Welsh Criterium Championships – Abergavenny (27th June 2014)

The Towy Riders competed in the Welsh Criterium championships in Abergavenny this weekend. This is one of the highlights of the racing calendar, where the whole town is closed off for the Friday evening, allowing the youths to race around the streets. The support is fantastic, with every meter of pavement taken up with people shouting their encouragement. The whole event is compered by ex-world champion, Hugh Porter, who usually commentates on the Olympics. The weather was fine, and each race was fully subscribed, with racing starting with the under 8’s. Cian Evans came 3rd in the under 8 boys with Ilan Dafydd having his best race of the year. There were two podium places for the under 10’s with Iolo Dafydd coming 3rd in the boys and Awen Roberts 2nd in the girls. Other great performances came from Sam Smith, Charlie Barnwell and Jake Parker. The U12 was an open race, with all the riders watching each other. Emma Finucane came 1st and Eluned King was 2nd in the girls and Cian Roberts came 3rd in the boys. Supporting those were Iwan Evans, Max Jones, Danielle Parker and Rosie Finucane. The under 14’s provided some exciting and aggressive racing with three boys going clear of the field. This included Owain Roberts, who held on for 3rd . In the girls race Ella Barnwell produed the sprint of the night to take the win and beat two of the best riders in the UK. Tomos King raced hard against a quality field in the under 16 boys. Jessica Roberts, racing for RST, again dominated in the under 16 girls, easily taking the sprint at the end of a hard and fast race. The Towy Riders will now be heading to London next weekend for the British Championships.