Laura Trott (Wiggle Honda), a double Olympic champion on the track, added the Rapha Elite Women’s Criterium to her palmeres by winning the IG London Nocturne.
And Tom Scully (Team Raleigh) added the Saint Gobain Elite Criterium title to an impressive campaign that had brought him victory in the Redditch round of the Tour Series only days earlier.
Trott, racing in London for the first time since her gold medal successes at last summer’s Olympic Games, sprinted to victory after being led out by team-mate and fellow women’s team pursuit gold medalist, Dani King, who finished third.
The golden pair was split by Hannah Barnes (MG Maxifuel), a former national junior road race champion, and four-time winner of the IG Nocturne.
Rochelle Gilmore, team owner and manager of Wiggle-Honda, said she was delighted with the result.
“To get first and third in our first race in the UK is extremely satisfying,” she told RoadCyclingUK. “In the end, I couldn’t ask for a better result.”
The elite men’s criterium produced more enthralling racing, with the big guns of the domestic peloton determined to prevent Movistar’s Alex Dowsett from repeating his breakaway win of 2011, when he lapped the entire field en route to victory.
Dowsett, the stage eight winner of last month’s Giro d’Italia, featured in several breakaways, but the race ultimately came down to a bunch sprint decided by the tightest of margins, with Scully pipping Dowsett on the line.
Scully’s manager at Team Raleigh, Cherie Pridham, said a good friend had put her in contact with the talented New Zealander, who delivered a prestigious win in Smithfield for the Nottingham-based squad.
“What a win for Team Raleigh and for Tom Scully. It was a super night of racing, with a super atmosphere. The crowds were amazing. What more could you ask for?” she said.
Former national circuit race champion, Dean Downing (Madison Genesis), was also involved in the photo finish, despite puncturing in the final corner and sprinting for the line on a flat tyre.
The elite races capped a day of excitement in London’s historic Smithfield Market where tens of thousands of spectators watched a full programme of support events, including racing on folding bikes and Penny Farthings.
Check back tomorrow for our video reports of the elite races, including interviews with Trott, Scully, Dowsett, and Downing.
Roz Jones Cycling Photography
IG London Nocturne
Norglide elite criterium 2013 – result
1) Tom Scully (NZL) – Team Raleigh
2) Alex Dowsett (GBR) – Movistar
3) Dean Downing (GBR) – Madison Genesis
4) Roman van Uden (NZL) – Node4-Giordana
5) Graham Briggs (GBR) – Team Raleigh
6) Niklas Gustavsson (GBR) – Team UK Youth
7) Kristian House (GBR) – Rapha Condor JLT
8) Hannes Baumgarten (USA) – Rudy Project
9) Liam Stones (GBR) – MG-Maxifuel
10) Sam Witmitz (AUS) – Team Raleigh
Rapha elite women’s criterium – result
1) Laura Trott (GBR) – Wiggle Honda
2) Hannah Barnes (GBR) – MG Maxifuel
3) Dani King (GBR) – Wiggle Honda
4) Coryn Rivera (GBR) – Breast Cancer Care
5) Corrine Hall (GBR) – Matrix Fitness
6) Lauren Kitchen (GBR) – Wiggle Honda
7) Joanna Rowsell (GBR) – Wiggle Honda
8) Louse Mahe (GBR) – MuleBar Girl – Sigma Sport
9) Charlotte Becker (GER) – Wiggle Honda
10) Natalie Creswick (MuleBar Girl-Sigma Sport)
