September 7/11 0:26 am - Jamie Sparling: European Update

Posted by Editoress on 09/7/11
 

Sunday 4th September saw the 2011 edition of the Richmond Grand Prix taking place, the final event in the British Cycling Premier calendar series.

Big splits in the field were almost inevitable, as the strong men ploughed up the hills and left the rest behind. And so it proved, with the decisive break of five riders going clear early in the race which contained Simon Richardson (Sigma Sport), Marcin Bialoblocki (Motorpoint), Andy Tennant (Rapha Condor Sharp), Dan Fleeman and Jamie Sparling (both Team Raleigh).

Raleigh rider Jamie Sparlinghad started the break soon after leaving Richmond, the break gained a maximum lead of around three minutes before a chase was mounted, which contained many of the strong riders and top teams.

Team Sky's Russell Downing was the most high-profile member of the chasers, while others included Rapha Condor Sharp trio of Graham Briggs, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke and Dan Craven, as well as Premier Calendar series leader Ian Bibby and his team mate Jonny McEvoy (Motorpoint), Liam Holohan (Team Raleigh), Dave Clarke and Rob Partridge (Endura Racing).

The five man break appeared to be working well together, with only Jamie Sparling struggling to hold his position on the final small climbs.
Back with the chasers and all eyes were on Sky rider Russ Downing. Downing has won at Richmond on two previous occasions and the whole group was waiting for him to make a move to bridge to the leaders. Heading through the final feed Downing attacked causing mayhem in the chasing group, and although he sat up shortly afterwards it proved to be a catalyst which helped close the gap to the leaders.

But they had left it too late and on the final descent towards Richmond Market Place Tennant, Richardson, Fleeman and Bialoblocki knew it was going to come down to a sprint up the cobbled High Street into the Market Place.

Rapha Condor Sharp rider Andy Tennant used his Olympic track training to get a gap on his rivals crossing the line ahead of Simon Richardson, while Fleeman was bitterly disappointed in third place.

Large crowds had come out at Richmond to enjoy the bike racing in the warm September sunshine. The podium presentations were a fitting end to the season long Premier Calendar series with overall winner Ian Bibby sharing the champagne celebrations with the Richmond winners.
British Cycling report

For the Tour of Britain: Jamie Sparling has been selected to the provisional squad for Team Raleigh. Some other confirmed teams include: HTC Highroad, Leopard Trek, Sky Professional Cycling Team, Rabobank, Garmin Cervelo, Team Europcar