UCI WORLD MASTERS CYCLOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS – RACE REPORT

 

DAVIE’S DAY….

The first weekend of December saw the welcome return of the UCI World Masters Cyclocross Championships to Trinity Park, Ipswich in East Suffolk; back for its second successive year this busy weekend gave racers aged 35 and over the chance to pit themselves against a field of international competitors for the glory of becoming a World Masters Cyclocross Champion in their respective age category. With racers ranging from 35 to over 75 years of age the event hosted 3 full days of racing on a popular cyclocross race course which included all the typical sort of features that could play their part in shaping the outcome of each race, including a long sandpit, barriers, tight wooded singletrack and a short staircase run-up, but more on that later.

Every race of the Masters World Cyclocross Championships was stacked with racing talent.

 

Three members of the Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli cyclocross team travelled to Trinity Park; with Dave Haygarth and Lewis Craven based in the North West of England and Davie Lines up in Scotland the lads made the long trip south with the aim of at least representing the team on the podium and possibly taking the win in their respective races. It’s worth pointing out too, that Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli had just enjoyed a full cyclocross season with their very own World Masters Cyclocross Champion, yes, after getting to wear the coveted World Champs Rainbow Jersey for a year Lewis Craven was going into the Vet 45-49 Men’s race as defending champion.

Lewis Craven has spent a full season racing in the coveted World Champs rainbow jersey.

 

Our seasoned campaigner and cyclocross devotee Dave Haygarth, who plays an important role off the bike as much as he does on it as a busy race organiser (he’s currently working hard behind the scenes on the National Cyclocross Championships which is taking place on our Wheelbase HQ’s doorstep in the new year), was our first rider to line up in the Vet 50 category. The field of this race was stacked with racing talent including former World Masters Champions Nick Craig and Ian Taylor and Dave lined up with high hopes after a solid season of national-level racing so far; sadly it was not to be, we’ll let Dave take up his story…

Dave Haygarth gave it everything, but a recent knee injury would massively affect his race.

 

I‘m disappointed to say that after a long trip I did not have the best of days, but that’s racing. I picked up a small knee injury after the Torbay round of the National Trophy Cyclocross Series and worked hard on nurturing it in the last couple of weeks including taking a weekend off racing in the hope I could make a speedy recovery ready for this big event. I knew it was optimistic, and as it turned out as soon as the gun went I could feel it wasn’t right; there was just no way I could get the required power down through my knees.

Negotiating the barriers was difficult given Dave’s injury.

 

The sand section needed full on gas for 15 seconds and I had about five seconds of full gas before my knee started killing each lap. The short steps were slow and nasty and the other dismount at the hurdles was exceptionally painful because of the knee. Basically my head dropped after about two laps and I was quite happy to let people pass me and just enjoy the occasion. I finished mid-pack and while I was disappointed at the outcome of my race I had to be philosophical given my circumstances and I was still really happy to be part of such a great event.

Normally Dave loves blasting through the sandpit, but in this case he just couldn’t put the power down.

 

Next up we had defending World Champion Lewis Craven and Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli teammate Davie Lines in the Vet 45-49 category, another field of racers made up of the great and good of the past 30 years of off-road racing in the U.K. and beyond. A quick read-through of the start list revealed some very familiar names who have continuously won races since the early 1990’s indicating that whoever was going to take the win in this race would be a seasoned campaigner with a rich racing history.

The Vet 45-49 Men’s category was packed with racing talent.

 

Dry weather conditions meant that the course was almost completely dry and riding very fast, so the racing was rapid and saw small groups quickly forming; Lewis Craven will tell you he prefers more difficult racing conditions, going well in super-muddy races when he can really take advantage of his Jedi-like bike-handling skills. Despite this fact our defending champ was positioned well at the lead of the race and was enjoying the course charging hard with teammate Davie Lines nearby. Just as he started to formulate his next move Lewis got into difficulty with his shoes and clipless pedals setup; a small stone jamming between them and causing him difficulty in getting in and out.

Disaster strikes for Lewis Craven.

 

This untimely fall would cost Lewis his race and the defence of his rainbow jersey.

 

Just at the wrong moment Lewis could not release his foot as he approached the steps at speed and he took a heavy fall directly into the staircase injuring his knee, hip and ribs in what would prove to be a race-ending injury. As he crawled to the trackside and tried to catch his breath he saw the race slip away from him and with that the hopes of defending his rainbow jersey were gone. It was down to Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli’s Davie Lines to take the race by the scruff of the neck now, strategically placing himself behind Paul Oldham who was dictating the pace as a small group began to chase race leader Adrian Lansley who had already escaped off the front.

Davie Lines was at the sharp end of this fast, frenetic race.

 

Calling on years of road racing experience Davie was already strategising for the sprint.

 

Davie is a wile rider with years of bike racing experience gained from competing in road, mountain and cyclocross events. Acting as our captain on the road he’s a font of knowledge when it comes to race tactics and his instincts quickly kicked in as the latter half of the race began to play out in front of him. Riding sparingly he dosed his efforts, putting the power down only where he needed to while counting on his excellent bike-handling skills to keep him out of trouble. Adrian Lansley stayed away for the win but in the chase behind for silver and bronze Davie opened up his sprinting legs early to escape the remaining chasers and take an excellent Silver medal in the Vet 45-49 World Masters Cyclocross Championships!

Dosing his efforts Davie waited to escape the chasing group just before the line.

 

Davie Lines took a fantastic silver medal at the Masters Cyclocross World Championships.

 

Congratulations to Davie on a fantastic result which gave our Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli team a second successive podium placing following Lewis brilliant win in 2021. A huge thank you to our three racers for making the long trip to East Suffolk, thanks also to all of the team helpers working very hard behind the scenes providing support before, during and after the races. Finally we wish Lewis and Dave all the healing vibes they need for speedy recoveries as we move towards the latter half of the cyclocross season.

 

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Results:

Vet 45-49 Men

2^nd Davie Lines

DNF Lewis Craven

Vet 50 Men

56th Dave Haygarth

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

Photos by Man Down Media

 

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