Dartmoor Classic delivers another rollercoaster ride

Ex-Grand Tour cycling star Nicolas Roche rolled back the years in Sunday’s successful 17th Dartmoor Classic Sportive.

With entries for the Mid-Devon CC event back to the 2,000 mark, 40-year-old ‘guest’ Roche led a small group of five riders round the 103-mile ‘Grande’ course, from Newton Abbot Racecourse to Lydford and back, in just under five hours 13 minutes. In the process, they averaged nearly 20mph over 9,000 feet of climbing.

The Classic is not a race.

Riders set out in groups, simply to complete their chosen test or chase medals awarded for target times.

Many of them raise thousands of pounds for charity, while the Classic itself supports causes like Dartmoor Search & Rescue Ashburton, Devon Air Ambulance Trust and Dartmoor National Park.

Roche and his companions, including Okehampton CC trio Lloyd Copp, Tristan Kelsall-Spurr and Callum Orchard, crossed the finish line together.

They had hoped to get round in under five hours, but they were faced with strong, blustery winds and some rain, as well as the forecast heat.

The Classic is even more about the many ‘have a go’ riders who train as hard as their lives allow and grit their teeth as they tackle the demanding terrain.

Few summed up that spirit more than local Classic ‘regular’ Martin Causey.

Causey, the captain of Bovey Tracey Cricket Club’s 4th XI, broke a big toe in a match a few days before the event.

After hospital treatment and dosed up with antibiotics and painkillers, he completed the 67-mile Medio course in just over five and a half hours.

That was while his son Ashley was riding the Grande – that took him nine hours and three minutes.

There were a few falls reported among the big field, but no one was seriously hurt.

It won’t be long before the MDCC sits down to set the date and start planning for the 2026 edition.

Only the Covid pandemic has halted the Classic since it was first held in 2007.

Some of the leading times in the various categories this year were: Grande – George King 5hrs 12mins 56secs, Nicolas Roche 5.12.57, Lloyd Copp 5.12.58, Tristan Kelsall-Spurr 5.12.58, Callum Orchard 5.12.58, Rob Hodge 5.16.11; Female – Andrea Woolcott 6.45.03, Anya Hitt 7.15.00, Kate Daniels 7.15.00.

Medio (67mls) – Tristan Vetta 3.26.55; Holly-Mei Jones 3.50.12; Piccolo (46mls) – Geoff Sayers 1.37.12; Victoria Hindley 2.53.17.