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Wheelbase are celebrating the hugely successful National Cyclo-Cross Championships which took place over the weekend of 14th/15th January at the popular Westmorland County Showground venue just down the road from Wheelbase HQ in the South Lake District.
Big crowds cheered on the racers as they took the mud of Westmorland County Showground.
As event sponsors Wheelbase could not be happier with how the event went; with our own team rider Dave Haygarth and his band of loyal volunteers at the helm the whole weekend of action-packed racing went off without a hitch, despite some epic winter weather in the week leading up to the event and during racing on the Saturday. Happily the sun made a much-welcomed appearance for Sunday’s races, encouraging huge crowds to converge at the most technical parts of the course to witness the U.K.s very best Cyclo-Cross racers compete in some of the toughest racing of the season.
International racer Cameron Mason came back to the U.K. to win the National Cyclo-Cross Champions Jersey.
Needless to say, three weeks of almost continuous rain in the lead up to the Championships had a massive impact to the racing conditions, with heavily saturated ground turning into thick mud almost instantly. Just like a water-logged edition of the Glastonbury Festival, albeit without the June temperatures, the competitors, spectators, event organisers and vendors all embraced the conditions and there was a great atmosphere throughout the weekend. As the Wheelbase Bar continued to serve tasty Lakes Brew Co. beers, our resident DJ pumped out some classic Eurotrash Techno tunes and the Belgian Frites stall served up frites & mayo for an authentic Belgian Cyclo-Cross vibe making the National Champs a brilliant end-of-season party.
Some spectators really embraced the muddy conditions.
Most of the racing-action on Saturday took place under black clouds with intermittent heavy showers and high winds bringing temperatures down. Savvy racers were using the large bodies of standing water in the lower portion of the fields to their advantage, washing off some of the thicker mud from their bikes as they blasted thorough them. Needless to say the hard-working pit-crews were kept busy, making sure that their riders received a clean bike on every lap in what quickly became a battle against the elements.
The mud on course became very sticky and slippery.
While Saturday’s wet weather made spectating a bit of a challenge, the racers benefitted from a course that was more rideable thanks to their ability to cut through the wetter mud and gain more grip in the process. Sunday’s weather flipped the script with settled sunny weather making spectating a joy and encouraging huge crowds for the final two big races of the weekend. Conversely the warmer weather meant that the mud from the day before began to dry out becoming even more sticky and slippery, making racing and bike-handling that more difficult. These conditions resulted in a fair amount of running per lap and rewarded racers who were able to stay as calm, focused and in control as possible. Because of this the large field of competitors quickly became spread out throughout the course meaning that there was always lots of action going on for the large crowds of spectators who continued to shout encouragement and ring their customary cow-bells.
Wheelbase were proud sponsors of the National Cyclo-Cross Championships.
Our own Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Cyclo-Cross team where in action across multiple races over the weekend, with some great results in their respective categories. We were keen to be well-represented in what was being described as our ‘home race’ and being title sponsors of the event it was important that our riders were at the sharp end of the racing.
The Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli team were out in force at our ‘Home Championships’
Our team had some difficult course conditions to overcome.
Dave Haygarth should be applauded for his efforts, as he not only worked non-stop throughout the week leading up to and then during the event helping ensure the smooth running of the National Champs he still found time to line up and race! Racing in the Vet 50 category Dave rode strongly in what were some of the most challenging conditions of the whole weekend. After racing a full season of National-level and League Cyclo-Cross races Dave was in his element in the mud, using his finely-honed bike-handling skills to take an excellent 17th place.
Not content with simply organising the Champs, Dave Haygarth was racing too, taking on the Vet 50 race.
Dave used his great bike-handling skills to eventually finish in 17th place.
If he didn’t enjoy himself, course designer Dave Haygarth would only have himself to blame.
Elsewhere, in the U16 Girls category Dave’s daughter Elsie found herself racing in between icy deluges as the cold, wet weather continued throughout the day. With both knees still heavily taped up to support some niggles that have affected her towards the later half of the Cyclo-Cross season Elsie would once again do battle with fellow racers in an age category which is stacked with racing talent and reflects the ever-increasing popularity of this off-road cycling discipline. With some fantastic support from friends and family, both in the pits and behind the course tapes Elsie rode a solid race to eventually finish in 20th place; it’s great to see Elsie continuing to develop as a racer and this full season of competition will stand her in good stead for future seasons as she moves through the age categories.
Elsie Haygarth has had a solid Cyclo-Cross season and signed off in style at the National Championships.
Elsie made short work of the Wheelbase hurdles.
Saturday also saw one of the most important races for us here at Wheelbase; with the Westmorland venue right on our doorstep and a fair few of our team riders based here in the North West of England there were some great opportunities for our local racers to shine at their ‘home race’. Non more so than Lewis Craven who has been with the Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli team for years and has rewarded us with some fantastic results during that time. Lewis has previously held the National Vet 40 title as well as more recently the coveted Vet 40 World Champions jersey; in fact it seems strange to see Lewis in a standard Wheelbase team jersey!
Would Lewis be swapping his standard Wheelbase jersey for a National Champs jersey?
