Oldham eyes Three Peaks record
Forty-one-year-old Paul Oldham has tentatively set his sights on overtaking Rob Jebb’s 11 victories at the legendary Three Peaks cyclo-cross race.
Oldham beat Jebb into second place at this year’s race with the 11-time champ finishing 1-45 behind. Giles Drake (Wheelbase) was just five seconds further back in third.
Oldham, who has won the race four times, said: “I was chatting to Rob afterwards and worked out that I would be about 50 by the time I overtake him and he just said, ‘You won’t,’ but we’ll see about that!
“I wasn’t confident going into the race because I’ve been feeling run down recently and wasn’t sure how my form was, but I’m obviously doing OK and looking forward to the National Trophy next weekend now.”
Taking in the peaks of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-ghent, the 61km race tackles over 5,000 feet of climbing and contains eight kilometres of unrideable terrain.
The men’s race took its now familiar form, with Jebb leading out and gaining more than a minute over his rivals on the run up Ingleborough before Oldham came flying back.
In the women’s race Christina Weijak (Barrow Central Wheelers) made it two wins in a row, crossing the line in 3:45.19 to finish over 10 minutes clear of the next best woman, Rachael Walker (Hope Factory Racing).