VC Lincoln has another National Champion! Huge congratulations to Georgette Rand. Building on her National and European medals as a junior, she stepped up into her first National Championships as a senior and she was incredible! Bringing home a bronze medal in the individual sprint, a gold medal in the team sprint and two personal best times. Well done Georgette! We wish you the very best of luck for the rest of your season.
Inspired by Georgette’s success our youths have also had huge success in the Lincolnshire Cyclo-Cross League and further afield at the National Trophy Cyclo-Cross Series. Cyclo-cross is an Autumn/Winter discipline involving muddy, offroad circuits, built to test your skills and endurance. Our youths were fantastic. The club has a League Champion and two Series Champions! Freya and Toby had a superb season, with Freya taking the crown of League Champion, and both Toby and Freya being Series Champions in their respective age categories. But it didn’t stop there! Lots of our youths competed in the Lincs League. They tussled with technical sections, dismounted to jump obstacles, had all out sprint finishes and every single time they were supported, encouraged and motivated by each other. The comradery of our youths is just fantastic.
The Lincs League is split into two competitions, the overall League Championship and the Trophy Series. Our youths did brilliantly in both. In the League Championship, in the Under 12 girls, Freya is the League Champion, with Alex taking the silver medal and Ellie the bronze. In the Under 12 boys, Lucas got the bronze medal and Charlie Trimble finished seventh. Moving up to the Under 14s boys, Toby took the silver medal and Charlie Taylor finished fourth overall. In the Under 16 boys, Arthur picked up the bronze medal, with Ollie in fourth and Oliver in sixth.
In the Trophy Series, the Under 12 girls champion is Freya, with Alex in silver and Ellie in fourth. In the Under 12 boys, Lucas was fourth, Max eighth and Charlie Trimble sixteenth. The Under 14 boys Champion is Toby with Charlie Taylor taking silver. In the Under 16 boys, Arthur took the silver medal with Ollie in fifth and Oliver in sixth. Massive congratulations to you all. Great racing!
Further afield Ollie stepped up to a national level to ride the National Trophy Series. Travelling the length and breadth of the country, Ollie pitched himself against the best in the country and he was amazing. As a first year Under 16, he had a great season finishing 16th overall in the series. Ollie also competed in the National Cyclo-cross Championships, held in Falkirk, Scotland. An immensely technical and challenging course, he rode brilliantly and finished a very impressive 15th. Awesome work Ollie, well done!
Tagging on to the end of the cyclo-cross season was a series of evening cyclo-cross racing in Hull. Alex, Ellie, Oliver, Bradley and Thea have all been competing and putting in some superb rides. Round 1 saw Alex second, Bradley third (first boy) and Thea fifth (third girl) in the Under 12s and Oliver second in the youth race. Round 2 saw Alex take the overall win, with Bradley second (first boy), Ellie third (second girl) and Thea fourth (third girl). Oliver competed in the youth race taking second place. Brilliant guys, well done!
All of these fantastic results have been underpinned by the dedication of the coaches and youths who turn out, alongside the seniors, to train under the floodlights at Yarborough on a Wednesday evening throughout the winter (regardless of the weather)! Thanks again to the coaches.
As the cross season came to a close and we turned our attention to some off-season training, turbo style! Throughout the months of February and March, the youths train indoors at Yarborough Leisure Centre on turbo trainers. Lots of fun, whilst getting a good grounding for the summer season. Thanks to Coach Bob, who runs these sessions.
So, what’s next? As the clocks go forward at the end of March, we get back outside and onto the track at Yarborough again. We can’t wait! Each Wednesday night our dedicated coaches train our youths, teaching them skills, techniques and endurance. The older riders support and encourage the younger riders and it’s great fun. The club also runs a session for seniors immediately after the youth session.
The indoor track season has already begun, with some impressive results from Ellie, including a silver medal in her first national youth omnium. Alex and Theo have been training alongside Ellie throughout the winter and both gained their track accreditation. Well done guys, best of luck for the season.
There will be circuit races, hill climbs, track events, grass track events, summer cyclo-cross, mountain biking, club rides and more. With club membership on the rise and huge continued support from our sponsors we look forward to a great year of cycling. All details of upcoming events and how to get involved can be found on our club website and Facebook page.
