The punchy climb out of Wherwell provided a challenge for only a handful of riders during August. Perhaps the mixed weather this last month contributed to the relatively lower turnout.
In the women’s competition, Isla Hoult smashed the previous QoM in order to take first place and the full 15 points with a time of 02:12. Franie Ng came second with a time of 02:25 and third place was taken by Annie Dixey with a time of 02:33.
Annie still sits top of the women’s GC table on 114 points, however her lead over Franie has reduced to 5 points, with Franie remining in second place on GC on 109 points. Isla remains in third place in GC on 78 points. It looks light the battle for the women’s GC competition is going to go right down to the wire this year!
In the men’s competition, Oscar Hoult has topped the segment table for the 8th consecutive month, setting a blistering time of 01:46 in the process. George Bentall took second spot with a time of 02:03, just pipping Jim Cascarini into third place with a time of 02:04.
This result means Oscar can no longer be caught in the GC competition. He now sits atop the men’s GC table with a maximum points tally of 135 and can now be considered our 2023 men’s SoTM competition ‘champion designate’. Many congratulations Oscar!
Jim Cascarini’s second place points tally of 98 means his GC ranking position is also now secure with only 2 months and a maximum of 30 available combined points remaining for any rider. Equal congratulations to Jim who has ridden consistently well all year! The race for third spot is still wide open, with up to 8 riders potentially being able to overhaul Matt Gilmour who currently holds that position on 42 points.
Congratulations once again to Oscar and Isla who win the free hot drink and slice of cake from South Downs Social café, who continue to kindly support and sponsor our club’s annual segment of the month competition.
September’s segment brings us closer to home with a climb out of Winchester town to test any rider’s pacing skills.
Click the link here to take a look at September’s segment:
https://www.strava.com/segments/35311094
Men's GC position
