David Fletcher – Professional Cyclist – Race Results
Ipswich National Trophy
I got the perfect start, getting to the end of the start straight in 2nd and holding my position for some of the first lap.
After things settled and slowed down I got swamped by riders and moved back into the top 10. Another lap went by and things heated up, the pace shot up and the front group of 15 lined out and began to split.
My position wasn’t great and lost contact with the front 3. I focused in and aimed to get back to the front. With the pace being so high getting back to the leaders was tough.
I was joined by a Belgian rider, unfortunately he wasn’t wanting to work to bring the front riders back, so had a task by myself to bring the 3 leaders back.
It came down to a lap to go and we managed to bring 3rd back. The fight for 3rd would come down to a sprint, I hit out early pushing hard to try and gain a small gap, sprinting all the way till the end i was caught with all of 10 yards to go and had to settle for 5th.
A disappointing result that doesn’t reflect the effort put in. But that’s that way racing goes, sometimes chances work your way others it doesn’t.
My form was in the right place and gave me a boost of confidence heading into the next races so all in all, it wasn’t a disaster day.
Midland Championships Darley Moor
Again here I took it from the start. Myself and one other rider managed to get a gap after the first lap. Riding hard to try an simulate the start of a national round I wanted to keep as high pace for the first 3 laps then settle in.
The first lap flew by, gaining a handful of time on the following bunch.
After the 2nd lap I’d managed to break away on my own. Getting a handful of free time after the rider with me collided with the course marker posts i continued to trudge on, lap on lap gaining a handful of seconds to a tiring follower.
The cold windy conditions made it tough, feeling the chill on my legs on the last lap I was glad to see the finish line. I managed to take the win by just under 1 minute 30. A comfortable gap on a cold and windy day.
With form still on the rise I took a bunch of confidence and looked forward to the next national trophy in Shrewsbury.
Shrewsbury National Trophy
It was a usual very muddy course at Shrewsbury, plenty of running, plenty of ruts and bike changes left right and centre.
I Got a great start and led the first lap. A bad timed change lost me time and slipped into 3rd. I Kept going with the gap to leader going up a little each lap. I caught and past 2nd place on the 3rd lap and held 2nd till 3 laps to go, battling the mud takes its tole on the body, running steps, riding through foot deep mud lap on lap with little time to rest to keep those vital seconds ahead of the following rider.
My battle with Liam Killeen, current National Champion and ex Olympian came to an end with a crash with a lap to go on an rutted off camber section lost me the wheel and meant my finishing place would be 3rd.
I tried to get back to him but once I’d lost the wheel it was tough to get back in contention. I was happy with the result.
A positive improvement and a good sign of form for the Nationals in 4 weeks time. Unfortunately couldn’t make it to the overall podium. I took 4th overall and losing 3rd by 1 point. A little disappointing but a bad 1st round cost me dearly.
