Hayley Simmonds (AeroCoach) was crowned the Women’s national 10-mile champion after breaking the course record in the title race in Surrey on Saturday.
Racing on the G10/42 south of Dorking, the riders faced strong winds and a rolling course which made for a challenging event for all categories in the Kingston Phoenix RC event – but it didn’t stop Simmonds breaking the course record.
The defending champion, Simmonds made it three National 10 titles in a row when she clocked 21-28 to win by 35 seconds from Anna Turvey (Tyneside Vagabonds CC), while former champion Julia Shaw (drag2zero) was third, another nine seconds back.
It was Simmonds’ third national title of 2016 following victory in the National 25 and National 100. And she also led AeroCoach to the team prize with fifth-placed Victoria Smith and Lydia Gurley in ninth combining for a total 1-07-14.
“Given the conditions I’m happy with my performance,” said Simmonds, 28. “I did a race effort ride on Wednesday, where I came down here with all my gear and rode the course. I went about a minute faster, so that shows what the wind did today.
“It’s always nice to finish on a different ‘minute’ to everyone else, but I will go away and look at my power and how I rode it before really gauging how I did.
“I’ve never won a team prize before, so that’s really exciting for me! I’ve never had two other team-mates before, but they rode really strongly.”
Results:
Women:
1. Hayley Simmonds (AeroCoach) 21.28
2. Anna Turvey (Tyneside Vagabonds CC) 22.03
3. Julia Shaw (Drag2zero) 22.12
Team: AeroCoach (Simmonds, Smith, Gurley) 1-07-14.