Tour Series Round One: Redditch

The first round of the Matrix Fitness GP at the Tour Series kicked off on Tuesday 9^th May in Redditch with the crowds filling the barriers around the course to watch the fast paced circuit racing.
The course ran over an undulating 1.4km in Redditch city centre, including a sharp decent down Prospect Hill and a sharp climb up Unicorn hill. The short course and geography of the city centre made it a technical course, requiring excellent bike handling skills to ensure safe and fast riding.
Team RGB Building Supplies fielded 4 riders: Alice Staniford, Lucy Driver, Jenny Corser and, guest rider, Beth Taylor. They were first up on the introduction of riders on the podium in front of ITV4; highlights for the race were broadcast on ITV4 later in the day.
Team RGB Building Supplies are a guest team at the event, meaning that they were called to the back of the starting grid. Beth Taylor made an aggressive move from the start, moving to the second row of the start to give her an advantage from the drop of the flag.
From the first 1.4k lap, the field had quickly strung out, with DROPS rider Alice Barnes quickly moved to the front of the field with Olympians, Elinor Barker and Katie Archibald pushing the pace. Team RGB’s Lucy Driver had to unfortunately retire from the race in the early laps due to a mechanical failure.
With thirty minutes on the clock, Beth Taylor was going strong in the first pack of riders chasing the breakaway group of Elinor Barker and Katie Archibald, who were in turn chasing down Alice Barnes.
Alice Staniford and Jenny Corser had been lapped by the race leader, Alice Barnes. This resulted in them having to pull away in the final laps, meaning only non-lapped riders were on the course going in to the final straight.
Beth Taylor put in an impressive performance, holding on to the first main group of riders throughout the race. Alice Staniford also put in a notable performance, staying strong in the second chasing pack of riders throughout the circuit race.
The riders from Team RGB Building Supplies finished the race in the following positions:
38th – Beth Taylor
46th – Alice Staniford
55th – Jenny Corser
As a guest team, Team RGB Building Supplies are not eligible for overall classification. For the new team, these results are an excellent start to the team’s race season. We wish them the best of luck for the remaining 9 rounds of the Tour Series.
Here’s a brief video we put together of the first round of the Tour Series, showing Team RGB Building Supplies’ stunning kit and a bit of action along the way!



Stage two of the Tour Series took place in Stoke-on-Trent on 11^th May, with Katie Archibald taking the individual victory for Team WNT. Team RGB Supplies’ Alice Staniford taking 38th, with Jenny Corser coming home in 44th.