Sam Clark (TBW23/Stuart Hall Cycling) impressively won the Portsmouth North End Summer Road Race at Owslebury in Hampshire on Saturday (5th) to add to his growing reputation. The twenty year old from Petersfield jumped across to early leader Paul Burton (Paceline RT) and immediately went to the front forcing the pace, Burton had burnt too many matches trying to escape the still fresh bunch, by the time he was out of sight he was running on empty and quickly back in the fold, Clark pressed on alone pulling out a gap of 55 seconds and with a couple of teammates stalling behind, took a well-deserved win on Salt Lane. “It was such a good feeling”
Cramp in the last few miles slowed Clark but he was able to measure his effort with little panic “ I live local so i have ridden the roads so much that i know the course like the back of my hand so i definitely had that to my advantage.
Victory on the Milburys course came just 4 days after an impressive win at Thruxton and Clark placed 4th at the Portsmouth clubs open 25 on Sunday (6th), a puncture that took him out of the winning break at Chitterne a coupke of weeks back now long forgotten. Clark has been working with TRAINSHARP coaching and puts his form, fitness and
the confidence that always comes with
those two elusives down to this new alliance…..
“The process
was a real eye opener as until then my zones were just calculated on the old
school 20 minutes -5% FTP which I soon learnt is very inaccurate and can give
you zones that are not actually realsistic. TRAINSHARP carried out a blood
lactate test to assess my LT1 and LT2 levels , a ramp test while measuring VO2
and my minimum aerobic power, the even
came out with me and watched me complete a max effort up a local climb to assess
my riding style as well as taking anthropometric measurements to calculate body
fat etc, so it’s the full package I honestly cannot recommend them enough, they
have played a massive part in my development as a cyclist”
An icy training crash in February saw Clark off the road for 5 weeks with a broken collar bone "But TRAINSHARP worked their magic and i was absolutely flying by May"
Targets for the
year include a National B win, The Severn Bridge race on 27th June
will be his next opportunity and the National U23 Championship: “it’s an
optimistic target as there are some really strong U23’s at the moment who are
racing in the pro peloton etc so I’ll have to be on top form when I go there
but I’ve always wanted a stripey jumper and that kind of result would likely
get me onto a pro team which is the ultimate goal.”
Clark works two
days a week, a bike shop mechanic in Haselmere, the other 5 days are for
training, “In an ideal world I would ride full time but cycling isn’t the
cheapest sport so I’ve got to do something to make some money. My long-term
ambition is to make it to the world tour peloton, obviously there’s a few steps
between where I am now and there and an awful lot of hard work but that’s
ultimately what I want to be doing.”
The Bike:
Cannondale SystemSix Hi-Mod .. “its a super
fast bike and with all the hidden cables it looks very sleek.”
Ultegra Di2 Disc “
I just love how crisp Di2 is and the disc brakes are mega benefit when you’re
racing in the wet”
Enve
3.4 rims, Chris King R45 hubs “they are
just dreamy to ride on the bike all built up is like a rocket ship, super fast
and still climbs very well due to the fairly shallow wheels.”
Tubeless
Continental GP5000 tyres “I really like
them to be honest, they roll very fast and have the added bonus of puncture
protection which is something that I definitely want while racing. And then
recently I’ve been experimenting a bit and waxing my own chains which I used at
the PNE road race, I can’t say I actually notice the difference but it’s
supposed to be faster.”
Portsmouth North End Summer Road Race 05/06/21
1. Samuel Clark TBW23 Stuart
Hall Cycling
2. Matthew Houlberg Meudon Pedal Heaven Le Col
RT
3. Lukas Nerurkar VC Londres
4. Cameron McLaren Nopinz Motip Development Team
5. Brandon Baldacci Lee Valley Youth Cycling
Club
6. Adam Charleston High Wycombe Cycling Club
7. Jacob Schnabel FlandersColor Galloo
8. Harry Horsman TBW23 Stuart Hall Cycling
9. Warren Jesse Meudon Pedal Heaven Le Col RT
10. Sam Freeman Montezumas Race Team
11. William Smith Z Junior Race Team
12. James Ashcroft Nopinz Motip Race Team
13. Paddy Brown Hunt Bike Wheels
14. David Hird Halesowen A & CC Academy
15. James Bonham Paceline RT
16. Kouros Driscoll Sotonia CC
17. Jamie Gostick Banjo Cycles – Raceware –
Specialized
18. Stefan Gloyn Army Cycling Union
19. Luke Prenelle VC Londres
20. Joe Parker Racing Club Ravenna
21. Archie Peet Flamme Rouge Rouleurs
22. Paul Burton Paceline RT
23. Quentin Cowan Z Junior Race Team
24. Oliver Hurdle Southampton University Road
Club
25. Maximillian Ashwanden TBW23 Stuart Hall
Cycling
