Nova rider report – UCI Granfondo World Championships

Five riders from Harrogate Nova qualified earlier in the year at the Tour of Cambridgeshire for the UCI Granfondo World Championships which took place in Varese, Italy on Sunday 2nd September.

The annual UCI event is both a rare and privileged opportunity for amateur riders to represent their country with the UK contributing the greatest number of riders.

The challenging 80 mile hilly route was run on closed roads on an age related basis with nearly 2,000 riders from 60 countries participating

Andrew Stringer, Edwin Stokes, Stuart Newton, Joe Fisher and Paul Lehan lined up in their respective age categories, all having to set off at a ferocious pace to ensure good positioning in the peloton for the first climb of the day.

Whilst only Andrew and Paul were able to ride together (given the differences in age categories) the finishing times were all very similar with Stuart Newton recording a time of 4hrs 4 mins, Andrew 4hrs 13 secs, Edwin 4 hrs exactly and Paul in 3hrs 59 mins.

Sadly Joe Fisher was involved in a nasty crash in only the first few miles resulting in a dislocated shoulder resulting in him retiring from the race.

The winning time was a testament to the high quality of riders taking part in the event with a stunning time of 3hrs 24 mins.

Given the outstanding performances from Nova at this event, it is quickly becoming a firm favourite and undoubtedly Nova will be at the 2019 event representing club and country!