The inaugural Tour of Cambridgeshire Gran Fondo and Chrono TT welcomed 6,000 riders to the county and has been deemed a resounding success by organisers and riders.
The UK’s first ‘authentic’ closed-road Gran Fondo, and the accompanying time trial, welcomed riders from across the spectrum alongside countless fans who came to the roadsides to offer support.
It kicked off with the 17-mile closed-road Chrono TT, on a rolling course where the typical Cambridgeshire wind provided the biggest challenge and required riders to measure their efforts or pay for it later.
The fastest time overall was Matt Bottrill (Drag2Zero), a former podium finisher at the British National Championships, whose time of 34:11 was fastest by 41 seconds to his nearest challenger.
In the women’s event ex-GB international Julia Shaw (Drag2Zero) also showed her time trial pedigree with a winning time of 39.31 – the only female to break the 40-minute barrier.
The Sunday then saw the UK’s first ever UWCT Gran Fondo with more than 1,000 riders in the race pen and 4,000 more behind them setting their own challenges.
On the 83-mile course, the race was fast form the start with several small groups getting away before being reeled in again by the main bunch of approximately 100 riders.
A five-man group broke away in the closing stages and was down to a three-man sprint by the time they got to the line where Andrew Williams (Cwmcarn Paragon) took the win after 3:09 minutes of racing.
In the main group two minutes behind Laura Massey (Cambridge CC/IKON Mazda) took the ladies title in the mass sprint to the line.
Backed by incredible support from the roadside – armed with deckchairs, BBQs and drinks, the weekend clearly struck a chord with those off the bike too.
And Tom Caldwell from organisers Vericool Sports Management admitted he was taken aback by the response, saying: “We’re overwhelmed with the response from riders and the public to the event.
“We’ve worked really hard to get the event to a UCI world class level in our first year and we’re already working on ways to improve the experience for next year”.
For more details on the Tour of Cambridgeshire visit www.tourofcambridgeshire.com
