“Savage” winds and a super-slippery course formed the backdrop for Sunday’s British National Cyclo-Cross Championships in South Shields. Cameron Mason made it four in a row after a hard fought race, while fellow Scot Anna Flynn scored her first ever victory in the elite women’s event, in what was only her third cyclo-cross race of the season.
After a morning of heavy rain on the Tyneside course, both men’s and women’s fields faced mud, strong winds and even some ice on the Gypsies Green course.
“It was really tricky, probably one of the trickiest wins I’ve had,” he said.
“Toby pushed me all the way, and I just couldn’t stay on my bike for a couple of those laps. I spent a couple of laps trying to get lower tyre pressure too.
“But I put together a couple of good laps in a row and got the gap, but the gap came down towards the end because I was struggling to get round the off-camber sections.
“There were so many corners there wasn’t many places to get the power down and get a gap. I felt really strong on the open sections, but for most of the lap I was under real pressure so fair play to the other guys.
“The wind was savage, it was like a block headwind. But it’s a really cool venue with great crowds and organisation by South Shields Velo, and I had lots of family and friends here too which was good.”
“I’m still in a bit of shock how well my ride went,” said Flynn. I got away on the first lap and from there once I had a gap I focused on riding the technical sections and managed to stay away.
“I feel like the technical stuff is my strength,” she added, “but I was worried on some of the windy straights that Zoe was behind me and might be sitting on. But I focused on riding my own race once I’d got away.”
But she added: “Because I’ve been focusing on road racing more it’s meant I’ve come into these cross races quite fresh. I made a late change to mud tyres here which gave me confidence and an advantage and helped me enjoy the course.”
