SLGP: Day 2 Race Report

The SLGP women’s Keirin paced by Tianne Bell. Photo by Mark James

Under bright blue skies - and with a typically brutal back-straight headwind - SLGP Day Two wasted no time getting up to speed, with team GB’s moustachioed powerhouse, Hayden Norris, setting a new HHV track record of 10.423 in the flying 200m sprint qualification. He kept his foot on the gas all day, remaining undefeated throughout the match sprint competition, taking the title ahead of his GB teammates Harry Ledingham-Horn and Harry Radford and the newest member of the Shapton household, Lucas Oscar Vilar, in fourth.

Match sprints at the SLGP. Photo by Honor Elliott

Ella Barnwell, yesterday’s Elite Women’s Omnium victor, picked up where she left off, shooting out of the pack in the last lap of a cagey women’s scratch race to take the win.  

Carys Lloyd, known for ripping the legs off HHV Race Training regulars, ripped off some elite legs in the Women’s Elimination, demonstrating the infamous nous of the VCL youth to duck and dive her way to the Devil win.  

The men’s Omnium. Photo by Honor Elliott

As the Friday evening crowd filled the stands, the talent of tomorrow kept them entertained with an omnium more typical of Track League than a UCI event; Scratch, Keirin, Pts and a Marymoor Crawl. Emma Buffa and Aalia Clay took the spoils for the U14 & U16 girls, with Charles Bunting and Milo de la Mare taking the top step in the U14 & U16 boys competition.

Youth racing at the SLGP. Photo by Honor Elliott

With the early evening sun shining on a packed pavilion, Team GB’s female sprinters began their domination of the women’s keirin competition. Two time national champion Rhian Edmunds and multiple World Championship medalist Lauren Bell both won their semi-finals, with Canadian Emy Savard qualifying to ensure the brits wouldn’t have it all their own way. Emy made the GB hitters work in the final, but couldn’t quite match the power of Bell, Edmunds and Iona Muir who took the podium positions.

Emy Savard of Canada vs Team GB in the women’s Keirin final. Photo by Honor Elliott

With the wind dropping and the speed picking up, the women’s madison pairings - some new, some getting reacquainted - took to the track for the flying lap, with current Condor Women’s League leader Jasmine Cornelius and Scottish sprinter Iona Muir setting the fastest time with a rapid 27.6s / 58.5km/ph lap. 

Jasmine and Iona’s next challenge - the 45 lap/20km Elite Women’s Madison - was a different beast altogether though, and it was the elite endurance riders who set a rapid early tempo. At the halfway mark only two points separated the top three pairings, with Ella Barnwell and Local-Legend-Lucy Bénézet Minns on 17, former National Youth Madison Champions, Carys Lloyd and Cat Ferguson on 16 and Erin Boothman and Lucy Glover on 15. As all three pairings lapped the field and hoovered up the points, it was clear that the final sprint would be decisive. A beautifully timed change, followed by an explosive attack from Carys, ensured she and Cat took the 10 pts and with it a hard-fought madison victory. 

Jasmine Cornelius and Iona Moir in the women’s Madison. Photo by Honor Elliott

Lured by the promise of cold, hard cash - rumoured to have been collected from an old Saturday Inters sign-on tin recently discovered in the container area - the sprinters assembled for one last chance at glory: The Chase Race. With a staggered start, expertly calculated by spreadsheet-maestro Iain Cook, riders lined up at different points on the track for a 1 lap (give or take a few metres) dash to the line. A blistering blur of skin-thin lycra burst around the bankings and out of the melee shot sprint superstar Rhianna Parris-Smith, who happily pocketed the £150 and adulation of the HHV crowd. 

The last race of the night - and a fitting way to finish two days of spectacular SLGP racing - was the Elite Men’s Omnium Points Race. One Life’s Big George Nemo and James A-B had battled it out with Team GB’s Will Perrett in the first three races of the event to go into the points race sitting top three. Big George won the opening scratch with his trademark turn of speed and Perret broke away in the Tempo for a comfortable win. James A-B took up the One Life cause with an excellent Devil, finishing second only to Perrett, with local hitters Dylan and Santi showing their skill to finish 8th and 4th respectively. 

The SLGP Men’s Omnium. Photo by Mark James

James A-B came out swinging, taking 13 points from the first 3 sprint laps to close the gap on Perret and suggest we might have a nail-biter on the cards. But Perret was in control and with some well-timed injections of pace he split the group, taking 5 riders with him and crucially leaving Big George and James A-B in the trailing bunch. Perret and friends set about sweeping up a musette-load of points and ultimately a lap gain too. A big beneficiary of sticking tight to Perret’s wheel was Swedish track star Gustav Johansson, who positioned well within the breakaway to take the majority of the sprint points and move himself right up the overall omnium table to finish second overall. A late surge, taking 6pts in the final sprint, secured James A-B third spot, but victory belonged to Perret. Undoubtedly the strongest and most consistent rider on the day, Perret took the applause of the HHV crowd and brought the curtain down on a fantastic two days of racing. 

As ever, a massive thank you to the hundreds of people who helped make the second SLGP such a success, it simply wouldn’t be possible without our incredible community of comms, organisers, riders and volunteers. Here’s looking forward to the SLGP 2025 (when we’ve all had a little rest).

Report by Sam Holden