On Saturday the fifth of February, the first round of the ART Winter Crit Series took place at Dalton Barrack Airfield in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. First the first time ever, all entries across all categories were sold out, and close to 200 riders had come to the Abingdon Airfield to race bikes. It was a sunny winter day with cold temperatures and a strong south-westerly breeze.
Three RLSCC riders were on the start line, Alexander Craig and George Hollingsworth for the Cat-4 race, and Emile Glorieux for the Cat-E/1/2/3 race. The wind did pick up during the race, and spiced things up with crosswinds along the long straight sections of the circuit.
George had a cracking ride, especially considering it was his very first cycling race, and managed crossed the line in 7th place during the bunch sprint in the Cat 4. Alex put in a great effort but unfortunately had to abandon the race with just a couple laps to go because of a puncture in his rear tire.
The Cat E/1/2/3 split up in three groups early-on, Emile ended up in the third group and finished in 21th place.