RACING BLOGS, NEWS & REVIEWS

As we pedal towards the latter stages of the season, the winning ways of the Wilier Bigmaggys Prendas team has not failed to make an impression on the cycling world. The 2009/2010 season has been their most successful yet since the team began in 2008 under the directive of team rider/manager Ben Luckwell. Ben speaks highly of his team: “I am extremely proud of what the team has achieved this year and it’s not over yet. There have been some great performances so far”.

Much of the team’s success is owed to Marcin Bialoblocki. With 23 individual wins to his name, breaking his own record of 22 wins in a season; he is currently leading the national rankings, where he has been placed for much of the year. Most recently, some inspiring rides in the Premier Calendar races that have been blighted by badly timed punctures have resulted in an impressive 6th for Marcin in the series overall. Marcin is now on a short holiday in Poland, but promises to finish the season in winning form.

Ian Rees has also been in fine sprinting form this season with a total of eight wins this year. The powerhouse of the team is currently ranked 8th in the national rankings and hoping to remain in the top 10 by the end of the season. Overall, the team currently has five riders in the top 20, with Grant Bayton, Ben Luckwell and Will Bergfelt making up the other places in 12th, 14th and 19th respectively, which is more than any other team.

The team are clearly performing well together with a total of 49 wins and many top three positions. Highlights in the last few weeks have included the complete domination of the overall standings in the Team Tor 2000 Crit Series at Merryfield where Marcin Bialoblocki came 1st, Ian Rees 2nd and Will Bergfelt took 3rd. Similarly, in the overall standings in the Castle Coombe series, team Wilier Bigmaggys Prendas won 12 out of the 15 races with Mark Perry taking the overall title, Ian Rees came 2nd, Grant Bayton 3rd, Ben Luckwell 4th and Marcin Bialoblocki came in 5th.

Most recently at the 88 mile Python road race in Windsor, Ben Luckwell placed 3rd with Ian Rees close behind in 5th. The team finished 4th in the National rankings last season and are hoping to improve on that this year. Currently placed 4th, they are hoping to make a top three finish. Watch this space!

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20100819-Team-News–Winning-Style-Continues-for-Wilier-Team-0

http://www.urbanhillclimb.com

http://vimeo.com/13732247

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Read all about the Wilier Super Leggera Lampre team bike on www.bikeradar.com

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/race-tech-lampre-katusha-omega-pharma-rabobank-bikes-27182

Rapha Urban Hill Climb
 
Not usually a hill climb specialist but the attraction of an urban hill climb lured me in!
 
Lucky my girlfriend lives just around the corner from the event, so after finishing work I drove up to Hampstead. On route the heavens opened – so much rain was falling that the M40 traffic slowed to a pace where I would have been better off being on the bike!
 
Thankfully after kitting up the skies cleared ready for the evening’s event.
 
The event had already started when I arrived so unfortunately I wasn’t able to pre-ride the cross.
 
I walked up the climb so I could mentally prepare myself for what was in store.
 
The climb started fairly gradually, levelled briefly before ramping up.
 
I set off at 19:56.
 
Scorching away in the big ring, the plan was to shift down on the flat prior to attacking the real climb.
 
Everything was going perfectly my friends could hear the commentator mentioning Schleck and they could only assume it was because I was climbing so well.
 
Little did they know however that on the steepest part of the climb my chain had given up!!
 
The commentator instructed me to fix it and have another go as he had been impressed with what he saw.
 
I did just that – thanks to the chap who kindly lent me his chain tool.
 
Second time round and as soon as I started I could feel the previous effort in my legs.
 
I pushed on as hard as I could through the crowds of people the noise was immense enabling me to push on through the pain.
 
Over the top and I was happy I’d given it all I had.
 
I finished a respectable 13th place (unlucky for some?!).
 
A hugely successful event and one I’ll be looking forward to competing in again next year!

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