Watson crowned British road race champion

Photo credit: SWpix.com

Sam Watson stormed to the British national road race title after a last gasp effort in Aberystwyth, claiming the eighth national title for the Grenadiers this week. 

Watson perfectly timed his attack from the break in the final lap of the 187km race, going solo to take the win by 29 seconds.

The first half of the race saw fantastic efforts by Connor Swift, making frequent attacks and breaks but none that could stick.

With four laps remaining, Watson was part of a group of favourites chasing a four man break. The chase made the catch with one lap to go, and Watson attacked as the bell was rung for the final lap.

A strong final effort that replicated his silver medal winning time trial ride earlier in the week saw him retain a 29 second gap and storm to the win in Wales.

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Sam Watson

“It’s pretty unbelievable to be honest, I’m over the moon. It’s a bit of a dream, I’ve always wanted the bands on my sleeves for the rest of my career, and to have at least one year in the national champions jersey is an incredible feeling.

“I didn’t feel good all race, probably because it was so hard and I was on the limit. That probably helped me because I was willing to lose the race to win. As soon as I had the gap, I just had to go full gas to the line. I didn’t know what the gap was, it was only at 200 metres to go that I realised I would win.”

Over in France, Axel Laurance came home in fifth place after a hot day in the saddle. Laurance was part of a select group of nine at the end of the 231km race, and took on the brutal uphill finish with a ferocious sprint to take fifth place.

Bob Jungels finished sixth in the road race in Luxembourg to round off a solid week of racing in his home country, having claimed his ninth time trial title on Thursday.

In Norway, Tobias Foss took seventh place - the only rider in the top 12 to not ride for Uno-X Mobility - to also add to his time trial victory this week.