Young riders shine in UK races

Monday 11 June 2018

Jersey Cycling Association Youth Academy riders are off to a good start competing in UK national and regional level events in both road bike and mountain bike races.

The young riders, some of them taking part in their first national event, held their own against the best riders in the country.

This report has been supplied by the JCAYA:

Last month, Tom Huelin took part in the Sleepwell Hotels Isle of Man Youth Tour, part of the National British Cycling Youth Circuit Series, in the Youth B (under 14) category. The first stage of the three-day event was a prologue Time Trial where Huelin placed 24th out of 55 riders. The following day, during a 28km flat circuit through narrow roads, Huelin suffered mechanical problems with his chain. As a result, he had to chase the peloton twice to protect his position on the General Classification. The final stage was a hilly race with 600 metres of climbing and descents at speeds of 70kph. Huelin finished 26th in the race and in overall position for the tour.

This result enabled Huelin to be accepted into the next round of the national series at Hillingdon Slipstreamers near Heathrow. The race was held on a circuit similar  to Les Quennevais, but with more turns and tighter corners. The peloton of eighty-one riders stuck together for the race which ended on an aggressive bunch sprint for the finish. Huelin took 48th place, 12 seconds behind the winner. He was joined by his younger brother Ollie, who raced in the under 12 age category and placed 32nd out of 49 riders, in his first national event of the year.

Pictured: Some of the young riders were taking part in national events for the first time.

Charlie Hart successfully competed in the Juvenile (under 14) age category in three rounds of the HSBC National Cross Country Mountain Bike Series. He is currently placed 26th out of the 62 riders in the series. Round 1 took place at Sherwood Pines in March, where Hart as a first year Juvenile rider started from the back of the grid. By choosing the technically more demanding and faster ‘A’ Routes, he worked his way up to finish 25th . Round 2 was held on the UCI Mountain Bike course at Dalby Forest in Yorkshire the following month. His previous result allowed Hart to start higher up the grid, where he finished 27th out of 46 riders.

Round 3 at Glentress Forest, Peebles, Scotland proved to be another demanding course featuring rock gardens, steep climbs covered with slippery tree roots and a few challenging descents. Heavy rain fell overnight, making the course wet and slippery. Hart got off to a good start trying to sprint before attacking the single-track steep uphill section, He was however held up behind a slower rider on the climb. He persevered and continued around the course, eventually finishing 27th. 

Both Huelin and Hart are in their first year of their age categories. The team at JCAYA commented: "Finishing in the top half of national events is highly respectable and a promising indicator for greater success next year."

Pictured: Charlie Hart is currently placed 26th out of the 62 riders in the HSBC National Cross Country Mountain Bike Series.

In May, JCAYA also took six riders to compete at the Southern Cross Country Mountain Bike Series in Ringwood, Hampshire. Youth C, under 12 girls Hannah Worth, Emily Le Gros and Libby Hart, were competing at their first regional event and were gridded within the back two rows of the 36 riders. With a short course, most of which was single track, racing was fast but it also meant passing opportunities were very limited. The three girls performed skillfully navigating the twisty wooded sections and strategically moved up the pack to finish in 5th (Hannah Worth), 7th (Emily Le Gros) and 11th (Libby Hart) place.

Charlie Hart and under 16 riders Malo Mon Petit Le Brun and Emma Youinou rode on the full course, which covered over 26 minutes per lap, most of which was twists and turns through the trees. Hart started really well placing high up in the early stages, but then had technical issues with jamming on his back brake. He then dropped back to 18th out of 22 riders. Technical issues also played a part for Mon Petit Le Brun who punctured on the first lap and had to run with his bike back to the pits and unfortunately had to retire from the event. Youinou competed in her first regional race and placed 6th overall.

The riders will be facing more UK regional and national events this season, as well as some in Europe.