GBduro Stage 2 Becomes a bit of a Sufferfest

Photos by Breakaway Digital (@breakawaydigital) and Tommy Check (@theracingcollective / @tommy.check)

The staged “enduro” format of the GBduro is unique to this race, requiring all the riders to come into roost at the checkpoint and coalesce for a mass depart on the next stage. There were positive vibes around camp at CP1, which bookended the 635-kilometer 11,700m stage, with riders sharing beers, tea, and tales of misery and woe from stage 1. There was plenty of carnage too, but that was merely a harbinger of what was to come in stage 2…

Stage 2 of the GBduro is pretty much right in the middle of the UK. The 460-kilometer section runs from Ysbyty Cynfyn to checkpoint 2 at Garrigill and is considered “the easy stage” by the race organizers because it’s shorter and flatter than others — only 6,700m of climbing. However, many of the riders were feeling the effects of a grueling stage 1, and the extremely wet weather took a major toll.

There were over half a dozen scratches on Stage 2 (so far) with reasons ranging from a dental filling shaking loose, to Achilles heel issues, and from knee pain to Garmin malfunctions, which is what took out Lee Craigie, who was having an excellent run early on in the stage. However, the most common plight riders are facing is trench foot. The wet weather is wreaking havoc on people’s feet and has forced a couple of scratches and required others to stop and dry out.

This included one of the early frontrunners, Ollie Hayward. After a fast ride and a threat to take a top spot, Ollie was forced to stop just 40-odd kilometers before CP2 to dry his gear and avoid even more problems. Race organizer Miles Resso said, “I’ve been really impressed by Ollie’s riding… he put in a great performance towards the end of stage 1, making up lots of ground. Then I saw him yesterday in the constant drizzle and wind of the Yorkshire Dales in a bad way—walking up every slight incline in a completely soaked kit… he made a wise decision to stop in Kirby for the night. That might have cost him for Stage 2, but he’s still in it. Tomorrow is another day.”

Angus Young arrived at CP2 yesterday afternoon (above), completing Stage 2 with a new FKT, knocking off 43 minutes from Lachlan Morton’s 2019 time. Angus’ completed the stage in 30 hours and 39 minutes (30h:39m), which makes his total time for the two stages 66 hours and 20 minutes (66h:20m). Mark Beaumont got into CP2 a little under six hours later and became the second-place finisher of the stage with a time of 36 hours and 27 minutes (36h:27m).

Based on cumulative time, Angus has an astonishing 15 hours of buffer over Mark, the closest competitor. Essentially, Angus just needs to stay upright and finish, not sleep in or get a mechanical or trench foot. Rumour has it, that a FKT could be on the cards for young Angus for the entirety of the route. He’ll still need to make up a couple of hours to catch Lachlan’s 2019 time, but it’s a possibility.

On the pointy end of the women’s category, Stage 1 winner Philippa Battye and Jaimi Wilson fought it out for a better part of Stage 2, but Jaimi put the pedal down to finish with a two-hour lead over Philippa. Jaimi was also able to secure third place overall in the full stage race with this win. The 34-year-old Carl Hopps from Leeds is also in contention after snagging the outright third-place spot in Stage 2. He’s now in 5th place overall for the GBduro, just a bit behind Philippa Battye, who’s 5th place in the full race standings at the moment.

GBduro Stage 2 Winners

Here’s a list of the top three finishers from both the men’s and women’s categories.

• 1st (Men’s) / 1st for Stage 2 Angus Young (30h:39m)
• 2nd (Men’s) / 2nd for Stage 2 Mark Beaumont (36h:27m)
• 3rd (Men’s) / 3rd for Stage 2 Carl Hopps (39h:5m)
• 1st (Women’s) / 4th for Stage 2 Jaimi Wilson (40h:42m)
• 2nd (Women’s) / 6th for Stage 2 Philippa Battye (42h:45m)
• 3rd (Women’s) / 8th for Stage 2 Emily Harper (50h:27m)

Overall GBduro Standings

Here’s a list of the top ten standings in the overall GBduro event. Stay tuned for Stages 3 and 4.

• 1st Angus Young (66h:20m)
• 2nd Mark Beaumont (81h:15m)
• 3rd Jaimi Wilson (92h:05m)
• 4th Philippa Battye (93h:53m)
• 5th Carl Hopps (94h:11m)
• 6th Nick Spener-Vellacott (99h:46m)
• 7th Ollie Hayward (100h:30m)
• 8th Emily Harper (105h:10m)
• 9th Alice Lemkes (108H:45M)
• 10th Chris Simpson (112H:02M)

We’re planning several updates during this year’s GBduro, so stay tuned. Check out the event Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map and watch for updates. Find it here.

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