July 09: Welsh National Championship 2009

For the first time in many years the Welsh were to crown a MTB National Champion. This event had been missing from the calendar for some time but with the organising of Steve Corbyn and some willing sponsors, Pontypool Park in South Wales would decide the fate of these new champions who would be rewarded with a great looking jersey for their hard efforts.

Pontypool Rugby Club... a strange venue?
Well you would think so and on entry to the complex, a swimming pool and a rugby field would not persuade you otherwise, but when exploring further you would soon find the lung busting climbs and technical rooty descents that would make for one of the toughest championships in a while!

And the weather?
Well after a poor forecast all week it was a pleasant surprise to see the sun out early on Saturday morning, however it was not to last and the afternoon races saw a downpour to change the course of the race for many.

But why a Saturday?
It was wisely decided that as a Merida Marathon race was on the Sunday that the race would be changed to the Saturday, a wise, bold decision by an upcoming race organiser and one that would pay dividends.

So to the racing, who was first off?
It was the youngsters who would get the best weather and the U10's and U12's layed down the gauntlett with some terrific racing around a shortened course. In the U10's Nathan Ford took the win from Solomon Kerfoot-Robson by over a minute and in the U12's it was Ben Beckingsale who took a convincing win over Nathan Llewellyn. Megan James ran away with her win the girls U10 race beating Grace Bennion while in the U12's Ffion James beat Ffion Llewellyn. It was great to see the yougsters racing with such enthusiasm over a technical course.

And how did the Juveniles fair?
Posting two 14 minute laps and taking a very convincing victory in the Juvenile race was Matt Godden. In second place was Adam King who took third by 40 seconds from Dylan Kerfoot-Robson. The only female entrant was Rebecca Hunt who rode well to post some good lap times.

Could anyone beat an in form Ben Roff to the Junior title?
After a third place at last weeks BMBS, Ben Roff was favourite for the Welsh title and after a blistering first lap inside 13 minutes it looked as if it would be difficult to catch him. William Haynes tried his best but could only better Ben on one lap and eventually had to settle for second over a minute down while Lewis Burke took a well deserved third place.

Ruby Miller... a new Nicole Cooke?
Ruby Miller just seems unstoppable at the moment and although she was the only entrant in the Junior Women field she raced her heart out as normal, even puncturing on the 4th lap and fixing it to record another win and with it the Welsh National title.

Youth were off shortly afterwards...
With two laps less than the Juniors the Youth racers were in no mood to hang around and Matt Sumpton in particular stormed to victory making his way through the entire Junior field in the process with a superb victory over Joe Home in second and William Worrell in third.

With no Youth Women, we moved onto Veteran Men...
They may be 30 odd years older than the Juniors but the top Veteran Men actually bettered the times of their younger competitiors over the same amount of laps and it was the in form Ian Jeremiah who took a convincing win over Richard John who in turn was some way ahead of Mark James in third in a splintered field. Sarah Bayliss posted some good laps in the Veteran Female category to take the win and the title, while in the Grand Veteran Mens category Greg Fitzpatrick won with nearly 6 minutes to spare over Tony Blackwell and Phil Harries.

Are you a good sport?
They certainly were and some more exciting racing saw Luke Eggar (very much the in form rider in Sport) take another victory and by over 6 minutes from Charles Newton-Mason in second and David Winter in third. The sole rider in the Open race was Peter Reid who rode well to take his win.

The main event and final section of racing included Lee Williams, in the form of his life, would he make it to Welsh Champion?
Well he may have wanted to reconsider his tyre choice along with the rest of the field as the rain started to come down hard for the first time in the day, there was no time to change tyres but that didn't seem to phase Anthony O'Boyle, knowing the course like the back of his hand he immediately took a narrow lead after lap 1 of 8 but it was the in form Lee Williams who then came through to link up with the local lad and before long had started to stamp his authority on the race gradually pulling out a lead lap by lap to finish the race as Welsh Champion over 2 minutes ahead of O'Boyle who himself had an impressive race. Seb Batchelor took third a further 2 minutes down. Melanie Alexander took the Womens Elite race and although the only entrant posted some great lap times racing for 6 laps.

A second O'Boyle on the podium?
Not just on the podium but taking a convincing win in the Expert mens category, and by convincing we are talking by over 8 minutes, an unbelievable ride and our ride of the day! Second was Jonathan Pybus and third Phil Lenney. In the Womens race it was Ruth Owen-Evans who dominated finishing a lap up on second place Lucy Marshall, both women putting down some great lap times in the rain.

The final race of the day was the Master Men and Women, who would be victorious?
In keeping with the other categories the race splintered and the gaps were big and it was Mathhew Dennis who would take the win over 4 minutes ahead of his nearest rival Christopher Rathbone. Andy Plewes was a lap down in third. The womens race saw Nina davies take a well deserved win, again over 4 minutes up on second placed Malin Tindberg and Verity Appleyard. Masters had the biggest overall turnout with some exciting racing on this tough tough course.

Selection of photos...

A word with course designer Anthony O'Boyle...

So Anthony, how did you decide on the course for todays race?
Well I started building trails around this area from the age of 11 and after skiving off school a little bit I built it up to what it is today.

And was it easy to design the course?
I've had a lot of help from Pontypool Park and my sponsors and although it took a while to get going, everyone pulled their weight and made it a success.

Have you always wanted to hold a race here?
Well I have taken a lot from cycling and wanted to give something back to cycling and to the local area.

And why such steep climbs?
Well there's a little saying, "no pain, no gain", and there was no way of getting to the downhills without going up first.

So how did your race go today?
Well I had a real battle with Seb and lee at the start and managed to get onto the downhill first, Lee got past me and then it was just a case of hanging on to the finish.

And you're the new U23 Welsh Champion?!
Well this was my last chance, I have narrowly missed out in previous years and I'll be too old next year so I just gave it my best shot. The National Champs are in two weeks so hopefully I can hold some form and have a real go at that. I've heard there are some steep climbs there too!

Thanks for a great course Anthony!