The unpaved roads make the Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic a savage affair; the riders will be hoping for dry conditions tomorrow
By Brian Canty
It’s a race that has gained infamy for its gruelling nature and tomorrow’s Rutland -Melton International CiCLE Classic in the UK will be no different as a huge mix of nationalities line up for the 114 mile race – with the Irish well represented in the 160+ rider peloton.
The UCD team of Eoin Morton, Barrick Parker, Ian Richardson and Ross Collins will take to the start-line in Oakham in the East Midlands while Rapha Condor Sharp-JLT sees Aaron Buggle and Felix English amongst their ranks. Connor McConvey of the Synergy Baku team is the other Irishman hunting a result as is Peter Hawkins of IG Sigma Sport.
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This year’s race sees riders from Russia, Azerbaijan, Latvia, Estonia, and the Ukraine joining the traditional competition from western European countries such as Spain, Belgium, and Austria as well as the large numbers of Australian riders now comprising many of Britain’s top teams.
It’s UCD’s maiden voyage into the race and manager Noel McGlynn isn’t sugar-coating what awaits his men.
“It’s going to be a big learning experience for the guys, but that’s always been the UCD mantra - to try and improve our riders by exposing them to a higher level of racing. It seems to have worked pretty well for us over the years,” he explained.
Their entry to the race was secured months back through Anthony Walsh, now riding in the US for the Astellas Oncology team. Previously Irish riders have fared well, with Ciarán Power winning it in 2008 with the now defunct Pezula team.
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“Our expectation is that it’s going to be like a stage of the Rás but the circuit is different, more like a Flanders-style race as opposed to open roads,” continued McGlynn.
“In the team we have Eoin Morton, Ian Richardson, Barrick Parker and Ross Collins, who has been with the club the longest,” said McGlynn.
The team travelled over this morning, with the race timed for an 11am start tomorrow.
“It’s 183 kilometres in length,” explained McGlynn.
“I think the first 100k are on main roads but then the real racing starts. Eoin and Ross raced through the cyclo cross season so we’re hoping they’ll have built up experience that’ll help them because you’re really racing on country lanes and dirt tracks for a large part of the race and it’s not for the faint hearted.”
“It’s like this, from our perspective, three of our four were A3s last year, but two of them are established A1s now. Morton was an A4 last year and he’s excelling at A1 now. We’ve had success with throwing lads in at the deep end but I’m confident that they’ll be able to hold their own.”
Frenchman Alex Blain (Endura Racing) won it last year with a solo break in horrendous weather but he’s unlikely to be given the latitude to get away again. An interesting starter is former Paris Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt who’ll be riding for the MG-Maxifuel team. Rapha Condor’s James McCallum was runner up last year and will be there again with the help of Buggle and English while Yanto Barker of UK Youth has the experience to notch a podium place.
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