15/05/2023
Katie Latham wins at Weston Park as Richard Shephard denies Beau Smith.
Richard Shephard pulled off a thrilling upset as he out biked favourite Beau Smith and recovered from running the wrong way to record his first win his first at a BTF Major Event since 2016. Shephard trailed Smith by 10 places at Thruxton last year, and was over a minute back on the clock in Ibiza too finishing 5th in the 40-44AG. But that mattered not a dot on the day as the underdog built a commanding lead on the bike. That should have been that but for a wrong turn on the final run that squandered his lead. It caused nervous moments for Shephard but ultimately had no impact as he took a brilliant victory with 14 seconds to spare.
In fact, it was a very tight contest all round, with second place Beau Smith, Christos Tzelis, Jonathan Girvan, and pre-race-featured Jonathan Peters all finishing within a minute of the lead. The contest between Beau Smith and Christos Tzelis was nip and tuck all the way, entering T1 together and riding the bike course within eye-sight. Tzelis got the jump in T2, but Smith did enough to re-take the lead and make sure of second with Tzelis seven seconds back in third.
Pre-race favourite Katie Latham was a convincing winner of the women’s race as she recovered well from hitting the deck in Ibiza in an incident that scuppered her chances of a medal. Riding over no less than 16 cattle grids a good way to rebuild that confidence. Behind, Welsh national bronze medallist Beth Jones and Karina Kaufmann played out a classic runner vs biker battle with Jones regaining second position in the final 500m. Two podiums at domestic qualifiers for Kaufmann now this season after also claiming third at Ashridge over the standard distance!
Other pre-race featured: Samuel Palmer 6th, Alice Godding 7th, Ceri Shephard 8th, Mark Russell 11th.
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