XCO Race Report: British XC National Championships in Tong

Words: Nick Bentley

On Sunday the National XC Championships took place at Tong, Bradford with drastically different weather conditions to the XC Short Track on Friday from the same venue. The rain began to pour and showed no signs of stopping, meaning not only did the riders have to compete on a technically challenging course, but the addition of the mud and rain kept riders on their toes. Despite the less than ideal weather, a great turn out of riders took to the starting grid to try to get their hands on those National Championship jerseys.

The National Championships took place at Tong track, a challenging course with several technical features putting riders through their paces. Despite the weather conditions, and biking calendar clashes, there was a great turn out of riders this weekend ready to try their hand at getting a National Championship jersey

A double win this weekend for Nick Craig taking the win in the Grand Veteran's field in both XCC and XCO

The rock drop, that was previously taken out for the National series round at this venue, was back in prime condition

That's one way to clean your tyres

Due to the muddy conditions at times the rack resembled more of a cyclocross race than crosscountry

Due to the muddy conditions at times the race resembled more of cyclocross than cross-country

There was little rest available across the course, with short, sharp climbs following the very technical descents

Hope's Paul Oldham added yet another National Championship jersey to his collection, taking home the win in the Men's veteran field

3rd place for Douglas Cameron in the Grand veteran field giving his all right up until the finishing line

Third place for Douglas Cameron in the Grand veteran field, giving his all right up until the finishing line

A good hose down needed post race

Warming up is a necessity in all weathers, and if you don't have a team tent, a handy helper with a brolly will do the trick too

This rocky A-line was a tyre popper, with many riders taking the long walk to the tech zone after getting a puncture here. Thankfully Faye Williams made light work of the A-line on her way to seventh in the Female Youth field

Another strong race for Innes McDonald narrowly missing out on a podium space taking home fourth in the Youth field

Tulsi Bakrania powered through the mud to take home third in the Female Youth

With the challenging weather conditions and thick mud it became quicker to run up some of the woodland climbs than ride

The log drops were a challenge in the slippery mud, but not for Noah Ellison on his way to second in the Male Youth

A double win this weekend for Leon Atkins in the Male Youth field

The course had 5 areas of A-Line B-Line choices putting in plenty of options for everyone to enjoy

The course had 5 areas of A/B/C Line choices putting in plenty of options for everyone to enjoy

The British Cycling Commissaires were equipped for all weathers

With many riders gearing up for the World Championships in a couple of weeks, the Tong course became the perfect space to practice

There was no slowing Emily Carrick-Anderson down on her way to taking the win in the Female Junior field

Ella Maclean-Howell took the win in the Female U23 field

Evie Richards stormed to victory in the Elite female field taking the win by over 5 minutes

Crowds gathered at the infamous Tong rocky descent

Friends and family braved the weather to catch all the action

There were several mechanicals mid-races this weekend, with Anna Kay sharing this fate experiencing a puncture partway through her race, but Anna ground deep to take fourth in the Female Elite

Who doesn't love having fun in the mud!?

Glasses were a must this weekend

Not the weekend Ollie Akers was hoping for having a mechanical

Joolze and Hannah were on hand once again this weekend providing the event commentary these guys work tirelessly throughout the weekend to make sure everything runs smoothly and spectators are kept updated on their riders

Joolze and Hannah were on hand once again this weekend providing the event commentary. These two work tirelessly throughout the weekend to make sure everything runs smoothly and spectators are kept updated on their riders

Another fantastic win for Max Greensill in the Male Junior field

Charlie Aldridge and Cameron Mason were neck and neck throughout the Elite race, with Charlie taking the win by just 13 seconds

Smiles all round on the finishing line, particularly for Ashley de Lotz taking the win in the 35-39 class and 2nd in the Master's class overall

Clean number boards really help both the commissaires and the commentators keep track of what's going on

Not even the mud could dampen Josh Matthew's spirits as he took the jersey in the Master's field

For 2023 Man Down Media have partnered with Bluetti to help support us in producing our National Series content. Bluetti produce clean, portable power stations allowing us to ditch our generator on race weekends an rely solely on their AC200MAX portable power station for all our power needs (e-bike charging included!). Why not head over to their website and check them out for yourself. Bluetti

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Racing and Events Race Reports British Xc National Championships

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Mandownmedia
Member since Nov 28, 2019
259 articles

11 Comments

snotrag FL (Jul 27, 2023 at 4:58)

Pretty standard UK racing conditions there! Great to see all these UK event reports on Pinkbike recently.

drjonnywonderboy (Jul 26, 2023 at 15:56)

Evie Richards opened up a text book and took them to school. The tour de france isn't won by 5 minutes!

mlp207 (Jul 27, 2023 at 4:19)

Tdf winner over 7 mins ahead this year

ro-bert FL (Jul 27, 2023 at 9:49)

@mlp207: yeah well done. As you know, he means a race that’s over 2000 miles long is only usually decided by 1-5 minutes.

mtbflow24 FL (Jul 26, 2023 at 23:41)

How are they sooo muddy!?? I ride all winter here in England and make it my business to ride though every muddy puddle i can find and still i'm not that dirty! :0

AlexRob (Jul 27, 2023 at 1:16)

Spray from others racers' wheels is probably a big contributor. It's surprising to see few, if any, front mud guards though. I think I'd take the 100-150g weight penalty for a proper guard.

mtbflow24 FL (Jul 27, 2023 at 3:06)

@AlexRob: Hell ye! Befor i got one i was quite anti them and thought that they were just a gimmick that didn't actually help but now that i have one i never wear goggles or glasses!

getfoutlamb (Jul 27, 2023 at 7:05)

@mtbflow24: Get a mud hugger rear mudguard as well. Makes your bike look like a commuter but it means you don't need to change clothes after riding

captainclunkz (Jul 26, 2023 at 15:15)

BST - Britain's soggy trails.

SRD022 (Jul 27, 2023 at 2:47)

Minging - fair play racing in that!

Muddytrailster (Jul 26, 2023 at 14:07)

Proper racing!