Day five took the riders from Machynlleth to Cwmystwyth, some 73km and 2300m of climbing south the fifth linking stage of the TransWales. It also included the fourth special stage at Nant-y-Arian.
Today's special stage would see drama, fight backs and significant changes in the overall classification that proved that although the fat lady was preparing to warm up her vocal chords, she's decided against it and gone for a drink instead. The fight is not yet over - by any stretch of the imagination.
After leaving Machynlleth, the riders climbed through woodland up to Mynydd Bychan at 493m. The woods gave way to stunning wilderness sprinkled liberally with sheep and stone walls, speared by rocky drovers track that made its way to the river crossing of Afon Hengwm. After some wet feet, the trail continued its tumbling way to the stunning Nant-y-Moch reservoir that's situated in a remote saddle. Skirting its shores saw the riders join the outreach of the natural trail component of Nant-y-Arian's Continental trail: a superb blend of flowing manmade singletrack together with an "out there" feel. Following it against the flow brought the riders to the start of the day's special stage at Nant-y-Arian at Liyn Syfydrin. Unlike yesterday's special stage which favoured the descenders, today's was undoubtedly one for the climbers.
The 8km trail centre loop stage began with a sequence of wide rocky climbs and fast descents, before plunging into carving singletrack that switchbacked down the hillside, and kept on going. And going. It finally came to an end at the valley floor where the only way was up. In this case: two miles of relentless and sustained gradient on the infamous fireroad climb, the Leg Burner. It was do or die rhythm time. After the summit the trail swung left for one last short but sharp singletrack dash to the finish.
Prior to the start of today's special stage, the solo men's category looked as though Matt Page (Wiggle) was on his way to taking the overall win as he had a leading margin of almost a minute. However, the smart money was down on Ajay Chhatri (Torq) to light the afterburners on the leg burner climb to claw back some of that deficit. If a sweepstake had been made then a decent lump of cash would've been made as Chhatri lived up to expectation and truly smashed the 8km course in an incredibly fast 21:15. In fact, his time was so swift that it destroyed the previous course record set by Jonathan Pugh in 2009 by a massive 1:40. The net result of Chhatri's heroics is that he took the stage win, reduced Page's overall lead down by half to 29 seconds, and in doing so has moved up into second in the general classification once again.
In the solo veteran men's category, Paul Whittaker (Stockport Clarion CC) dug deep and put in a sterling effort to reacquaint himself with the top spot of the podium; he took the win ahead of Andy Jones (Clee Cycles KCNC) by 40 seconds in a time of 22:59 - itself a good enough time to have secured him fifth in the solo men's category. This result means that Whittaker move up to second in the overall, 36 seconds behind Jones, with Andy Roberts moving down to third over a minute behind Whittaker.
The women's duo category has had a great battle so far between the top two teams - Elizabeth Adams and Rosemary Byde (Team Number 28), and Steph Fountain and Lisa Bolton (Saddle Skedaddle) - and today was no different. After Saddle Skedaddle's win yesterday on the Climachx special stage Team Number 28 was out to exact revenge. And it did just that. And then some. It took the win by an impressive 1:36 over Saddloe Skeddadle, in a time of 28:11. Kelly Clark and Cath Hempsall took third place. This sees the overall lead change over yet again with Team Number 28 returning to the lead, with Saddle Skedaddle 1:40 ahead behind.
In the solo women's category there was all to play for as Fi Spotswood (Cyclist No 1) and Hannah Thorne were - on paper - both capable of engineering an advantage over the other. After Thorne's second place at last year's TransWales to the UK's 24 Solo National Champion, Rickie Cotter (Wiggle), she obviously has the thirst to go one better this year. Over the last two days her confidence on the descents has been in contrast to Spotswood's, and the win in the downhill special stage has obviously given her the impetus to consolidate her gains. On today's special stage her climbing ability was the only question mark, however she resolutely silenced her critics by producing a ride in a class of her own. She was the only female racer to go sub-26 minutes, finishing the special stage in 25:26 - a clear 39 seconds ahead of Spotswood. Coming in third was a new face for the podium in the form of Anna Buckingham (The Big Adventure Store), who completed the stage in 30:57. Thus, Thorne extended her lead in the overall classification to 47 seconds ahead of Spotswood, with Buckingham also taking third in the overall.
