VSJ Girls on Tour – Part VI
Hillingdon Grand Prix
Donna Le Blancq and Jo Le Cocq raced the Hillingdon Grand Prix in Hounslow, London on Sunday 16 May 2010. Hillingdon Grand Prix is a closed circuit race and is pretty much the same size as Le Quennevais track however it is quite technical with more twists and turns, descents and inclines.
The girls have since found out that Hillingdon is known as ’crashtastic!’ and that is what happened. 66 girls got on the start line for a 50k race with sprint primes every 5 laps. Much to Jo’s surprise every girl was fighting to be at the front, these girls were very keen. Very early in the second lap, with riders bunched tightly, there was a crash right in front of Jo Le Cocq who had to ride on the grass to avoid it, resulting in 2 riders ending up on the tarmac unable to carry on. The race was neutralized, then stopped twice while medics sorted both riders out. After a considerable delay, one of the riders was taken off to hospital with a several suspected broken bones and breathing problems.
When the race finally restarted twenty minutes or so later, and after an additional warm up lap, the whole thing had to be shortened by eight laps to enable sufficient time between its end and the final Elite men’s race. This didn’t temper either the pace or the effort of the riders; riding as a bunch for most of the race, but the primes hotly contested.
First honours went to Dani King, Ruby Miller and Laura Trott, next to Hannah Rich, with former World Track champion Jo Rowsell, riding as an independent, and Laura Trott also taking primes. The final sprint started on the penultimate corner of the circuit, with Dani King well supported by her two team mates and double Junior World Sprint champion Becky James kicking hard alongside them and pursuing them up the final straight. King crossed the line first, just ahead of James, with Janet Birkmire a close third. Jo Le Cocq finished 49th still with the bunch and Donna Le Blancq finished 59th. The VSJ girls were very pleased to finish in one piece and to hold there own with the best female riders in the Country. What an eye opener!
Richard Tanguy was also at Hillingdon that day racing in the men’s Elite race, however he was caught up in a crash in his own race which meant the bunch split and a lead pack got away.
Hillingdon was ’crashtastic’ for everyone but we survived!
If any women would like to know more about racing away or the races Jo and Donna are doing this season and would like to take part with them, you can email Jo at joannalecocq@gmail.com or Donna at donnaleblancq@yahoo.com.