Beside the seaside: 2023 GB National Road Championships, Saltburn-by-the-Sea

Yes, yes, I know we're already on to the Tour and the Giro Donne, but some of us are slow and have work to do, especially if we actually want to watch the racing over the next few weeks.

So, Saltburn.

(It's that kind of place.)

This was easily the best circuit I've ever watched a bike race on. If you stood in the right place on Saltburn Bank you could see the race descend the hill on the other side of the valley, snake across the seafront then cheer the riders on as they climbed the miniature hairpins up to the finishing straight.

In the women’s race, Claire Steels was the most aggressive rider from the start but former champ Pfeiffer Georgi, tracking her comfortably, looked the most dangerous…

…this was, I think, the fourth lap.

Next time around and those two are keeping their powder dry a bit, tucked in behind Anna Shackley.

It was very hot and humid during the women’s race. A few riders were visibly suffering, including last year’s champion Alice Towers.

In a trial run for the last lap, Georgi attacked on the final climb with a lap to go and only Steels could work her way up to her, only for the front group to eventually come back together. At this point, of course, your idiot correspondent decided to walk to the finish, thus missing the winning move as Georgi attacked again up Saltburn Bank, this time distancing Steels permanently.

If you look hard enough you can just about see Georgi hurtling to the line and leaving Steels in her wake…

… and here they are somewhere behind a cloud of champagne on the podium, with third place Anna Henderson.

Then the men’s race. And the - torrential - rain…

Your hapless correspondent was no more successful at seeing the winning move this time, either, as Fred Wright counter-attacked from a small group over the top of the next to last climb, building his lead on the descent and the flat…

Wright had looked pretty much the best rider all way round, undistracted by early escapes by Ben Tullett, Mark Donovan and assorted Trinity Racing riders and then, when it all came back together, letting James Knox do a lot of the softening up on the climbs. (It must be said the electric blue Bahrain-Victorious socks made him easy to spot, too.)

Here he comes…

Maybe James Knox is closing a bit?

But no. Wright had enough acceleration off the climb to win by a distance, saluting his teammate Gino Mäder as he crossed the line. Knox came in second, Stevie Williams third.

That’s what you do with champagne.