Tomorrow's night time special stage on the 6km Cwm-y-Rhaiadr trail - which is essentially a long and sustained fireroad and singletrack climb, and then one massive sweeping and exhilarating singletrack descent - should be a nail biter. The climb will help Chhatri make up the 29 seconds he's down on Page, however Page has proved the stronger overall descender; coupled with this, he has a home advantage as he lives in Cilycwm just down the road so knows the trails well. But as previous years have shown, the night time special stage can throw added drama into the mix with punctures and tyre slashes aplenty, plus Chhatri can more than hold is own on the singletrack. In essence, the win is very much still either of theirs and tomorrow could help decide who will be crowned and who will be consoled.
Before that, however, there's the small matter of the sixth linking stage that takes the riders from Cymystwyth to Cilycwm, some 74km and 2000m of climbing away. Not only that, but tomorrow's linking stage is expected to be one of the best days riding of the entire TransWales. Featuring the classic Doethie Valley - an awesome 5km singletrack descent that flanks the River Doethie below on a mere ribbon of singletrack - as well as the famous Strata Florida river crossings that sees the trail flit through various rivers and tributaries countless times down a pinball trail that - as long as you get your head around the fact that you're going to get very wet - is ridiculous good fun. It will be a great day to savour and will be full of drama, great trails, thrills and by the day's end we’ll be one step closer to crowning the TransWales for 2011.
Full Results
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Solo women special stage results
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Hannah Thorne
0:25:27
2
Fiona Spotswood (Cyclist No 1)
0:00:38
3
Anna Buckingham (the big adventure store)
0:05:30
4
Abigail Armstrong (Tommy Cooper Fan Club)
0:06:42
5
Saskia Hart
0:08:28
6
Angela Burt (Team Anjill)
0:14:06
7
Rachel Henderson (Edinburgh RC)
0:18:06
8
Grace Leung
0:28:06
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Solo men special stage results
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Ajay Chhatri (Torq Team)
0:21:16
2
Matthew Page (Wiggle)
0:00:30
3
Scott Cornish
0:00:53
4
Matt Williams
0:01:29
5
Jonathan Harris
0:01:50
6
David Ian Price (Drover Cycles)
0:01:59
7
Simon Hawken (Army Cycling Union/Primal Europe)
0:02:24
8
James Davies (Brooks Cycles)
0:03:00
9
Rob Brown
0:03:08
10
Rob Brickley (Clee Cycles/KCNC)
0:03:32
11
Rob Thomas (Gore Bike Wear)
0:03:37
12
James Parker
0:04:15
13
Adam French
0:04:15
14
Lee Monks (Pearce Cycles)
0:04:26
15
Richard Edge (Tread Hunters)
0:04:42
16
Richard Morgan (The 6th time)
0:04:51
17
David Langridge (Stockport Clarion)
0:05:03
18
Ryan Machin (Leisure Lakes Cheltenham)
0:05:45
19
Richard Querelle
0:05:49
20
Steve Bone (Phase 9)
0:05:54
21
Philip Mastro
0:05:58
22
Gary Lake (Cyclist No 1)
0:06:10
23
Nicholas Jones (Myeloma UK.org / M&D Cycles)
0:07:04
24
Russell Mawson
0:07:18
25
Jon Stapley
0:07:24
26
Alex Forester
0:08:32
27
Michel Anton
0:08:40
28
Florian Tauser
0:09:23
29
Graeme Spreadbury (Anything 4 A Ride)
0:09:57
30
Paul Burton
0:10:05
31
Marc Sharman
0:10:09
32
John Chell (Welland Valley CC)
0:11:03
33
Ultann George
0:11:20
34
Ewan Main
0:12:01
35
Ivan Rawlinson
0:13:26
36
Aaron Riley
0:13:55
37
Damian King
0:16:13
38
Chris Howard (Treadscc.co.uk)
0:32:17
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Solo veteran men special stage results
