Endurance Champions crowned – complete series round up

Whinlatter Mountain Bike Challenge

Racing started back in March and some familiar names made their mark at the shortest event of the series. Neal Crampton won after a close fought battle with Rich Rothwell and Greig Brown came in third.

In the women’s race Helen Jackson lead from start to finish and Sally Ozanne and Jo Cardwell made their only series appearances. Andy Howett and Kirsty Forrester  made modest starts with top 20 positions to score some vital series points.

24 & 12 Hours of Exposure

Helen Jackson maintained her early season form with a 5th place in the 12 hour event. Kirsty Forrester rode herself to an excellent fourth place in the 12 hour to put her second in the series and Maddie Horton  made her debut with the 12 hour win.

In the men’s races some new faces appeared in the top spots but a 12 hour third place for Rothwell gave him the series lead and Howett maintained his consistent approach with a top 30 in the 24 hour to put him in second spot.

The Gorrick Exposure 100

Horton took her second win in a row to leapfrog Jackson into the series lead.

Howett’s consistent attendance and performance at all the rounds now put him in the top spot and despite his absence, Rothwell still held onto second going into the summer break.

The Brighton Big Dog

In August, Van der Werf was level on points with Jackson for second in the series and within touching distance of the leader, Horton.

Howett added another 82 points for 10^th place to his total giving him the series lead and making him the one to chase for the rest of the year.

The Gorrick 12:12 Torq In Your Sleep

Dunford improved on previous results to get the win over the returning Rothwell as they closed the gap on series leader Howett and Martin Smith’s third gave him a giant leap up the leader board.

Van der Werf was confirmed as the women’s leader. Sally Hall rode well for a third place, gaining enough points to give her 6th overall in the series with just two events.

The Montane Kielder 100

The final round and an incredible ride from Amanda Brooks for a record breaking overall race win saw her overtake some of the absent early contenders for third place in the series. It wasn’t enough to catch second place Maddie Horton though with the 200 points from her two events and having ridden three events of the six, Hanneke Van Der Werf took the title with 292 points.

Rothwell claimed second place in the series and Howett’s numerous top twenty rides throughout the season put him in third. Having entered only three events, Ant White narrowly out-performed Martin Smith for fourth place. 

Endurance Series Top 5 Men:

1^st Tim Dunford (Cannondale Racing) 394pts
2^nd Rich Rothwell (M Steels Cycles/Enigma/Exposure) 376pts
3^rd Andy Howett (SWCC/MT Zoom/Bikefood) 311pts
4^th Ant White (Cannondale MT Zoom Racing) 264pts
5^th Martin Smith 249pts

Endurance Series Top 5 Women:

1^st Hanneke Van Der Werf (Team Jewson/MI Racing/Qoroz) 292pts
2^nd Maddie Horton (Certini-Mccaulay’s) 200pts
3^rd Amanda Brooks (Ellsworth Haven) 198pts
4^th Helen Jackson (Planetfear.com) 192pts
5^th Amy Baron-Hall (Cookson Cycles/VeloCake) 192pts

Dates for next year’s events are out now and entry is already open for some races. Full results and series rankings are available on the Endurance Series website www.endurance-series.co.uk.

All photos courtesy of JoolzeDymond.com