House wins the national championships after epic race in Wales
- Sunday, 28 June 2009
- 7 Comments
Kristian House wins men's national championships 2009
British road race national championships photo gallery by Andy Jones>>
Kristian House out-witted the strongest field of riders assembled for a British national championships in years to take the title in Abergavenny today.
The British-born, American-raised Rapha-Condor rider won from a group of four in front of huge crowds in the Welsh town to take the biggest win of his career.
This had been an exceptionally hard race, but House was one of a few British-based riders able to hold his own against the returning ProTour riders who started ripping the race to pieces almost as soon as the peloton had left Abergavenny.
The ProTour and European-based riders were always at the front of the race, but as Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Mark Cavendish and Peter Kennaugh were leaving their mark, House was consistently riding in the wheels.
With just two stage races to interrupt six week’s worth of criterium racing, House hadn’t exactly had the best preparation for today, but as his manager John Herety said, he trains and lives a more disciplined life than many of those riding in bigger teams.
On the tough finishing circuit around Abergavenny, House was equal to the ten or so compatriots that were in pursuit of Wiggins and Froome who’d escaped on the Tumble. The feared three-mile climb had shattered the peloton and anyone left behind the group of Cavendish, Dan Lloyd, House Kennaugh et al. found themselves out of the running.
Wiggins would eventually sit up on the finishing circuit as the group behind closed in, but Froome pushed on, much to the delight of the crowd. This was the first year Froome has been allowed to compete in the British championships after switching his Kenyan racing licence for a British one, and he was obviously here to win.
The pursuit of Froome eventually saw Kennaugh, Lloyd, House and Ian Stannard go clear of the rest, only for Stannard to suffer from cramps and leave four at the front.
Froome attacked again with just over a lap to go, a move that endeared himself to the watching fans. There was an audible groan from the crowd when the commentator announced he’d been caught with some two kilometres to go.
In the final metres it was House who got the awkward, downhill, twisty sprint right, and with it the right to where the red, white and blue jersey for the next year.
RESULTS: British road race national championships
1. Kristian House (Rapha-Condor) 100 miles in 4-09-41
2. Daniel Lloyd (Cervelo)
3. Peter Kennaugh (100% ME)
4. Chris Froome (Barloworld) all at same time
5. Roger Hammond (Cervelo) at 2-41
6. Mark Cavendish (Columbia-Highroad) at same time
7. Evan Oliphant (Endura) at 3-06
8. Ian Wilkinson (Halfords Bikehut) at 3-31
9. Russell Downing (Candi TV-Marshalls Pasta) at same time
10. Jeremy Hunt (Cervelo) at 3-32
RELATED LINKS
Cooke wins unprecedented 10th title
Cookson over-rules to reinstate Armitstead
Atkins wins junior road race title in Wales
British
road race national championships photo gallery by Andy
Jones
Reader comments
Add your commentsJune 28 18:42
Barry Pape
Good to hear that Chis Froome was in aggressive mode and that his riding endeared him to the crowds. It's usually the case, that when you get host of excellent continental based pros, an unexpected home rider comes up with a surprise.
June 28 19:40
mt
Great attacking ride from Chris Froome, really made a first class race of it.
June 28 20:48
richard pannell
brilliant, well done Kristian. there are more great riders out there than there stars
June 29 09:49
james thomas
Good to see a home based pro. win again .....some pros based on the continent do not respect them enough.....it shows how good they actually are.
June 29 14:15
Greg Hall
Bravo Kristian! I'm sure all your fans in the USofA are proud to see you win the BIG one.
June 29 14:53
JH
Well done Kristian - you have had to work really hard to get where you are now and you and your team are true deserving winners. The comments made from Mark Cavendish just show that he is a bad loser, and he should learn to respect every rider, regardless of whether they are a pro or not.
June 29 15:30
john jackson
I loved Mark Cavendish's comment about Kristain House "It's never nice when the winner is sat on for the whole day." As this comes from someone who 'sits on' most if not every day, you would have thought he'd be complimenting Kristian. His remarks were also innacurate as Kristain was one of a group of four that sprinted away from the rest of the lead group five laps from the end and anybody watching would have seen him put in his fair share of effort.