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BMBS Round One Race Report

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Grant Ferguson and Anne Tauber win at Pembrey

Despite typical Welsh weather the racing at Pembrey Country Park for the opening round of the British Cycling MTB Cross Country Series remained fast and furious with close racing across all categories.

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Who said that XC races weren’t technical?

Race promoter Matt Page, sent in this report:

It was the British number 1, Grant Ferguson (Betch NL) who took the win in an incredibly close fought Elite Men’s race. As a UCI Class 1 event and with many international riders in attendance it was never going to be an easy race to win. At the end of the first of seven laps for the Elite Men the pack remained tight together, with barely a gap between riders as they rolled over Corby’s Drop, a technical feature close to the end of the lap. As laps progressed a small group formed at the front which included Liam Killeen, Milan Vader, Phillip Pearce and David Fletcher. It wasn’t until the 5th lap that Ferguson made his move, gaining a small advantage that he managed to extend to 48 seconds at the finish. It was Liam Killeen that took 2nd with David Fletcher 3rd, both showing good early season form. Milan Vader suffered a mechanical that cost him time and perhaps took him out of contention for the overall win, but fought back to take 4th and Phillip Pearce completed the podium in 5th.

Grant Ferguson takes the corner after the decisive drop

The Elite Female race looked to be a two person race for the win from the end of lap one, Anne Tauber (Habitat Mountain Bike Team) and Isla Short (Novus OMX) close together and ahead of the rest. The duo battled with each other until lap 3, where a mechanical put Isla into the pits for a long repair, taking her out of contention. The issue left Anne Tauber clear and she kept extending her lead, winning by 2 minutes 10 seconds over Lucy Grant in second. British riders Bethany Crumpton, Joanne Clay and Maxine Filby completing the podium.

The close racing extended beyond the Elite categories, with the closest race of the weekend being the Veteran Mens race. A group of seven riders lapped together, trading blows as they lapped. The race ended up being decided by a sprint finish, Paul Lloyd the best placed going into the final corner.

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The infamous ‘Ladder Drop’

The Series moves Newnham Park for Round 2 in just under three weeks’ time on April 23-24th.

About the British MTB Cross Country Series
Held throughout the year across 5 venues, the series is aimed at both amateur and professional riders.

The rest of the season looks like this:
Round 2 – Newmham Park, Plymouth. April 23/24th
Round 3 – Dalby Forest, Yorkshire. May 14/15th
Round 4 – Forest Fields, Mid Wales. 11/12th June
Round 5 – Cannock Chase, Staffordshire. August 6/7th

The series is overseen by British Cycling and organised by individual race promotors.

Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 22 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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