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It was a case of 4th time lucky for Giles Drake of the Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli racing team as he was finally able to bring everything together on the day and take an impressive victory in the World’s toughest Cyclo-Cross race.
Watch Giles take the win at the 3 Peaks!
The 59th edition of this iconic race took place on a typically wet and windy Autumn day, with low cloud and poor visibility dominating the majority of the race. Factor in the strong winds on the top of the peaks and muddy conditions affecting both the riding and running/walking sections and this year’s race promised to be particularly challenging for everyone competing.
It’s been a while since we’ve had a wet and windy Peaks, 2023 did not disappoint.
It was interesting to note that riders who had the potential to be at the sharp end of the race were welcoming these difficult conditions with open arms, inspired by the challenge they would bring to the race and keen to cash in on the chance to establish large time gaps at key points of the course. Giles Drake could include himself in this select group of riders who had the skills, experience and sublime levels of fitness to race for the win; with an unfortunate run of bad luck affecting his results in previous editions he was ready to put that behind him and line up again to race for the win.
The pre-race favourites were ready to compete for the win, but would luck be on their side?
Going into the 3 Peaks with high hopes for Giles, we knew it was important to deploy the full Wheelbase media squad onto the course to help capture all of the drama of this unique race and its foreboding landscape. The approach to the top of Ingleborough, the first of 3 peaks is dominated by the ridiculous gradients of Simon Fell which sees riders shouldering their bikes while steadying themselves with their hands on the ground in front of them such is the steepness of this climb; we headed straight there to catch what is arguably the most iconic moment of the whole race.
The infamous steep slopes of Simon Fell strike fear into the heart of every competitor at the 3 Peaks.
We positioned ourselves three quarters of the way up Simon Fell and waited to see who would come out of the mist first as over 300 riders started to stretch out into a long line below us. True to form multiple 3 Peaks winner Rob Jebb appeared out of the clouds in front with Giles Drake keeping pace right on his heels; it was amazing to see that even at this point in the race they were beginning to stretch out their lead, with the remaining elite racers already well spaced out behind them. After filming and photographing the epic struggle of the main group’s grueling ascent of Simon Fell we hot-footed it off the fell and headed towards Ribblehead Viaduct with high hopes that Giles would be leading the race the next time we saw him.
In the meantime Giles was first over the very top of Ingleborough with Jebb on his wheel; on the long descent towards Cold Coates Giles picked up a front wheel puncture, but unlike other years he was able to remain calm, riding the flat to the first road section thanks to his tubeless tyre inserts before making a quick wheel change and quickly reestablishing his lead on the long valley road towards the second peak of Whernside.
True to form it was multiple 3 Peaks champ Rob Jebb who emerged from the mist first with Giles Drake hot on his heels.
As we arrived at Ribblehead and waited for Giles to descend off Whernside past the iconic viaduct we got news that he had been able to stretch out his lead to around one and a half minutes at the top and before long he was coming through in a flash of yellow, green and black as his Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli team kit shone through the flat grey light which was still dominating the morning. Looking powerful and composed on the bike it was clear to see that Giles was on a stormer of a day and was able to steal time on the climbs and flatter portions of the course while staying in control on the chaotic descents, erring on the side of caution to avoid any unwanted mechanicals.
It was a relief to see Giles coming off Whernside in first place without any unwanted mechanicals.
The race was on and Giles’ dedicated support crew could begin to dream that this was finally the 3 Peaks Cyclo-Cross that everything would come together for him. All of us knew that he was more than capable of taking the win; it was just a matter of time and the avoidance of an untimely puncture. We stayed another 10-15 minutes at Ribblehead to capture the lead riders coming through and before long our Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli National Vet 40 Cyclo-Cross Champion Lewis Craven came through resplendent in his National Champs kit. As he drew level with us it was clear he was finessing his bike to the pits with a front wheel puncture where Wheelbase team manager Stu Reid was waiting to perform a super-fast wheel change before getting him off on his way again. After the race Lewis would explain that he’d suffered a double puncture, but despite this clearly affecting his result he was still able to finish the race in an impressive 22nd place.
Punctures would effect Lewis Craven’s race, but with speedy assistance from Wheelbase team manager Stu Reid he was still able to finish in 22nd place.
Some quick trackside calculations indicated that if we were going to be able to get to the finish and capture Giles crossing the line for the win then we were going to have to forego the third and final peak of Pen-Y-Ghent. Jumping in the car we headed straight to Helwith Bridge and readied ourselves with cameras in hand, eager to record the moment that Giles finally got the monkey off his back. Giles’ friends and family nervously clung on to the barriers, craning their necks to see the first sight of him swinging off the road and into the finishing area.
As he crossed the line with his arms punching the air the relief was palpable; Giles stepped off his bike dropped to the floor, onto his knees and bowed his head for a second to take in what he’d just achieved. What followed was a round of hugs, high-fives and back slaps as his friends, family and Wheelbase team helpers all congratulated him on what we all knew was a massively significant result for Giles.
Giles Drake takes the win!
Friends, family and teammates were waiting at the finish to share Giles’ well-deserved win.
Shortly after he regained his composure Giles was back in front of our cameras again, answering my questions and giving us his account of how the race played out. Ever the professional Giles took time to thank his friends, family, hardworking support crew and the Wheelbase team, acknowledging the technical help he’d received in the build up to the Peaks in an effort to eliminate the risk of an untimely puncture or mechanical. The 3 Peaks Cyclo-Cross race has been a passion project for Giles, he’s refined his race-craft over the years and worked hard to limit the potential for bad luck; there’s no more deserved rider to take the win than Giles Drake and we’re all incredibly proud of his laser focus and unwavering drive to win this iconic race!
Ever the professional, Giles was ready for his-post race interview, giving us the low-down on how things played out up on the hills.
Wheelbase are super-proud of all the hard work Giles put in to win the iconic 3 Peaks Cyclo-Cross race!
Photos by James Vincent (you can see a full gallery of his 3 Peaks Cyclo-Cross photos below..)
Written by Johnny Dodgin
Video by Badger Productions & Johnny Dodgin
Check out Giles Drake’s race winning Cannondale SuperSix EVO CX bike which he very kindly photographed before the lengthy bike cleaning process began! Giles made a number of adaptations to the bike to make it as user-friendly as possible for the 3 Peaks including that HUGE wide ratio cassette ensuring he had the right choice of gears for the steep but rideable portions of the course. Tyre choice and setup were also key considerations with Giles opting for a tubeless setup that included sealant and tyre inserts, enabling him to keep riding to the next pit area on a flat tyre. You can see our full Cannondale SuperSix EVO CX Fast Bike Friday feature HERE
Giles Drake’s 3 Peaks race-winning Cannondale SuperSix EVO CX bike.
Our talented freelance photographer James Vincent did an awesome job of capturing all of the chaos of the 3 Peaks Cyclo-Cross race. Check out our huge gallery bellow…
