the pace on the 1st climb to try and lose the
race leader. Iona buried herself on the descent and put her awesome descending
skills into practice to line the field out and get Lou off the front. This catapulted Lou into an attack where she managed
¾ of a lap solo, only to get drawn back by the other contenders working together.
Lou decided to rest up and leave everything to the
final climb, where she put in an immense attack and again distanced the current leader but her earlier efforts took their toll and Henrietta Colbourne just
edged the sprint for the line with Lou taking 2nd on the stage and 2nd
overall. Fabulous team effort in trying to get the victory, classy riding.
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