2023 Bec Road Race Summary
7th May 2023
Congratulations to Alex Richardson (Saint Piran) who stormed to victory in the 2023 edition of the Bec CC Road Race. Alex rode patiently on the Ladies Mile circuit before bridging across from the peloton to a chasing group as the riders took on the first lap of the Crowborough circuit, then continued straight on towards the front group before easing away on the last couple of laps to finish comfortably clear of the others
Full Results Now Below
How it Happened
The race covers around 72 miles of lumpy and often quite bumpy East Sussex roads, with the riders completing 10 laps of the Ladies Mile circuit before transitioning to the much tougher Crowborough circuit for five laps. Riders were alerted to the large number of large potholes on the course during the briefing and thankfully all riders got round safely.
Riders were led through the neutralised zone at around 11:00 and onto the first lap of the day. A group of four riders including Joe Hill (Embark Spirit BSS), Sebastian Garry (Kalas Motip Race Team), Michael Weavers (Lewes Wanderers CC) and Dylan Humber-Kelly (Private) formed an early break on the second lap of Ladies Mile and built up a lead of around 50 seconds by the third lap, but this was quickly shut down by the main group with all riders back together by the fifth lap.
The high pace on these early laps told as riders started to gradually drop off the back by lap six, with this attrition claiming a few more riders with each lap and whittling down the original 60-plus starters.
By lap seven there was a new break of five riders comprising Josh Housley (Derby CC Webuycycle Huub RT), Joshua Avery (Ride Revolution Coaching), George Peden (Team PB Performance), Danylo Riwnyj (trainSharp Elite), and Jack Crook (Richardsons Trek DAS), closely followed by a group of four chasers for a couple of laps as a gap back to the peloton began to solidify.
A high pace and good cooperation in the front and chasing groups on the Ladies Mile circuit was evident as the peloton slipped further behind while Sebastian Garry, Cai Davies (Kalas Motip Race Team), Nicholas Tyrie (Primera-TeamJobs), and Dylan Humber-Kelly made contact with the leaders to form a group of nine with a gap of 1:30 to another four chasers and 2:30 back to the ever-thinning peloton by the time riders completed the final Ladies Mile circuit.
Somewhat predictably, the first ascent of the 2.3 km climb up Marden's Hill and St John's Road leading into Crowborough created chaos throughout the race as the irregular gradient of the climb took its toll, especially for those who overcooked it on the Ladies Mile circuit laps. Despite the gap of nearly three minutes, two groups of four then two riders left the peloton in the hope of reeling in the break of nine riders, with one of those six being Alex Richardson.
After around two and a half hours of hard racing and the lead group of nine becoming seven, the chasing groups were making steady progress to reduce the deficit as it became clear the race was far from over as riders tackled the third Crowborough lap. It was around this point in the race that Alex Richardson really put the hammer down to join the front group before quickly setting off out front on his own on the penultimate lap, with no other riders able to stick with him, leaving him free to cross the finish line with arms aloft.
In a sprint finish for second, Nicholas Tyrie edged out Sebastian Garry, followed by Dylan Humber-Kelly in fourth.
The remainder of the prize-winning places were rounded out by Josh Housley, Jack Crook, Danylo Riwnyj and Harry Macfarlane (TAAP Endura).
Acknowledgements
Thanks to all riders for an excellent effort and taking care on the somewhat difficult surface. A lot of effort goes in behind the scenes to organise and run these events, so it was great to see a packed start line and plenty of aggressive racing throughout.
Thanks also to all marshals, commissaires, the medical team (who fortunately had a quiet day), and helpers from Bec CC.
We hope to see another great event next year!
Photos
Dave Hayward once again did a fantastic job of capturing the action on the course and all photos are available for free download on his website: https://www.davehaywardphotos....
Please tag Bec CC when posting on social media to help spread the word.
