Teenager Arthur earns his first senior cyclo-cross win

Arthur Green was in excellent form to take victory in Sheffield on Sunday.

The course was particularly difficult, with a long climb and various technical sections, which combined with the blustery and wet conditions meant all participants had a tough day in the saddle.

Green rode a near perfect race as he powered his way in front in a high class field to finish alone, some 19 seconds ahead of second placed rider James Thompson of Langsett Cycles, with UK Youths’ Rob Partridge 43 seconds down on Green’s finishing time.

It was also a good day for Matlock CC’s Amelie Wayte who came third overall in the U12s race.

Meanwhile, Matlock CC sisters Libby and Ellie Smith travelled to Stroxton on the weekend of October 19/20 to take part in the Lincolnshire Cyclo Cross League, which is being used as part of the selection criteria for the East Midlands youth team for the forthcoming inter-area championships.

Younger sister Libby had an excellent race, winning the U12 girls’ category having had a good start and held off a strong comeback from one of the older local girls.

Ellie also did well, winning the U14 girls’ event having dominated from start to finish.

Last weekend the Smith sisters travelled to Misterton to take part in the West Midlands Cyclo Cross League.

Once again they both put in great performances, with Libby taking third place in the U12 girls race and Ellie once again victorious in the U14s girls event.

Ellie has now been selected to ride in the U16 East Midlands Team in the upcoming Inter Regional Championships in Middlesbrough in November.

The girls, as with all the other local riders, were unable to test their skills on the eighth round of the Notts and Derby Cyclo Cross League on Saturday as it was cancelled due to the weather conditions meaning the proposed course at Bramcote was water logged.

Howver, Matlock Cycling Club’s junior rider Patrick Smart took part in the prestigious National Hill Climb Championships on Sunday on a remote course called The Stang in North Yorkshire.

Strong winds meant for super fast times, as the riders had the benefit of a tail wind on the course which sees riders tackling gradients of up to 18 per cent, as well as it having a slight downhill section too, making pacing key to a fast time.

Smart managed to finish in a very credible 63rd position from 162 starters, recording a time of 9 minutes 43.8 seconds. Smart’s time was good enough for 17th overall in the junior category.

The national title went to Tejvan Pettinger of Sri Chinmoy Race Team who has been in totally dominant form all season, recording a time of 7 minutes and 57.7 seconds to win from James Gullen who took the silver medal.

Local rider Adam Kenway of Buzz Cycles just missed out on a top ten finish, coming 11th overall in a time of 8 minutes 32.2 seconds.