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Paul Whittaker (Stockport Clarion CC)
0:22:59
2
Andy Jones (Clee Cycles KCNC)
0:00:50
3
Gary Cousins (phasen9clothing.co.uk)
0:02:04
4
Andy Roberts
0:02:06
5
Steve Whitehouse (One And All)
0:03:38
6
Ian Musgrove (Ians Cycle Centre)
0:03:41
7
Roman Petr
0:03:53
8
Andy Wilson (For Goodness Shakes)
0:04:07
9
Andy Crane
0:04:43
10
Chris Watson (Manx Mountainbike Club)
0:04:49
11
Andy Wright
0:05:03
12
Stephen Wood
0:05:07
13
Stuart Bruce (Cotswold Outdoor)
0:05:56
14
John Mcgillivray (brelades vets)
0:06:09
15
Nigel Thomas (TREDZ)
0:06:24
16
Dave Ross (Trailbadger)
0:07:21
17
Mike Take (Team Tredz)
0:08:41
18
Colin Bound
0:08:43
19
David Steele (Tommy Cooper Fan Club)
0:08:53
20
Mark Plant
0:09:20
21
Paul Steiger
0:09:27
22
Nigel Rees
0:11:04
23
Paul Whitaker
0:15:09
24
Adrian Normanton
0:15:28
25
Melvin Waters
0:30:34
26
Adrian Peters
Row 25 - Cell 2
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Duo men special stage results
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Simon Harrison & Robin Calverley (RAF CC)
0:24:23
2
Mark Wright & Enda Reynolds (Team Trailbadger)
0:00:55
3
Peter Tachelet & Stijn Tachelet (Bronto - Chaos)
0:01:47
4
Fernando Mainar & Sergio Leal (Dekora Team)
0:02:23
5
Ben Warrick & David Evans
0:02:40
6
David Tortoishell & Stuart Crighton (Army Cycling Union)
0:03:56
7
David Askin & David O'brien (Rally da Digger)
0:03:58
8
Dean Camier & Tim Hughes (Kings of Lemon)
0:04:48
9
David Cooper & Chris Murray (Norfolk In Chance)
0:11:33
10
Daniel Liddle & Jason Aspden (mucky melyd)
0:14:25
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Duo women special stage results
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Elizabeth Adams & Rosemary Byde (Team number 28 (better name to follow!))
0:28:11
2
Steph Fountain & Lisa Bolton (Saddle Skedaddle)
0:01:41
3
Kelly Clark & Cath Hempsall
0:05:13
4
Nell Hall & Rachael Harrison
0:16:56
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Duo veteran men special stage results
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Dave Sheppard & Trevor Marshall (MAMIL)
0:36:27
2
Ben Barden & Chris Putnam (White spirit)
0:05:50
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Duo mixed special stage results
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Katie Vaughan & Andrew Heywood (Motor Neurone Disease Association)
0:28:32
2
John Drummond & Catherine Drummond (Align Pilates)
0:01:00
3
Johanita Swanepoel & Pierre Cloete (Cameltoe)
0:05:38
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Solo women general classification after day 5
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Hannah Thorne
35:15:54
2
Fiona Spotswood (Cyclist No 1)
0:00:47
3
Anna Buckingham (the big adventure store)
0:12:15
4
Saskia Hart
0:15:22
5
Abigail Armstrong (Tommy Cooper Fan Club)
0:16:24
6
Angela Burt (Team Anjill)
0:27:04
7
Rachel Henderson (Edinburgh RC)
0:37:33
8
Grace Leung
0:59:06
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Solo men general classification after day 5
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Matthew Page (Wiggle)
35:08:46
2
Ajay Chhatri (Torq Team)
0:00:31
3
Matt Williams
0:02:03
4
David Ian Price (Drover Cycles)
0:02:45
5
Simon Hawken (Army Cycling Union/Primal Europe)
0:03:25
6
James Davies (Brooks Cycles)
0:03:29
7
Scott Cornish
0:03:56
8
Jonathan Harris
0:04:55
9
Rob Brown
0:05:14
10
Rob Thomas (Gore Bike Wear)
0:06:35
11
Rob Brickley (Clee Cycles/KCNC)
0:07:21
12
Adam French
0:07:29
13
Richard Edge (Tread Hunters)
