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Helen Wyman claims tenth national cross title; Tom Pidcock wins on under-23 debut

Grant Ferguson claims first men's title while Evie Richards makes it three-in-a-row in under-23 women's race

Helen Wyman (Xypex-Verge Sport) will be back in the red, white and blue stripes of British cyclo-cross champion after outgunning Nikki Brammeier (MUDIIITA Canyon) to claim her tenth national title at Hetton Lyons Country Park.

Wyman powered away from World Cup rival Brammeier – the back-to-back defending champion – in the final stages after a race-long battle between the two.

Wyman’s accelerations, both on the bike and on foot, helped open up a gap and the 36-year-old resisted a late comeback to surge away again and claim victory by 13 seconds.

For the second year running, Bethany Crumpton finished third while, earlier in the day, rising star Evie Richards – already a World Cup round winner at senior level – claimed her third under-23 title.

Helen Wyman celebrates her tenth British cyclo-cross title after triumphing following a race-long battle with Nikki Brammeier (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

In the under-23 men’s race, Tom Pidcock (Telenet Fidea Lions) added to his rising stock with another national title – his first at under-23 level – after a great display of bike handling.

Pidcock – the world junior cyclo-cross champion, world junior time trial champion and national criterium champion – opened up a gap at the end of the first lap thanks to bunny-hopping over the hurdles and his lead only increased from there on.

Ben Turner and Dan Tulett finished second and third respectively – the opposite way around to how they finished on the world junior podium behind Pidcock last year.

Finally, Grant Ferguson (CST-American Eagle) – who rode the cross country MTB event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – won his first senior men’s national ‘cross title to deny Ian Field (Hargroves-Ridley-Montezuma) a sixth victory.

Ferguson – under-23 national champion three years in a row between 2013 and 2015, and already a national champion on the mountain bike – attacked Field with two laps to go to claim victory; 2016 winner Liam Killeen (Malvern Cycle Sport) finished third.

Re-live the action through this photo gallery from SWPix.com.

Helen Wyman and Nikki Brammeier were engaged in a two-up battle for the elite women's title after blasting clear of the field early on. Wyman powered away on foot on the uphill sections, as well as putting time into the defending champion on the bike, to claim her tenth national title by 13 seconds (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Evie Richards's face was a picture of concentration at the start of the under-23 women's race. Though competing at U23 level at the nationals, Richards is already a World Cup round winner at senior level after claiming her maiden victory at the end of 2017 in Namur (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Perhaps unsurprisingly given that pedigree, Richards was in a league of her own in the national under-23 women's race and claimed her third consecutive victory by a big margin (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Trek Factory Racing's former under-23 world champion celebrates victory post-race (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
In the men's under-23 race, Tom Pidcock continued his stunning rise to the top with a superb display of bike handling and speed to open up a lead at the end of the first lap, before powering on to victory - his first national 'cross title at under-23 level, having dominated in the age group at the World Cups this season (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Pidcock bunny-hopped over the hurdles on the first lap to open up his lead... (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
...but the 18-year-old chose to dismount on later laps, while still growing his lead on the field (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Ever the showman, Pidcock dismounted and bowed to the crowd upon claiming victory - a slightly less elaborate celebration than the 'Superman' pose he pulled when he won the junior title in 2017 (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Victory for Pidcock saw him add yet another red, white and blue-striped jersey to his collection. The rising star's palmares now includes world, European and national junior 'cross titles, as well as the junior national scratch race title, elite national criterium title and world junior time trial championship (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Grant Ferguson, a Rio 2016 Olympian on the mountain bike, dethroned Ian Field in the elite men's race. Ferguson attacked with two laps to go and charged clear to claim his first senior national CX title - he has previously won three consecutive under-23 titles in the discipline, between 2013 and 2015 (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Ferguson's victory means he is now a national champion at cross-country MTB and cyclo-cross, with former champions Field and Liam Killeen having to settle for second and third respectively (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

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