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London Women's League Race 1

On Saturday 29th March the London Phoenix ladies kicked off their London Women’s League campaign with round 1 at Hog Hill.  It was the first real points race for some of the group and a good chance to test out some of the race skills picked up at the training session held a few weeks ago.  For others it was a chance to build on previous race lessons and also aim for a good result for the team.  With Bella, Mhairi, Aoife, Nancy, Petra and Tamala all racing, London Phoenix were well represented and even had a cheering squad there for back up.  Thanks to all who came to support!

There was a smaller field than expected, with only 30ish riders, however there was no lack of strength and many of the region’s stronger riders were there, including team from Les Filles.  The game plan was to stick with the bunch as long as possible, avoid doing too much work on the front and for Mhairi and Bella to attack on the hill if the opportunities arose.

The pace on the Hoggenberg was pretty feisty from the off and that whittled the group down a fair bit quite quickly.  Bella and Mhairi stayed with the front group until a further couple of kicks split things apart again, finishing in 7th and 9th respectively.  Aoife found herself on her own behind the main group after a few too many fast paced ascents, later joining Petra and a smaller group, where there were a few attempts to drop the two Phoenix riders, which failed. The final lap saw the group split on the hill with Aoife finishing 12th and Petra 15th. It was Tamala and Nancy’s first points race and both ended up doing mega solo efforts on a windy Hog hill. Tamala battled on to finish a tough but well fought first race, finishing in 17th.

All in all Phoenix showed some solid team strength with a great set of results for the series opener.  Bring on round 2!

Results are here and there are some photos here.

Also racing at Hog Hill that day were a number of the Phoenix guys who showed great form in both the men’s 3/4, the E/1/2 and on cheer leading duties.  Thanks guys.