Condors qualify for the Worlds

The Tour of Cambridgeshire is a combined time trial, closed-road race and sportive taking place over two days with several thousand riders entering.

Saturday saw Aimee, Kristen, Tyra and Kat launch themselves down the ramp to complete the 16.9 mile Chrono time trial.

A surprisingly hilly course for the fens plus headwinds made for a tough ride, but the women really showed what Condors women can do, racing home with great times. Aimee showed her training’s paid off by coming 6th in her age category and qualifying for the Gran Fondo World Championship which takes place in Perth this September.

 

The Chrono hadn’t completely sapped Aimee’s or Kristen’s legs though, and on Sunday they joined Dave, Chris, and me (Jon) in the Gran Fondo road race. If Chris was going to join Aimee in Australia as more than just soigneur, he knew he had a tough day ahead.

It was 84 miles of fast and punishing racing, with little to protect us from the winds scouring Cambridgeshire’s flatlands. The great thing about the ToC is the combination of different events, so while the six of us were battling to stay in the bunch, taking turns to tow a paceline, or fighting to get back on the back of a group, Cheryl, Natasha, Ian and Kirsty were close behind in the sportive. It was a great event – cheered on by locals as we battled round, and with Kat and Tyra waiting at 20 miles to give us a boost.

Battered, sun burnt and weary Condors collapsed on the grass, nursing sore legs and rehydrating with much needed pints.

But there were more medals to come – in fact all of the racing Condors qualified! Both Dave and Aimee made it a double, Dave qualifying for a second year in a row (he represented team GB in Denmark last year) and Aimee qualifying in the Fondo adding to her Chrono medal the day before.

Not bad for a weekend’s riding.

Results

Chrono

Aimee Fenwick – 0:44:06

Tyra Rivkin – 0:50:11

Kristen Lovelock – 0:51:03

Kat Young – 0:53:55

Gran Fondo

Chris Jones – 3:23:53

Aimee Fenwick – 3:50:27

Dave Dyer – 3:51:29

Jon Harle – 3:54:05

Ian Lockwood – 4:07:44

Kristen Lovelock – 4:18:03

After a feed station stop or two…

Cheryl Reid – 5:20:36

Kirsty Tizzard – 5:28:07