Held on the club’s longest 30 mile course, the Edmunds Cup is also the club’s oldest trophy – first awarded in 1913. The distance of this event and the hills it encounters makes it a tough challenge attracting only a relatively small entry of the most dedicated riders.
The circular course starts at Tadmarton and heads out to Shipston on Stour where it then turns left heading south towards Over Norton. From there it turns to Bloxham and back to Tadmarton. However this time, because of yet more road works towards the finish, the TT had to finish at Bloxham, shortening it to around 28 miles.
First awarded in 1913, the Edmunds Cup
Someone who probably had no idea of the nature of this last minute change was winner Will Davey, a first time visitor to the club’s weekly TTs. Will set a very fast time of 1.04.47, a time which had the full course been run would have put him very close to the course record. Two minutes behind was last week’s winner Simon Smith on 1.06.51, with Simon Bull third on 1.09.33. As first club member home Simon’s third place earns him the Edmunds Cup, although this was close as fellow club member Simon Smart was only 11 seconds behind.
Special mention should go to first woman home Naomi de Pennington, who put in a very strong ride with a time of 1.14.56, which put her 7th overall.
Full Results: 1.Will Davey: 1.04.47, 2.Simon Smith: 1.06.51, 3.Simon Bull: 1.09.33, 4.Simon Smart: 1.09.44, 5.Darren Alexander: 1.10.03, 6.Luke Sherlock: 1.11.22, 7.Naomi de Pennington: 1.14.56, 8.Mike Kirby: 1.17.46, 9.Mark Davis: 1.19.57, 10.Denise Shepherd: 1.20.55, 11.Andy Macdonald: 1.24.59, 12. Amy Hinton: 1.25.08, 13.Ian Maconnachie: 1.25.44, 14.Amanda Bonjour: 1.36.09
Next week it’s the Hilly 15 – half the distance, but two climbs of Edge Hill. Starts 7pm near the Herb Centre.