With only the British Championships in Lincoln in mid-October to follow, Canyon dhb SunGod went about securing the British Cycling National Road Series individual and team titles in fine style at the Beaumont Trophy in rural Northumberland.

The course had been modified slightly from the 2019 edition won by Rory Townsend due to the problems experienced with tractor movements on a single-width road. The opening smaller lap was eliminated with the four larger laps which included the lung-busting Ryals climb, being slightly extended to 40km to bypass any potential tractor jams. The race finished with a lap of the shorter 23.5km loop making a total of 183km.

The Ryals consists of 3 consecutive steep ramps separated by flat or slightly downhill relief points between them. With an elevation gain of just over 100 vertical metres, it is a favourite place to launch an attack which often results in riders being shelled out of the back of the peloton and a gradual reduction in the size of the field.

1. Jacob Scott in the National Road Series leader’s jersey

With a race in the Netherlands on the same day, the 6-rider Canyon dhb SunGod squad for Beaumont were current National Road Series individual standings leader Jacob Scott, Damien Clayton, Euan Macleod, Rob Scott, Max Stedman and Andy Tennant. The race objectives were simple, to win the British Cycling National Road Series individual and team titles outright.

2. Owain Roberts and Jacob Scott first time up the Ryals

With his clear goal and fresh from his KOM and Intermediate Sprints jersey wins at the Tour of Britain, Jacob Scott took the race by the scruff of the neck and joined a 9-rider break on the opening circuit. This breakaway had established a lead of 2min 35sec by the time it reached the climb of the Ryals which was made even more challenging than usual by a brisk cross-wind. Even better news was that his closest challengers in the National Road Series standings, Isaac Peatfield (Crimson Orientation Marketing) and Finn Crockett (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) who were only 2 and 4 points behind respectively, had missed this break. Owain Roberts (Wales Racing Academy) was the only other rider in the break in the standings, though 25 points adrift.

On the third lap some of the stronger riders broke out of the peloton led by Alex Peters (SwiftCarbon) who was in a threatening 4^th place in the series standings and looking particularly strong on the Ryals climb. The breakaway was caught and a larger lead group of 20 riders came together at the end of that lap.

3. Alex Richardson dishes out the pain on the Ryals

Alexandar Richardson (Alpecin-Fenix) turned up the pressure on the fourth and last time up the Ryals with Jacob Scott, Max Stedman and Ross Lamb (SwiftCarbon) in hot pursuit. Continued pressure towards the end of this lap resulted in a redefined 8-rider breakaway including Canyon dhb SunGod’s Rob Scott and Max Stedman in support of Jacob Scott. Zeb Kyffin (Ribble Weldtite) was on hand for his team sprinter Matt Gibson while Lamb had lost Peters who had withdrawn from the race. Matthew King (Team PB Performance) was having a great ride to complete this 8-rider group.

4. Ross Lamb, Max Stedman and Jacob Scott last time up the Ryals

Richardson and Jacob Scott pulled away on the last smaller lap with Scott’s Canyon dhb SunGod’s team-mates quite happy to see him ride away from the group in order to secure the National Road Series individual win. With his proven sprinting prowess from the Tour of Britain, there was little surprise that he pulled away from Richardson in the last couple of hundred metres to take the win on the day.

5. Alex Richardson and Jacob Scott line up the final sprint

Gibson took 3^rd place from the 6-rider chase group after a strong lead-out from Kyffin. Stedman’s 6^th place gave him 2^nd in the overall individual standings and Rob Scott’s 7^th place gave the Canyon dhb SunGod team a win on the day and a dominating performance in the National Road Series overall team standings.

6. Kyffin leads out 3rd place finisher Gibson with Rob Scott and Max Stedman following

Euan Macleod rode well to finish in 24^th place in a rapidly moving peloton with Clayton in 55^th place after a hard afternoon out drifting in and out of the lead group.

7. Team Winners: J Scott, R Scott, E Macleod, Clayton and Stedman

8. National Road Series overall podium – Max Stedman, Jacob Scott & Finn Crockett

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Article by Paul Stedman and Marina Stedman.

All photos by Paul Stedman.