Southern MTB XC Race Report - 1st Round - Matterley Basin

15 riders from the Guernsey Velo Club travelled to the UK for round one of the 2024 Southern XC Series held in Matterley Basin in Winchester. 

Despite being one of the best known motocross tracks, is it also used extensively for mountain biking. Set in three bowls, the huge 33 acre estate, has sides that are steep enough to make for great decent but just shallow enough to make the climb back out possible, the 4.5km’s course was running fast, despite the gruelling single rooted tracks and short uphill sprints, it would still be a tough test for the riders.

The Juvenile Boys would see academy riders Zach Smith, Remi Le Compte and Luca Stonebridge riding the full track. Smith gridded on the front row, showed his class off the start line as he set a blistering pace early on. By the end of the first lap Smith was over 1 minute ahead and continued to look very strong over the remaining laps, to take the win by over 2m 30 seconds in this high energy class. Remi Le Compte had an outstanding ride to take fourth with Luca Stonebridge's grit and determination, seeing him make the top ten in this strong field.

Charlie Tourtel and Fin Stonebridge rode in the hugely competitive Open Youth Boys category. Both riders made a great start, with Tourtel just four seconds behind the leaders after lap one. The following two laps would see Tourtel losing ground on the front runners, eventually finishing in a very credible fifth place. Stonebridge, despite giving 100%, finished further down the field against the tough opposition. 

The Open Sport category would see Wayne Piercey, Pete Miller and Tim Le Compte riding against a top UK field, in the biggest class of the day. All three riders started well, however the fast paced race took its toll and would see the riders relegated down the field, to finish in 50th, 51st and 54th places respectively in this competitive class of 72 riders.

Donna Smith rode in the Ladies Open class, having had a great start and maintaining the lead early on, slipped back to second over the eventual 3 lap race, securing yet another podium place for Guernsey.

The popular Open Novice Open and Veteran class would see Rod Smith, Mark Ferbrache and Dan Thwaite all taking respectable positions in their categories.

The Men’s Expert class would see the inform Mark Le Page having to complete 6 laps (27.5km’s) within the time allowed of 1hr 30 mins. Le Pages opening lap of 13.08 kept good pace with lead riders and sat in 4th spot for the majority of the race, eventually slipping back on lap five, to finish in 6th place, A great ride for Le Page in this race team fuelled class.

On a shortened track, Ellie Piercey her brother Jacob Piercey, raced in the under 10/12’s. Both riders fared well against the tough UK and Jersey opposition on the fast paced circuit, however it was Jacob Piercey who would be the Channel Islands top performer, taking 5th place in the boys category. 

The next off Island competition, will see Charlie Tourtel and Zach Smith competing in round one of British Cycling’s National Mountain Bike Series being held at Cannock Chase this weekend, where they will be looking to build on their recent good run of form.