National Trophy
National Trophy Series round two | Oct 28-29 | Gwent
Not content with winning his first under-23 race last weekend, junior world champion Tom Pidcock blazed past the best domestic cyclocross riders in the country at Abergavenny on Sunday to claim his first senior level win.
The 18-year-old from Leeds simply rode away from experienced riders Ian Field and Liam Killeen.
Pidcock was joined in South Wales by experienced Telenet Fidea Lions team-mate Jim Aernouts and after the opening exchanges the pair only had national champion Field left for company.
The youngster attacked with only two laps gone, but a slip on an off-camber corner and a mistake at the planks drew Field back to within touching distance.
However, the reigning European junior champion was not deterred, and changed his bike before increasing his gap to a comfortable one and had time for his customary Superman celebration.
Field finished second, over a minute clear of Aernouts, while Killeen was chasing on his own in fourth.
“I picked the wrong tyres as I thought I would get away with file treads but there were too many corners so I changed to Grifos to have some more grip,” said Pidcock.
“It’s good to have this sort of race in Britain; I have been growing up watching these races. The World Championships are definitely a target again and the Europeans next week, so hopefully my form will be good.”
The women’s event saw rising star Beth Crumpton (Storey Racing) take the biggest scalp of her career by way of multiple Italian national champion Eva Lechner. From the outset Crumpton piled the pressure on the world number 12 ranked rider and the pair traded blows in the opening laps.
Redditch-based Crumpton built a winning margin of 15 seconds to make it two wins from two in the series.
Lechner took a comfortable second while first U23 Anna Kay (EDCO Continental) completed the podium in third.
“I haven’t raced against somebody of Eva’s standard before and I have always looked up to her, so to beat her in a race is more than I expected,” said Crumpton.
“You have got to believe you can beat everybody on the start line to have a chance and I had confidence today.”