Eluned King is the queen of Melton as cycling stars again battle it out in the town

From a field of nearly 130 riders, made up of the best British road racing cyclists and a smattering of foreign competition, King, riding for British -sponsored team Lifeplus-Wahoo, completely dominated the race throughout and then finished off her performance with a clear cut sprint victory over the group of 10 at the finish line in the heart of Melton after a fast and furious 105 kms of racing.

The dominance of her performance was reminiscent of Dame Laura Kenny, a sponsor of the winner’s prize of £1,000 and advocate for women’s sport who on the following day announced her retirement from the sport after an illustrious Olympic and World Championship career.

Sponsored once again by ANEXO Ltd.and CAMS cycling, the race came alive from the off with several riders trying to break clear of the large peloton in the early stages.

Finally Sian Marsh (Team Boompods) established a lone lead of nearly one minute by the first passage of Owston, and the race's first encounter with a ‘special off road sector’ that the race is famous for.

With her lead hovering around the 50 seconds mark, Marsh continued onwards taking the top honours in the first two ‘Queen of the Bergs’ climbs at Burrough and then Cold Overton to establish a firm lead in that competition sponsored by MiSupplies.

However King was already prominent at both those climbs, taking second place at Burrough and third at Cold Overton to retain her challenge for the intermediate competition award.

Having spent 30 km in the lead, Marsh began to tire as the chasing peloton split under the pressure applied by King and her sole teammate Madelaine Leech as larger teams found themselves unable to follow,

By the last passage of Owston Marsh she had been reeled in and eventually dropped as a leading group of 10 riders, including King, approached the last classified climb of the day at Cuckoo Hill.

With King leading this small group over the climb she equalled Marsh’s six points from the previous climbs to snatch the Queen of the Bergs competition from March.

Entering Melton town centre with just a 15 km lap remaining, King showed her strength by taking the much coveted Melton Town Sprint ward, once again a giant pork pie donated by Dickinson & Morris to the first rider over the finish line at that point.

A lap later and with the leading 10 having held together, it almost seemed a formality for King to easily take the final sprint by three lengths from Elidh Shaw (Alba Development Team) and Alice McWilliam (Hess Cycling Team)

King by virtue of her age also took the first U23 rider award, and although some four minutes behind the winner the first Junior rider award was taken by Rebecca Gardiner (Tofauti-Everyone Active) in 19th place amongst the total 66 finishers.

The Top Team award went to Hess Cycling Team.

Taking away from the race the coveted ‘Dame Laura Kenny Trophy’ and over £1,200 in prize money together with the magnificent Melton Mowbray Pork pie, it was a very profitable day for King, who having missed most of the 2023 racing season owing to glandular fever, has come back with a vengeance and the ambition to return to the top of the sport in Britain, and the world.

Race director Colin Clews said: “When Dame Laura offered to sponsor our races she did so with the sole intent of supporting the British Women’s and Junior men’s categories as a recognition of the help that both had provided to her in her return to racing after the birth of her first child, in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games.

“Her stated legacy in retirement is that she can continue that support to both categories and she would have been proud and delighted by the efforts and performances of all who competed at this year’s races involving her name.

“All at the CiCLE Classic extend our warmest wishes to Dame Laura in her retirement and thank her for the inspiration she has already provided to so many.”

Earlier in the day the Junior men had competed in the ANEXO /CAMS 10th Junior Mun’s CiCLE Classic over the same course as the Women, but in very different conditions.

Whereas the Women enjoyed an element of sunshine with waterlogged roads and muddy conditions, the Junior race took place in heavy rain which made the roads all the more treacherous.

This did not appear to be a deterrent to a fast race resulting in the 130-rider field being torn to pieces within the first 30 km of racing.

Eventually a group of eight riders formed at the front of the race as they approached Melton for the first time.

Aggressive riding over the remaining 15 km saw Ahron Dick (HUUB-BCC Race Tean) and Milo McIntosh (Cycling Academy) take a lead of 17 seconds over their former competitors with Dick taking a close sprint victory at the final line.

A total of 51 competitors finished the race, all of whom produced creditable performances on a cruel morning of weather.

Once again both events were the first counting events of the year in the British Cycling national Road race series for the Women’s and Junior Men’s categories.

As well as Dame Laura, again the events received sponsorship from the ANEXO Group and CAMS, offering the biggest prize funds within the UK Women’s and Junior Men’s race calendars with £1,000 and £200 first prizes respectively.

Additional sponsorship was provided by Melton BID, Schwalbe UK, and on this occasion MiSupplies who will sponsor the Queen and King of the Bergs (Climbers) competition within both races as well as at the Men’s International race on 28th April.