BATTLE ON THE BEACH – VICTORY FOR GILES DRAKE!

Congratulations to our star Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Team off-road racing specialist Giles Drake who recently took the win at the infamous ‘Battle on the Beach’ race in Pembrey on the South Wales coast. Despite being more used to racing cyclocross and traditional mountain bike races there’s always a glint in Giles’ eye when this annual beach race comes around; the Coronavirus pandemic meant that the 2020 race was cancelled and the 2021 edition, which was originally scheduled for March was postponed until October making for a frustrating wait to get back on the sand. When the opportunity to race finally came around Giles was more than ready; we’ll let him take up the story…

While beach racing is quite popular in Northern Europe and Holland in particular, opportunities to race full speed down a UK shoreline are few and far between; the annual Battle on the Beach is the one opportunity and after the frustrations of the cancelled 2020 event and postponed 2021 race I was raring to go! Race organiser Matt Page dreamed up this incredibly unique event 6 years ago and it has now grown into one of the most oversubscribed events on the UK race scene. Traditionally, top beach racers from Europe come to race but due to COVID, defending champion Bram Imming was a ‘DNS’ (did not start), which meant the race would see the crowning of the very first British male winner.

One of the more special elements of the Battle on the Beach is that any bike goes – cyclocross, mountain bike, fat bike… whatever you want to ride, you can. This means there’s a real mix of bikes and setups on the start line, with the event also attracting a really broad mix of riders and ability levels it has quicky become a must-do race on most rider’s bucket list. An hour before the race I was still unsure which I would opt for, cyclocross for pure speed down the beach or mountain bike for the more technical twisty sections that wind us back to the arena? This year, there was a pretty substantial headwind on the beach and in the end this tipped me towards the Cannondale Scalpel SI full-suspension 29er mountain bike over the Cannondale Super X cyclocross bike as I felt I wouldn’t need the bigger gears.

Giles chases the leaders through the tight single track after the long 5km beach portion of the race.

 

At midday with 1,000 people gathered on the beach for the mass start we set off through soft sand in search of the faster firm sand to begin the 5km trek down the length of the beach. The relentless headwind soon created small bunches of riders racing on the beach, it’s easy to sit in but just as easy to be caught in the wrong place and get shelled. I had a good enough start, settling down and being attentive to some of the stronger riders futile attempts to break away from the group.

We reached the exit of the beach and this is where it got messy, there were forced dismounts due to the soft sand and inevitable bottle necks quickly formed. I got through relatively unscathed but had to work hard to reach the front. Taking stock as I got near to the front I quickly realised that Gruffudd Lewis & Steve Calland, two of the pre-race favourites were away off the front. Gruff fresh from the Tour of Britain road race was going to be tough to reel in, but by the end of the first lap, riding on my own I managed to catch Steve as we re-joined the beach and continued to chase Gruff.

Intelligent racing and valuable experience of the previous editions of Battle on the Beach contributed to Giles’ win.

 

I could see Gruff ahead on the beach but in these conditions, with a stiff headwind, a couple hundred meters was a much bigger time gap than it would have been in previous years. I didn’t see Gruff once we left the beach but the format of this race is such that the final lap is different from the first two and it deviates shortly after you leave the beach. As I entered the arena, the commentator declared me as the winner, which at the time confused me, but as it transpired Gruff had unfortunately carried on instead of taking the alternative turn for the third lap. I sympathise with Gruff’s mistake and its easily done in the heat of battle but this has always been the format of this race and race organiser Matt went above and beyond to ensure the turn-off was as visible and obvious as possible. I’m over the moon to be the first British winner of this unique beach race which has become a staple of my summer racing & I can’t wait to return next year to defend the title, hopefully against the full European contingent.

Giles Drake takes the win and becomes Britain’s first ever winner of Battle on the Beach.

 

Giles will be racing National and Regional Cyclocross throughout the Autumn and Winter alongside the rest of the Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Team. You can keep up with all of his racing and results here: Giles Drake