Team CTC put in a solid shift on weekend double header
Lydia Boylan and Nicola Juniper represented the team in green on the night circuit on Saturday.
The race saw some of the world's top professional women cyclists take to the streets of the capital in Smithfield Market, with Team GB’s team pursuit gold medallists Laura Trott, Dani King and Joanna Roswell all competing in the field for Wiggle-Honda.
And whilst the tactics in play from the professional teams may have affected the progress of the rest of competitors, Team CTC’s manager Steve Bailey was pleased his team’s effort.
“There was a little bit of rivalry going on with Wiggle-Honda trying to ensure Lucy Garner of Argos-Shimano didn’t have a say in the sprint finish which affected the whole of the peloton including our riders.
“Despite this I can tell the girls loved the experience, the crowd and the atmosphere around the course and finished in a creditable position and incident free - good news for us considering the schedule we have in the next few months.”
With less than 24 hours between the night race and the following day’s criterium in Hillingdon, it was always going to be tough going for Boylan and Juniper - who were joined by Hannah Payton and Tamina Oliver for Sunday’s event.
However, both gave their all on a tough windy circuit, with Payton and Boylan finishing in the bunch finish at the end and Juniper coming 1st in one of the intermediate sprints, leaving Bailey immensely proud of each of his riders.
“It was clear some of the teams decided not to race on Sunday after the Nocturne, and Lydia did say she could feel the race from Saturday in her legs on Sunday. but she and Nicola did fantastically well to transfer from one to the other in such a short space of time."
On the whole, it was a fabulous performance from all the team at Hillingdon. They gave 100% in each of their races, rode their hearts out and contributed fantastically on the day."
Steve Bailey
Manager Team CTC
Team CTC’s third race of the week sees them make the short trip to Woking for Round Four of the Johnson Health Tech Series. And with the Surrey race being just down the road from CTC National Office in Guildford, Bailey is expecting lots of support for the green team Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s our home race, so the hope is to put out four riders for the crowd and everyone at CTC who’ll be there to cheer on, which would be fantastic.
“It’s a challenging course in that there are lots of hairpin turns and a nasty sweeping climb that starts from under the railway bridge and I think these conditions suit our riders. Hopefully, one or two of the ladies can jump off the front and give the leading teams a run for their money. Everyone is looking forward to it.”
