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Round 3 Banbury Star Women's Road Race

On a glorious sunny Sunday, 19th May 2024, 57 riders took to the star line at the North Oxfordshire Academy, in Banbury.

The race was safe, fast and well-organised – thanks going to Tobi Ng and Banbury Star Cycling Club for all of their hard work.

The race started with a neutralised section, before the flag dropped for a rolling start on the Warwick Road. A straight, rolling road with two fast descents, the riders took a sharp right, stringing out the bunch, onto quieter country lanes.

Ahead of a strong peloton of riders, Grace Reynolds of Brother UK – On Form quickly took a 10 second lead on the first lap.

Three riders; Lucy Harris of Loughborough Lightning, Zoe Langham of Pro-Noctis – 200 Degrees Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting, Ruth Shier of DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK and Katy Hill of London Academy Orange Racing Team, chased strongly during the first ascent of Edge Hill.

The chase was successful, with a group of five riders extending the gap from the bunch to almost two minutes on lap 2.

The race behind was attritional, with each ascent of Edge Hill splitting up the bunch. A small select group made it off the front of the main peloton on laps 2 and 3, but were caught on Quarry Road heading back to the start of the course.

The breakaway of five was reduced to four when Katy Hill unfortunately faced a mechanical. Whilst Zoe tried to pull her along, Katy couldn’t get it sorted and slipped off the group.

Having stopped on the side of the road to fix her mechanical, Katy set about determinedly trying to get back on but was swept up in the next group of riders, where she worked hard to finish 7th overall. She was awarded the Team Cup Combativity Award for her spirit and determination.

The remaining four front riders continued on working well together and retained their lead with Lucy Harris crossing the line first, followed by Zoe Langham and Ruth Shier.

On the last ascent of Edge Hill, a small group formed at the front once again, comprising Bexy Dew of Pro-Noctis – 200 Degrees Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting, Maddie Heywood also of Pro-Noctis – 200 Degrees Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting, Katy Hill, Jen Lemen of PDQ Property Elite, Bianca Green (not in a registered team), Jenny Powell (not in a registered team) and Anna Boniface of FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing.

Working well together to hold their gap over the main bunch, the group of six went full gas up the final uphill punch to the finish - with the finish in the order stated above.

To see more photos from the race, please visit the photographers' galleries:

Matt de-B - Insta @m.debeger / X @mattdeb_photo

Team Results

Position	Team	Points
1	Pro-Noctis – 200 Degrees Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting	300
2	Loughborough Lightning	185
3	London Academy Orange Racing Team	148
4	FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing	134
5	DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK	115
6	Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon	108
7	Brother UK – On Form	100
8	Army Cycling Union	80
9	The Phoenix Collective	78
10	PDQ Property Elite	65
11	Cowley Road Condors	53
12	London Academy Pink Racing Team	37
13	London Dynamo Racing Team	32
14	Tactic UK WRT	28
15	FTP Fusion	25
16	Saint Piran WRT	22
17	Wolfox x Pedal Mafia RT	14
18	Team Empella	8
19	Solas Cycling	3

Individual Results

Finish	Team	Name	Team Cup Points
1	Loughborough Lightning	Lucy Harris	150
2	Pro-Noctis – 200 Degrees Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting	Zoe Langham	130
3	DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK	Ruth Shier	115
4	Brother UK – On Form	Grace Reynolds	100
5	Pro-Noctis – 200 Degrees Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting	Bexy Dew	90
6	Pro-Noctis – 200 Degrees Coffee – Hargreaves Contracting	Maddie Heywood	80
7	London Academy Orange Racing Team	Katy Hill	70
8	PDQ Property Elite	Jennifer Lemen	65
9	Not in a registered team	Bianca Green
10	Not in a registered team	Jennifer Powell
11	FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing	Anna Boniface	52
12	Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon	Dannielle Watkinson	49
13	London Academy Orange Racing Team	Savannah Morgan	47
14	The Phoenix Collective	Lydia Watts	45
15	Cowley Road Condors	Ella Brown	43
16	Not in a registered team	Katie Painter
17	Not in a registered team	Charlotte Deykin
18	London Academy Pink Racing Team	Iona Mitchell	37
19	Loughborough Lightning	Penny Colloff	35
20	The Phoenix Collective	Charlotte Berry	33
21	London Dynamo Racing Team	Philippa Mitchell	32
22	London Academy Orange Racing Team	Miriam Bullock	31
23	FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing	Marie Louise Kertzman	30
24	Army Cycling Union	Eve Newton	29
25	Tactic UK WRT	Sarah Byrne	28
26	FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing	Claire Nott	27
27	Not in a registered team	Leonie Harper
28	FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing	Rebecca Hair	25
29	Not in a registered team	Cecilia Hime
30	FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing	Rosie Wayland
31	Saint Piran WRT	Anastasia Bowler	22
32	Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon	Rebecca Clowes	21
33	Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon	Nicola Greenwood	20
34	Army Cycling Union	Kimmae Payn	19
35	Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon	Emily Chilton	18
36	Army Cycling Union	Laura Furness	17
37	FTP Fusion	Miranda Clements	16
38	Army Cycling Union	Pippa Inderwick	15
39	Wolfox x Pedal Mafia RT	Rebecca Babbage	14
40	FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing	Laura Pittard
41	Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon	Isabella Johnson
42	Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon	Rebekah Nash
43	Cowley Road Condors	Daphne Claisse	10
44	FTP Fusion	Elektra Georgiakakis	9
45	Team Empella	Gemma Felstead	8
46	Army Cycling Union	Katy Vincent
47	Not in a registered team	Cerys Greaves
48	Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon Team B	Beth Watson
49	Not in a registered team	Hayley Holland
50	Solas Cycling	Evelyn Field	3
51	Army Cycling Union	Millie Jones
DNF	Cowley Road Condors	Cliodhna Kennedy
DNF	Saint Piran WRT	Emma McDonald
DNF	Doltcini – O’Shea	Niamh Murphy
DNF	Loughborough Lightning	Georgina Oakley
DNF	The Phoenix Collective	Molly Patch
DNF	Not in a registered team	Peggy Simpkins
DNS	London Academy Orange Racing Team	Eleanor Bolton
DNS	StolenGoat Race Team	Melissa Denman
DNS	Wolfox x Pedal Mafia RT	Anouska Greenaway
DNS	Cowley Road Condors	Felicity Hannon
DNS	FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing Team B	Jennifer Hudson
DNS	Doltcini – Cycle Division	Jacqueline Kinsey
DNS	Wolfox x Pedal Mafia RT	Harri Martin
DNS	PDQ Property Elite	Trhas Teklehaimanot Tesfay