Round 7 Will Houghton

Sunday 1st September was the 7th and final round on the British Women’s Team Cup Competition at the Hillingdon Circuit held in memory of Will Houghton.

The forecast of rain and thunderstorms did not happen!! A very warm 20deg + welcomed the riders but with the usual Hillingdon wind factors. Headwind on the back straight and tailwind on the finishing straight. The race was 1.5 hours plus 5 laps where hydration played a major part along with sheer will and determination from the field of 35 riders.

The team standings were very close leading into the final round:

FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing were the leaders but Loughborough Lightning and  Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon were both fielding strong teams to potentially take the Team Cup win.

The race got underway and with a lap of the circuit taking approx. 2+ mins,  the riders faced around 45 laps of the undulating circuit racing anti-clockwise. By lap 5 attacks were coming thick and fast, in particular from London Academy Orange Race Team members Sasha Dyke and Katy Hill and Gemma Mitchell Team Boompods.

These were predominantly countered by Loughborough Lightning’s Alice Lethbridge and Trhas Teklehaimanot Tesfay Kingston Wheelers CC.

Jasmine Cornelious of LDN Academy Pink Race Team rear punctured on lap 8 and re-joined the race trying hard to catch the bunch. After a valiant effort she was eventually caught and remained 1 lap down.

On lap 18, Loughborough Lightning’s Alice Lethbridge formed  the largest break of the race consisting of 6 riders, Louise Moriarty (private member), Elektra Georgiakakis FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing, Sasha Dyke LDN Academy Orange Race Team, Lydia Watts The Phoenix Collective and Lauren O’Brien Stolen Goat Race Team. 

The break lasted for 2 laps and as before,  was being reeled in by the peloton but this time, Katy Hill LDN Academy Orange Race Team made a key counter attack and quickly gained a 10 second gap on the bunch stamping the fastest lap time of the day of 2.01. Katy was increasing the gap by approx. 10 seconds per lap and on lap 22 Sasha Dyke London Academy Orange Race Team made a huge effort to solo bridge to teammate Katy Hill.

Katy and Sasha worked really well together  to form a gap of  almost 2 minutes that would eventually catch the back of the bunch at 5 laps to go where they were advised to sit-up and not draft the bunch. Barring any incidents, 1st and 2nd places were now assured for London Academy Orange Race Team  who rolled arm in arm to finish with a split second advantage to Sasha for the official win and earning enough team points to win the Team event prize.

3rd place was looking like a bunch sprint, however, with 4 laps to go Katherine Sheridan FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing attacked and gained a  sizeable gap from the bunch securing 3rd.

On the bell lap the race for 4th and minor positions was certain to be a bunch sprint with Saint Piran’s Katie-Ann Calton winning the sprint.

Gemma Mitchell of Team Boompods was awarded the Combativity Prize as despite having no other teammates in the race, she was in all but one of the breakaways showing true grit and determination throughout – chapeau to her!

The Junior prize was presented to Grace Bell London Academy Pink Racing Team and the Top 6 were presented with prizes including a £200 voucher from race sponsors Mint Velvet, a clothing brand set up by Will Houghton’s mother.  Will was a talented cyclist who was tragically hit by a car aged 20. The Houghton family set up The Will Houghton Foundation in his memory and this has supported many amazing projects helping young people to reach their potential through education and sport. The profits from this event will be donated to the charity, but to see more about the amazing projects they do and if you weren’t able to attend this race and would like to donate, click on the link here https://willhoughtonfoundation.org/.

FTP Fulfill the Potential had done enough to keep their top position and were crowned  the winners of the overall British Team Cup Competition for 2024. They were awarded the British Team Cup Trophy and received the customary Team Cup winners teddies at the prize presentation. Special mention to London Academy Orange Race Team who with their top 2 places, earned enough Team Cup points to elevate their final placing from 6th to 3rd place overall whilst Loughborough Lightning retained their 2nd place.

See you all again next year!

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

• Matt de-B

• Cycling Chaos