0:08:12
14
Ryan Machin (Leisure Lakes Cheltenham)
0:08:14
15
Lee Monks (Pearce Cycles)
0:08:18
16
Richard Morgan (The 6th time)
0:08:33
17
David Langridge (Stockport Clarion)
0:08:58
18
James Parker
0:09:15
19
Gary Lake (Cyclist No 1)
0:09:56
20
Philip Mastro
0:10:14
21
Steve Bone (Phase 9)
0:11:54
22
Nicholas Jones (Myeloma UK.org / M&D Cycles)
0:12:25
23
Jon Stapley
0:12:47
24
Richard Querelle
0:12:54
25
Russell Mawson
0:12:57
26
Alex Forester
0:13:10
27
Marc Sharman
0:13:50
28
Graeme Spreadbury (Anything 4 A Ride)
0:15:45
29
Paul Burton
0:15:53
30
Michel Anton
0:17:54
31
Florian Tauser
0:18:04
32
Ultann George
0:19:16
33
Ewan Main
0:21:19
34
Ivan Rawlinson
0:24:27
35
John Chell (Welland Valley CC)
0:24:58
36
Aaron Riley
0:27:00
37
Damian King
0:31:33
38
Chris Howard (Treadscc.co.uk)
0:42:43
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Solo veteran men general classification after day 5
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Andy Jones (Clee Cycles KCNC)
35:12:06
2
Paul Whittaker (Stockport Clarion CC)
0:00:36
3
Andy Roberts
0:02:11
4
Gary Cousins (phasen9clothing.co.uk)
0:02:19
5
Ian Musgrove (Ians Cycle Centre)
0:05:10
6
Andy Wilson (For Goodness Shakes)
0:05:53
7
Steve Whitehouse (One And All)
0:06:51
8
Chris Watson (Manx Mountainbike Club)
0:08:40
9
Andy Crane
0:08:49
10
Stephen Wood
0:10:00
11
John Mcgillivray (brelades vets)
0:10:09
12
Roman Petr
0:10:10
13
Nigel Thomas (TREDZ)
0:11:30
14
Andy Wright
0:11:36
15
Stuart Bruce (Cotswold Outdoor)
0:12:05
16
Colin Bound
0:15:14
17
Mike Take (Team Tredz)
0:15:20
18
David Steele (Tommy Cooper Fan Club)
0:16:27
19
Mark Plant
0:17:04
20
Nigel Rees
0:18:56
21
Paul Steiger
0:19:51
22
Dave Ross (Trailbadger)
0:24:22
23
Paul Whitaker
0:24:52
24
Adrian Normanton
0:31:10
25
Adrian Peters
0:47:36
26
Melvin Waters
0:50:42
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Duo men general classification after day 5
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Simon Harrison & Robin Calverley (RAF CC)
35:13:52
2
Mark Wright & Enda Reynolds (Team Trailbadger)
0:01:25
3
Peter Tachelet & Stijn Tachelet (Bronto - Chaos)
0:05:24
4
David Askin & David O'brien (Rally da Digger)
0:05:50
5
David Tortoishell & Stuart Crighton (Army Cycling Union)
0:07:37
6
Dean Camier & Tim Hughes (Kings of Lemon)
0:09:20
7
Fernando Mainar & Sergio Leal (Dekora Team)
0:13:29
8
Daniel Liddle & Jason Aspden (mucky melyd)
0:16:49
9
David Cooper & Chris Murray (Norfolk In Chance)
0:18:13
10
Ben Warrick & David Evans
0:25:29
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Duo women general classification after day 5
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Elizabeth Adams & Rosemary Byde (Team number 28 (better name to follow!))
35:22:39
2
Steph Fountain & Lisa Bolton (Saddle Skedaddle)
0:01:20
3
Kelly Clark & Cath Hempsall
0:08:57
4
Nell Hall & Rachael Harrison
0:27:21
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Duo veteran men general classification after day 5
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Dave Sheppard & Trevor Marshall (MAMIL)
35:30:20
2
Ben Barden & Chris Putnam (White spirit)
0:12:56
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Duo mixed team general classification after day 5
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Katie Vaughan & Andrew Heywood (Motor Neurone Disease Association)
35:22:04
2
John Drummond & Catherine Drummond (Align Pilates)
0:03:36
3
Johanita Swanepoel & Pierre Cloete (Cameltoe)
0:11:11
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