Stage 4 – Back to where it all began – Tick Tock, Watopia

A total of 360 riders took to the start line of the final stage of the BC South Charity Christmas LIZR series was held on the Tick Tock course in Watopia.   This is the course where Bath, BRC, SAS and PDQ started racing on Zwift in March 2020.  It is a flat course with 2 hard ramps each lap.  The tactics for the race are to make the flat as uncomfortable for your competitors as possible and try and drop them on the climb out of Saddle Springs or the ramp out of the underwater tunnel, loosing the wheel on either of these climbs can mean that you will loose time to the front group.

The Strava Flypast from the B race indicates just how much time you can loose.

Women’s AB Category

Jenny Hudson of BRC had over a minute lead from her teammate Suze Anderson, so as long as she finished with the leading pack she was guaranteed, the win.  Suze had only an 18 second advantage over Ali in 3^rd, and Elizabeth Sanders of Avid was only 3 seconds off the podium.  Could she prevent a BRC lockout?

Individual Stage

The 32 women in the AB race started across Fuego Flats, with 29 of the women getting to the bottom of the climb together.  BRC pushed the pace up the climb and the group split into two.  A lead group of 18 and a chasing group of 11, over the next lap the lead group opened up a lead of 30 seconds.

The second time up the climb the two groups stayed together.   The finish came down to a sprint that would decide the overall podium.  Ali Cameron took the win from Alice Thomson’s in 2^nd place and Elizabeth Sander’s in 3^rd place.

The top 5 were

GC Individual

Jenny Hudson’s 4th place was sufficient to hold on to the overall place in GC.  Ali Cameron moved above Suze Anderson.  Elizabeth Sanders 3rd place on the night was not sufficient to stop a BRC lockout.

Stage Team

BRC maintained their strangle hold at the top of the team competition. Parallel Coaching Club had 3 finishers in the Womens AB and had a team position for the second time

1             Bristol Road Club

2            Avid CC

3            Bella Velo Riders

4            Parallel Coaching Club

GC Team

There is no change in the overall with BRC taking the win

1st          Bristol Road Club

2nd        Avid CC

3rd         Bella Velo Riders

 Men’s A Category

It was tight at the top of the Men’s A category with Robert McEwan of SRAMcc holding a 3 second advantage over Oscar Hitchings of Team Tor.  With the stage likely to come down to a sprint finish between the main contenders and 40 bonus seconds available, any of the top 5 could take the overall GC.

Individual Stage

The A Cat race started hard with an average speed of 49.5km/hr across Fuego Flats, many riders were already on the limit as they reached the foot of the climb.  The pace pushed on and first time up the climb 6.0w/kg for a minute was the required power to stay on the back of the bunch – 58 of the 80 A cat riders made it.  The others formed gruppettos behind.  2^nd time up was only 1 second slower, this time a further 17 riders were dropped.

The main contenders all came to the finish line together in a group of 41 riders.  John Russell of BRC was the first to show, taking it up with 400m to go, he was closely followed by Matt Franklin.  They momentarily had a gap, but Iain Evans, with a perfectly timed use of an Aero power up, came by at the last to win by 2seconds from the pack and pick up the valuable 40 second bonus seconds.  Will Budge was 2^nd and Oscar Hutchings 3^rd.

Overall Individual

This meant that it was all change at the top.  Iain Evans’ win and bonus seconds were sufficient to move him from 3^rd to 1^st place.  In the other direction Robert McEwan’s 11^th place and zero bonus seconds meant he slipped from 1^st to 4^th.

Will Budge’s 2^nd place was not sufficient to overtake Oscar who held on for the 2^nd place on GC after finishing 3^rd on the night.  Charlie Revell’s 10^th on the stage was enough to hold on to 5^th position by 19 seconds.

Stage Team

Team Tor 2000 had a narrow win by 2 seconds over Poole Wheelers in 2^nd and 73 Degrees in 3^rd.  BRC only had two riders in the front group and slipped to 6^th team on the night.

Overall Team

There were 10 teams who finished all 4 stages and a further 12 teams who finished at least 1 stage.

But the overall winner was Poole Wheelers who extended their lead over BRC in 2^nd and 73 degrees in 3rd

Men’s B Category

Rob Hill of Bath had an almost unassailable lead at the top of the GC.  Tobi Rosenkranz of Kingston Wheelers was only 2 seconds ahead of Michael Taylor in 3^rd, with Johnny G of BoA CC in 4^th

Individual Stage

There were 120 riders in the B Cat and they made a fast start across fuego flats, but with everyone knowing that the split would come on the climb there was a slight lull in proceedings through the town.  A small group of 10-15 almost got away on the first climb, but on the descent a group of 60 came back together.   This group stayed together until the second time up the climb when a further 18 could not hold the wheel.

43 riders raced through the underwater tunnel for one final time.

Michael Taylor was the first to show in the sprint, but he was easily overtaken by the chasing pack and handed the win to his teammate Rob Hill.  S Arkwright of PCC was 2^nd and the strong Tobi finished 3^rd.

Team Stage

With two riders in the top 6 Bath CC were always going to win the team prize.  PCC were 2^nd and Trowbridge CC were 3^rd

GC

Rob Hill of Bath CC extended his lead at the top.   Tobi Rosenkranz of KWCC stayed in 2^nd spot.  S Arkwright was rewarded for his 2^nd place and moved up by 2 places to 5th

Team GC

15 teams finished the B Cat team competition with at least 3 riders finishing each round – well done all – a further 9 teams finished at least one stage.

There was no change in the B Cat Team Competition

Men’s C Category

Individual Stage

 Team Stage

 GC Individual

Johnny Heppners 2^nd place was sufficient to take over from Jordan Noble at the top of the C Cat.  Ben Parfitt’s win moved him above Malcolm Treby of Bath CC.

GC Team

Women’s C Category

Individual Stage

Lucy Bryant made it 4 wins out of 4

 Team Stage

 GC Individual

There was no change in the top 5 positions in GC

1st           Lucy Bryant        Salt and Sham

2nd         Jo Greening       Clapham Chasers Riders

3rd          Tracey Phillips Portishead Cycling Club

4th          Liz Kemp             Westbury Wheelers

5th          Claire Ablett      Portishead Cycling Club

GC Team

Unfortunately Bella Velo riders team finished with only 2 riders on the 4^th stage so that they lost the overall lead to PCC.  Salt and Sham moved up to 2^nd.

 Overall Club

It was very close at the top of the overall club competition with BRC taking the win by 45 seconds from PCC with Poole Wheelers in 3rd

Stage 4 Results

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSCfdl98kp-Fpb9SYU7bpkyfCEQ-GyXPHtUN1W2CpJU6IPC0jptOqQcIQJTNt5eDBWMZeG_HvaPTVRr/pub?output=pdf

GC  Standings

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQNgfnhjY3swouRT7fEhaBFdJNaFWb4sWc8Ia-h9x3gotVz95O9mZcrsdXiu4Tveq9P6H3IFUFn6LtB/pubhtml