The National Cyclo-Cross Vet 40 Championship race was an opportunity for Lewis to regain the iconic dark blue National Champs jersey at the end of a season that has seen some really close-fought battles with his racing contemporaries. Throughout the season-long National Trophy Series Craven has consistently been at the sharp end of racing, placing on the podium multiple times but always seeming to miss out on the win. Westmorland presented Lewis with the last chance to take that elusive win at the most important race of the year and in front of a VERY supportive home crowd.
Lewis is captured by our videographer Dave MacFarlane during the race.
The week going into the Championships left Lewis dealing with a heavy cold and time off the bike; far from ideal Lewis showed his experience of competing at this level, remaining calm in the build up and just seeing what he could do on the day. We imagine he would have been secretly rubbing his hands together on the morning of the race though as the sort of difficult conditions that the competitors were dealing with were exactly where Lewis excels.
The difficult course conditions were much to Lewis Craven’s liking.
With sublime bike-handling skills and an ability to ride smoothly while carrying momentum through the most technical parts of the course Lewis was able to ride efficiently and dose his efforts, delivering the power to accelerate away from his fellow competitors as the race progressed. Rather than an all-out attack Lewis relied on his skill and consistency to slowly gain a gap and then hold it until a very emotional finish which saw his teammates and supporters celebrating this incredibly popular win. One of the most friendly, popular and professional riders on the circuit Lewis was immediately name-checking his sponsors during post-race interviews while we all offered our congratulations. Wheelbase are thrilled to see Lewis back in the National Cyclo-Cross Championship jersey, with this second Champs victory being all the sweeter after a difficult build up to the race.
The relief was palpable; after a difficult build-up to the race Lewis was still able to take the win.
This win meant that Lewis Craven would be back in the Vet 40 National Champs jersey for another season.
A week of illness before the race meant Lewis was totally exhausted at the finish line.
Lewis Craven is the Vet 40 National Cyclo-Cross Champion!
Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli was also brilliantly represented by Davie Lines in the same Vet 40 Race. Equally talented on and off-road Davie lined up at the Nationals following some stellar results this season which included a fantastic 2nd place and a well-deserved Silver Medal at the UCU World Master Cyclo-Cross Championships earlier in the season. At Westmorland Davie rode another solid race, displaying similar bike-handling abilities to Lewis and making most of the difficult conditions to take a brilliant 7th place for Wheelbase.
Davie Lines signed off another successful ‘cross season with 7th place in the Vet 40 race.
Fast forward to Sunday and spectators & racers were greeted with clear blue skies, some much-welcomed sunshine and a rapidly drying course, however, such was the amount of rain and damage to the course the previous day there was no way that racing conditions were going to be dry and fast regardless of the late appearance from the Sun. With the mud becoming more sticky and some of the steep banks becoming so churned up that they were unrideable in places the final senior Elite race of the Championships was going to be slow-going with plenty of running. Line-choice, superior bike-handling AND a speedy and competent pit-crew were going to make all the difference between racing success and failure. Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli lined up at the start with Giles Drake, Adam Bent, Flynn Gregory and Rory McGuire all representing us in the biggest race of the weekend.
Adam Bent would take an excellent 10th place in the U23 sub-category.
Rory McGuire made his customary fast start in the Seniors race.
Standing at the side of the course, within a packed crowd of enthusiastic spectators we got to witness THE most competitive ‘cross race of the season in an event which pits the U.K.s best racers against a small number of riders who are typically based overseas and racing at international level; those riders return to the U.K. in the hope of taking the coveted National Championship jersey so that they can show it off during a packed season of World Cup Cyclo-Cross racing. This large spread of racing ability soon left racers strung out all over the course meaning there was plenty of action for spectators as smaller groups of competitors became locked into their own personal battles.
Giles Drake was our highest placed rider taking a brilliant 11th place.
The lads from Wheelbase represented us really well at our ‘Home Champs’ with our seasoned campaigner Giles Drake taking a fantastic 11th place, positioned towards the front of the pack at the sharp end of the race. Likewise our two younger riders Adam Bent and Flynn Gregory who are not that long out of the junior ranks performed really well to take 21st and 39th respectively. With both riders still qualifying for the Under 23 sub-category Adam would secure 10th position and Flynn would take 17th to reflect their racing talent and consistency at the end of a long, hard season. Unfortunately Rory McGuire was a DNF; at time of writing we’re unsure what happened, but we know we’ll see this talented rider back at the front of a race very soon.
Flynn Gregory placed 17th in the U23 sub-category of the senior race.
A HUGE thanks to Dave Haygarth for all of the hard work behind the scenes.
We would like to publicly thank Dave Haygarth and his long list of helpers for the incredible efforts he put into the National Cyclo-Cross Championships at Westmorland, here in the Lake District. Wheelbase are incredibly proud of all of their hard work behind the scenes; Cyclo-Cross came to Cumbria and we had a party! To everyone who attended this two day event we really hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did. Here’s to Mud, Sweat and Beers!
Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Results:
Day 1 Saturday
Vet 40
1st Lewis Craven
7th Davie Lines
Vet 50
17th Dave Haygarth
U16 Girls
20th Elsie Haygarth
Day 2 Sunday
Elite Men
11th Giles Drake
21st Adam Bent (10th U23)
39th Flynn Gregory (17th U23)
DNF Rory McGuire
Written by Johnny Dodgin
Photos by Man Down Media
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