Matty steps up a gear with some outstanding racing
06 May 2022 | Jill Lundberg | Posted in: Sixth Form, Sport
Matty Cole, in Year 12, is proving his mettle after an outstanding start to the 2022 racing season
During the winter off-season months, Matty has been putting in a lot of hours on the bike to get the foundations ready to start the season in March, as a first year Junior (Under 19) rider, where there is a big step up in race duration and intensity.
Matty did a couple of tester events earlier in the year, such as Croft Circuit in January, just after having Covid quite badly, where he still managed to come 2nd on a windy day there after being in a breakaway with another rider for most of the race. At the end of February, Matty travelled to Devon for his first-ever road event at the Primavera Road Race, where he came 9th overall and 2nd Junior.
Into March, and Matty was back in Devon for the first round of the Junior National Road Series in Hatherleigh. This was a 70-mile road race on an undulating course in grim conditions, wind, rain and cold, against all the best junior riders in the country. Matty got into a 6-man breakaway and was able to out sprint the other riders on the uphill finish.
Two weeks later, and Matty was lined up for his first Individual Time Trial (TT) of the season which was a 10-mile course, near Knaresborough. Matty won this by around 20 seconds with a time of 20 mins 25 secs. At the beginning of April, Matty started the CV Spring Classic Road Race near Leeds. This was a handicapped race and with Professional and Elite riders chasing behind, Matty forced a 5-man breakaway from the front group and with over 50 miles of hard riding, he rolled across the line 2nd overall and 1st Junior, also winning 2 of the 5 sprint laps during the race.
This was a great result for Matty, considering the calibre of the chasing group of pros and having been ill the week running up to the race.
His latest race was the second round of the Junior National Road Series in Bovington, on the south coast. This course was faster and less hilly than the riders expected, Matty was a marked rider after winning the first round so this made it hard for him to break away from the peloton. With a break away up the road, Matty managed to sprint to a Top 20 overall in the chasing peloton.
Later in the season there are eight more Junior National Road events including races all across the UK in Wales, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Matty is also going to be racing on the continent this season, including in countries such as Belgium, France and Spain.