AGM - Race Report 2024

Only one place to start, our Club Secretary, Matt Robertson.

National Championship Para Track Mixed Team Sprint - 1st place

National Championship Para Time Trial - 1st place

World Cup Road Race Ostend - 3rd place

World Cup Track Omnium Rio Brazil - 3rd place

Those are just a select few of the events Matt rode in the lead up to being selected for the Paralympic Games in Paris.

As documented on our website, Matt then raised his game to new performance levels, and got a Bronze in the Paralympic Track Individual Pursuit, having broken the paralympic record in the qualifiers.

Moving onto the Worlds in Zurich, Matt improved again, with a Silver in the Road Race, after being in a two-man breakaway that held approx 7 minutes on the bunch. Matt also got a superb Bronze in the Road Time Trial event.

Another rider who achieved a long-time ambition, was Jimmy Hayward. Jimmy won the club hill climb championship yet again this year after coming 3rd in the KCA Wigmore hillclimb. This was the 10th time he has been best Woolwich rider in this event. Jimmy knew that his form was heading in the right direction for the National Championships. There was a massive field for this event, held over various categories, and Jimmy won the Vets category. This shows what hard work over the years can achieve!

Earlier in the season, Jimmy recorded his personal best 10 mile time trial time of 22.49, and on a road bike. This placed him 10th in the Spalding RC event, and the fastest road bike. This time was the fastest 10 by a Woolwich rider in 2024.

Dave Gearing, our clubman of the year, probably did more miles than anyone this year (10,000 and counting)?

He rode various events throughout the year. His main target was to qualify for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships. This Dave achieved, by riding the Cyprus 3 stage event. Dave came 3rd in his age category, thereby meeting the qualifying criteria. At the Worlds in Denmark, Dave finished the event in a small group coming 126th. This was a massive step up for Dave, having only riden a handful of 4th cat events at Cyclopark, to racing in huge groups at a significantly faster speed. 519 finished the event!

Dave also won our club 10 mile championship, incorporated within the CC Bexley event on the Isle of Grain. 

Other events Dave rode throughout 2024 include Crits in the Park at Cyclopark, and the KCA Hillclimb.

Kristof De Beule rode a few events throughout the year. He started the year with a win in January at the Velopark FullGas winter series vets race. In November he came 5th in a 2/3category race, also at Velopark ,having quickly returned from a fractured wrist in an event also at Velopark in September. Kristof rode in the SRRL VC Godalming event in September, finishing in the main bunch on a hilly Oxted course.

Andrea Gil put in some good results on the track. In the London Youth track league she got a 5th in the points and scratch race, followed by a 6th in the Elimination race. Andrea finished 8th overall for the series. Andrea also got a 2nd place in the Youth omnium at Preston Park in May.

Emily Tanner, now a Junior, also rode the London Youth Track League, finishing 10th overall. At the Velopark Fullgas circuit races, Emily got 6th place in February. Emily also rode the Elimination race Good Friday meeting, and the London Grand Prix in August coming 16th.

At Crits in the Park held at Cyclopark, Emily rode 2 events ,coming 4th in both of the Womens events.

Under 14 Ayrton Alemao, rode some events in the London Youth Track League, coming 16th, and at Spring in the Park he came 10th on May 10th.

Other riders at Spring in The Park included Jake Kalogiannopoulos who had a 4th,8th and two 9th as his best results in the Under 12 category, finishing 7th overall. 

Ben Tremayne and Gabriel Gil also Under 12, both rode a couple of events at S.I.T.P.

Surely our youngest ever racer in the Woolwich, Molly Pettett, came 4th in the Under 8 category at SITP with a 3rd place being her best result, along with 5x 4th places.

Alex Pearson had another quiet season, riding a few events. He rode the KCA 2up with Nick Elson, recording a time of 1.0.24 for 25 miles. Alex also rode the KCA hillclimb, and unfortunately punctured in the club 10 event.

Alex Wootton rode his first event, a 10 mile time trial in the API Anglia Sport event in Essex in September.

Corey Johnson rode at Crits in the Park in April coming 15th in the 2/3/4category event.

Rob Dale has just started his Cyclo cross campaign, riding at Lingfield in Round 7 of the London/SE Cross League.

Jake Kalogiannopoulos is also riding Cyclo cross this winter, at London/South East League. His results so far being 11th, 8th, 13th and 8th in the Under 12 category.