2008 News Archive
2007 News Archive
Richardson takes third in Three Day Girvan
25th March 2008
The strength of the 2008 Plowman Craven squad was as clear as their distinctive pink and blue jerseys this Easter weekend when Simon Richardson took third place overall in the Girvan Three Day in Scotland, finishing only 11 seconds behind race winner Russell Downing of Pinarello. Rob Partridge of Rapha Condor – Recycling separated them in what was the second Premier Calendar race of the season.
Former mountain biker Richardson's final podium place capped a solid weekend's work for his Plowman Craven squad, with no less than three different members of the Team standing on the podium during the four stage race. Although the highest stage placing for the Team was second (twice), Plowman Craven were behind most of the attacking moves, with a succession of Team members going off the front, often alone.
During the 65 mile first stage Plowman Craven riders were involved in no less than five attacks. Tom Barras, fresh from his solo victory in last weeks Carpet Express road race, made the first move after only a few miles and although he was quickly caught it was not long before a second attack, this time with four Plowman Craven riders, managed to gain an advantage of 23 seconds. When the group of riders including Gaywood, Millard, Richardson and Higham were eventually caught, it was Barras who once more went up the road, and when he was again reeled back it was the signal for James McCallum, now fully recovered from a recent crash, to go clear.
McCallum managed to stay away to claim the second prime of the day and when he in turn was caught, team mates Richardson and Gaywood made the strongest move of the day, gaining 48 secs on the peloton together with Halford's Tom Southam. Southam was eventually dropped and the Plowman Craven pair looked to have forced the winning move, but they were swept up within the last two miles. Evan Oliphant provided the Team with some consolation for their day's hard work by taking third in the final sprint, behind Russell and Dean Downing (Pinarello, Rapha). Richardson and Gaywood took second and third respectively in the KOM competition; Richardson also took second in the sprints competition, with team mate James McCallum this time in third. In the Team competition Plowman Craven lay in second.
Russell Downing took a seven second advantage over the field into the second stage, an evening criterium covering 15 laps of Victory Park in the centre of Girvan, and it was clear that his Pinarello team were out to defend that lead. Not content with his lone break earlier in the day during stage one, current National Criterium Champion James McCallum made several escape attempts, but as the race entered the final corner the field was still together. Russell Downing managed to hold off Simon Gaywood in the sprint to strengthen his hold on the yellow jersey and extend his overall lead to 18 seconds, with Oliphant retaining his third position, 23 seconds down. Plowman Craven remained in second place in the Team competition, but in the Sprint Richardson dropped to third place behind team mate Tom Barras. Since the stage was a crit the KOM remained unchanged.
Stage three on the second day of the race was the longest at 89 miles. Plowman Craven, Rapha and Pinarello - once more looking to defend Downing's yellow jersey – were all very active at the front of the race and by halfway a group of 21, including all the main contenders for the race lead, had managed to open up a gap of almost a minute on the rest of the field. Tony Gibb, Simon Gaywood, Simon Richardson and Evan Oliphant found themselves in this group together with four Rapha riders, including Dean Downing, and two Pinarello riders in the form of race leader Russell Downing and team mate Malcolm Elliot. Their advantage had stretched to almost four minutes before the attacks began, first from Kit Gilham of Kinesis and then from a group of four including Pinarello's Elliot and Plowman Craven's Tony Gibb. Gibb was soon on his own, staying clear for several miles and at one point enjoying a lead of over twenty seconds. But his freedom was short lived and he was swept up by the lead group on the run-in back to Girvan.
As the leading bunch approached the finish, five riders had a slender advantage, but a crash on the final corner allowed Rapha's Rob Partridge to cross the line first, narrowly ahead of Plowman Craven's Simon Richardson and Kineses' Matt Cronshaw. Despite finishing 11 seconds down on the winners, Russell Downing retained his yellow jersey and Simon Richardson replaced his team mate Evan Oliphant in third overall. Plowman Craven remained the second highest place team.
The fourth and final stage on day three had to be re-routed to a lower course due to snow and ice. A break mid-way through the 72 mile stage contained all the main contenders for overall victory, but when a second, much smaller, attack came the race leaders missed it and with the best placed rider in the break, Kristian House of Rapha, only just over a minute down on the yellow jersey, they had to work to ensure that the gap did not get too big. House managed to hang on to take his first big win since returning to race in the UK after a spell with the US Navigators Team, but with the yellow jersey group coming home only 37 seconds down, it was enough to ensure overall victory for Downing in a race he had led since the first day. Richardson finished in the same group as Downing, thus keeping his third place overall. Evan Oliphant was the highest Scottish finisher in sixth place.
Team Manger Garry Beckett was pleased with a final podium place but believes there is better to come as the season develops:
"Russell took a well deserved win, but Simon rode a good race too in what is only his second full season on the road.
"The most pleasing aspect of the race from our perspective was that we were at the front of every stage, constantly attacking and putting different riders on the podium each day.
"This season is very tight as there are a number of very good teams, which makes for exciting racing for the riders and spectators alike. We've started our season well, pushing hard in every race we've entered and a result will come soon.
"It's unfortunate that both of April's Premier Calendar events have been cancelled because it disrupts the season both in terms of performance of the teams and the support of spectators who are used to highly competitive and entertaining racing. We have had to travel to the US to find races that can accommodate us this late in the season, but come May let's hope it's business as usual in the premier Calendar and we can all get on with what is proving to be a great season."
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