Other Bec CC Events for 2023
Bec CC Open 10, 27 May on the G10/42 course, starting in North Holmwood, near Dorking, Surrey
Bec CC Open 25, 20 August on the G25/93 course, starting near Steyning, West Sussex
Crowhurst Spring & Autumn Series
Bec CC Road Race 2023
| Pos | Bib No. | Time | Name | Club / Team Name | Cat. |
| 1 | 48 | 2:49:33 | Alexandar Richardson | Saint Piran | Elite |
| 2 | 36 | @0:55 | Nicholas Tyrie | Primera-TeamJobs | 1st |
| 3 | 25 | 0:55 | Sebastian Garry | Kalas Motip Race Team | Elite |
| 4 | 67 | 1:00 | Dylan Humber-Kelly | Private | 1st |
| 5 | 7 | 1:00 | Josh Housley | Derby CC Webuycycle Huub RT | 1st |
| 6 | 70 | 1:11 | Jack Crook | Richardsons Trek DAS | Elite |
| 7 | 60 | 1:16 | Danylo Riwnyj | trainSharp Elite | 2nd |
| 8 | 50 | 1:27 | Harry Macfarlane | TAAP Endura | 1st |
| 9 | 14 | 3:58 | Tobias Dahlhaus | Foran CCC | 1st |
| 10 | 49 | 4:10 | Chris McNamara | Sigma Sports - Cannondale RT | 1st |
| 11 | 52 | S.T. | Ally Speirs | TAAP Endura | 2nd |
| 12 | 51 | S.T. | James Nicholson | TAAP Endura | 2nd |
| 13 | 37 | S.T. | Isaac Wright | Project 51 | 1st |
| 14 | 69 | S.T. | Archie Cross | Velo Schils Interbike Cycle Team | 1st |
| 15 | 26 | S.T. | Cai Davies | Kalas Motip Race Team | 1st |
| 16 | 24 | S.T. | Charlie Lewis Follows | Islington Cycling Club | 2nd |
| 17 | 30 | S.T. | Michael Weavers | Lewes Wanderers CC | 2nd |
| 18 | 15 | S.T. | Stephen Maxwell | Foran CCC | 1st |
| 19 | 61 | S.T. | Casper Brazier | TRASH MILE | 1st |
| 20 | 57 | S.T. | Deetray Jarrett | trainSharp Development Team | 2nd |
| 21 | 21 | S.T. | James Boyman | Hoops Velo | 1st |
| 22 | 41 | 6:18 | Conor McGoldrick | Richardsons Trek DAS | Elite |
| 23 | 23 | 8:52 | Jody Paxman | Hutchinson-Brother UK | 2nd |
| 24 | 65 | 9:57 | Matthew Clayton | 2nd | |
| 25 | 3 | S.T. | Piers Higginson | Backstedt Bike Performance JRT | 3rd |
| 26 | 2 | S.T. | Colin Peck | Athlon CC | 2nd |
| 27 | 40 | S.T. | James Jenkins | Richardsons Trek DAS | Elite |
| 28 | 42 | S.T. | William Scott | Richardsons Trek DAS | 1st |
| 29 | 62 | 10:07 | George Hale | VØRANJE | 2nd |
| 30 | 22 | 10:17 | Benjamin May | Hutchinson-Brother UK | 2nd |
| 31 | 12 | 10:46 | Joe Hill | Embark Spirit BSS | 1st |
| 32 | 45 | S.T. | Clay Davies | Ride Revolution Coaching | Elite |
| 33 | 59 | 12:44 | Timothy Torrie | trainSharp Elite | 1st |
| 34 | 38 | 13:24 | Adam Cotterell | Project 51 | 2nd |
| 35 | 46 | 13:58 | Joshua Avery | Ride Revolution Coaching | 2nd |
| 36 | 11 | 21:02 | Ben Flatau | Elitecycling Development Team | 2nd |
| 37 | 17 | Lap Down | Joseph Murray | Foran CCC | 2nd |
| 38 | 58 | Lap Down | Torin Henderson | trainSharp Development Team | 3rd |
| 39 | 18 | Lap Down | Cillian Murphy | Galway Bay Cycling Club | 1st |
| 40 | 33 | Lap Down | Victor Pettersson | London Dynamo | 3rd |
| 41 | 34 | Lap Down | Benjamin Neal | LVC Racing | 3rd |
| 42 | 1 | DNF | Tyler Lemmon | ASSOS UK Racing Team | 3rd |
| 43 | 5 | DNF | Yani Angelo Djelil | CT Luc Wallays – jonge renners Roeselare | 2nd |
| 44 | 6 | DNF | Morris Bacon | DAP Cycling Club | 1st |
| 45 | 8 | DNF | Charles Gaimster | Dulwich Paragon CC | 3rd |
| 46 | 9 | DNF | Ben Moody | Elitecycling | 3rd |
| 47 | 10 | DNF | Patrick Torrison | Elitecycling | 3rd |
| 48 | 13 | DNF | Morgan West | Folkestone Velo Club | 2nd |
| 49 | 27 | DNF | Harry Green | Kalas Motip Race Team | 1st |
| 50 | 28 | DNF | Harvey Lawson | Kalas Motip Race Team | 2nd |
| 51 | 29 | DNF | Matthew Webber | LAKA Pedal Mafia RT | 3rd |
| 52 | 31 | DNF | James Knighton | London Dynamo | 3rd |
| 53 | 32 | DNF | Sam Llewellyn-Jones | London Dynamo | 3rd |
| 54 | 47 | DNF | Matt Bailey | Ride Revolution Coaching | 2nd |
| 55 | 53 | DNF | George Peden | Team PB Performance | Elite |
| 56 | 54 | DNF | Alec Briggs | TEKKERZ CC | 1st |
| 57 | 55 | DNF | Olivier Mangham | TEKKERZ CC | 2nd |
| 58 | 56 | DNF | Benjamin Tuchner | TEKKERZ CC | 2nd |
| 59 | 63 | DNF | Will Auty | 1st | |
| 60 | 64 | DNF | Alexander Carley | 2nd | |
| 61 | 68 | DNF | Daniel Shoobridge | Kalas Motip Race Team | Elite |
| 62 | 4 | DNS | Aidan Kerrigan | Black Cyclists Network | 3rd |
| 63 | 16 | DNS | Ian Middleton | Foran CCC | 2nd |
| 64 | 19 | DNS | Peter Hargreaves | GFTL | 2nd |
| 65 | 20 | DNS | Edmund Slater | GFTL | 2nd |
| 66 | 35 | DNS | Joe Staunton | Primera-TeamJobs | 1st |
| 67 | 39 | DNS | Finn Dunton | Project 51 | 2nd |
| 68 | 43 | DNS | Rhys Howells | Richardsons Trek DAS | 2nd |
| 69 | 44 | DNS | Callum Riley | Richardsons Trek DAS | 2nd |
| 70 | 66 | DNS | Luca Unwin | 2nd |
