Handsling-Alba podium at the East Cleveland Classic

The Handsling-Alba team put in an outstanding team performance at the East Cleveland Classic. This was the second round of British Cycling's Women’s National Road Series and the team came away with a podium, the team prize and took the lead in the series team standings; not a bad day out on the bike!

The East Cleveland Classic is a relatively new race - it's only two years old - but is famous for it's killer finish, Saltburn Bank. Such is the severity of the climb that it played a major part in how the race panned out. Rather than a series of attacks splitting the bunch, the pack stayed mostly together, with only a few brief attempts to escape.

As the bunch headed into the final lap a group of nine riders clipped off the front; could this be the winning move? Not if Neah Evans had anything to do with it! The Handsling-Alba rider did outstanding work for the team and pulled the break back, setting up the first ever bunch sprint for the East Cleveland Classic.

But what a sprint it would be. While only 400 metres long, it has pitches of 11% and three hairpin bends. This would not be your standard sprint and would require real grit to make it to the finish. Handsling-Alba led  Amelia Tyler on to the foot of the climb where she ground out an impressive third place.

As well as putting Handsling-Alba in to top spot of the National Series' team competition, Amelia's result takes her to first on the individual rankings.

Bob Lyons, team manager said of the result;
“That was a superb team performance, we couldn’t quite convert it to the win, but in every other respect it was pretty much perfect. Control of the race, aggression and putting others under pressure, it was very pleasing to watch.” - Bob Lyons, team manager.

The team are riding on Handsling's A1R0evo, a UCI approved carbon-fibre, aerodynamic road frame. The A1R0evo is designed by Handsling from Toray T800 carbon-fibre using Handsling's own moulds. Take a look at the customisation options to build your bike exactly as you want.