Team Lacuna News: FORM AND CRASHES
Recent events have seen the riders of Team Lacuna feeling both the ups and downs of life as a cyclist. During a recent three week stop in France Dan Smith has been making the most of some improved form and getting in amongst the results. Dave Clarke however unfortunatly crashed at the end of last month on stage 2 of The Tour Of Hungary, damaging to his arm in the process.  It was during a cold and wet second stage of the Tour Of Hungary that Dave Clarke's Tour ended! The stage encountered several problems and heavy rainfall prior to the race caused a river to overflow its banks (as shown in the photo). Having already punctured twice during the opening kilometres, Dave came down in a large crash in the peleton after 45km. After the crash Dave managed to re-mount his bike and continue with the race, eventually regaining contact with the peleton, even though he was in considerable pain. That evening Dave was taken to the local hospital where the doctor believed that he had broken his arm in two places. Dave was treated and advised to return to England and seek further medical advice upon his return. Fortunatly further medical assistance in England proved the original diagnosis to be in-correct, meaning that Dave has since been able to train, though still in discomfort due to the severe bruising of his arm. Dan Smith has been seeing the other side of the coin to Dave recently, and so collecting some decent results whilst on his travels, the best of which was a 9th place in the recent Elite Open GP de la Moisson in Brittany. Other results were a 4th, 6th and a 16th in Elite Regional events, and also a 5th place finish in England at the White Knight Road Race, as per below. 1 - Russell Downing - Pinarello Racing Team 2 - Peter Williams - Pinarello Racing Team 3 - Tom Murray - Pinarello Racing Team 4 - Kevin Dawson - Sportscover / Spiuk / J.E James 5 - Daniel Smith - Team Lacuna 6 - Kit Gilham - Kinesis UK At the most recent Premier Calendar event, the East Yorkshire Classic, Dan Smith finished in 23rd place after initially being boxed in during the sprint for 13th place, with Dave Clarke struggling throughout the race due to his damaged arm, and rolling home in 51st place. With Rob Orr still having to take time away from the sport due to illness, and Richard Williamson unable to race either, it is possible that Dave Clarke and Dan Smith will be the only riders from Team Lacuna at the forthcoming Premier Calendar Races within the UK. . . . . . . . .  The above image shows the group sprint for 13th place, with Dan Smith finishing in 23rd place at The East Yorkshire Classic Premier Calendar Event. Photo courtesy of British Cycling. The road racing season continues and is now entering its final months of 2008. As we progress, further updates on the team and it's partners will be forthcoming. Lacuna Cycle Sport 08.08.2008 LACUNA IN EUROPE
The month of June saw both Dan Smith and Dave Clarke of Team Lacuna competing in composite teams at the Tour Of Romania (UCI 2.2), known in Romania as the Turul Ciclist Al Romaniei.  At the start of The Tour Of Romania both Smith and Clarke went into the race with high hopes having raced solidly in the weeks leading up to the event, with Clarke have sprinted to win and retain his title as the East Midlands Divisional Cycling Champion, and Dan Smith having gone for it alone after a lone break away rider from earlier in the race, and eventually finishing 2nd in the North East edition. The race in Romania went well for both riders, with Dave Clarke finishing in 8th place on General Classification after 7 stages of hard racing, and Dan Smith placing 51st. The race was a very tough international affair, with some stages being run off in beautiful sunshine, and others finishing in the rain at the top of mountains with snow still on the sides of the road. The race overall was competed in by several teams who regularly race at a very high level, with the Italian National Team being one of the entrants,  and was won by the Hungarian rider Rida Cador of the P-Nivo Betonexpressz 2000 Corratec team, a team that competes at the highest level in races such as the Etoile de Besseges against Pro-Tour opposition. The highlight of the race for the Lacuna riders was Dave Clarke's podium finish on stage 2, having been in a four man break all day but being outsprinted at the finish to finally place 3rd.For details of the British Cycling Regional Championships please click the following link. http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/roa/EventReports2008/20080601_Regional_Champs.asp 2008 Tour Of Romania Final General Classification  1 Rida Cador (Hun) P-Nívó Betonexpressz 2000 Corratec 2 Sander Oostlander (Ned) Asito Cycling Team 3 Svetoslav Chanliev (Bul) Hemus 1896 4 Pavel Shumanov (Bul) Hemus 1896 5 Davide D'Angelo (Ita) P-Nívó Betonexpressz 2000 Corratec 6 Banushi Besmir (Alb) Albanian National Team 7 Rusen Rusev (Bul) Cycling Club Bourgas 8 Dave Clarke (GBr) Nordland-Hamburg 9 George Daniel Anghelache (Rom) Dinamo Secrom 10 Frank Wierstra (Ned) Asito Cycling Team 51 Dan Smith (GBr) Loire et Sillon For further details on the UCI 2.2 Tour Of Romania please click the following link http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2008/jun08/romaniancyclingtour08/default The presence of both Smith and Clarke in Romania meant that they were unable to compete at the Beaumont Trophy (won by the new National Champion Rob Hayles) as the event took place the day after the final stage in Romania, which meant that the only representative of Team Lacuna at the race was Richard Williamson, with Rob Orr having to take time out from racing in order to recover from having Glandular Fever. In order to bolster our presence at other recent high level races the team has also been represented by guest riders such as "sprinter" James Williams, who has been enjoying several trips to race in France this season, aswell as "all rounders" Thomas Collier, Matthew Fostun and Simon Baxter. As the season continues the next races on the horizon are the Premier Calendar race The East Yorkshire Classic on Sunday 3rd August, as well as the National Circuit Race Championships, where the Team Lacuna riders will hope to fair more favourably after having rode without luck at the National Road Race Championships. Lacuna Cycle Sport 13.07.2008 RENAULT OLDHAM - THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND TEAM LACUNA
Renault Oldham is supplying Team Lacuna with a car to use on their busy race weekends across Europe. Team Lacuna was launched in January and is made up of some very experienced and internationally established riders including David Clarke, Rob Orr, Dan Smith and Richard Williamson. The team will be competing at the highest level in a range of races across the UK and Europe including the Premier Calendar Series, Elite Circuit Race Series and the Union Cycliste International races this year.  Ricky Mottram of Renault Oldham together with Dave Clarke and Rob Orr of Team Lacuna.The team needed a large car to carry all their race equipment and David Clarke, Manager of Team Lacuna and Renault Oldham customer, thought the Laguna Sport Tourer was the ideal choice for them. David said: "We are extremely grateful to Renault Oldham for offering to lend us such a great car for our race weekends. We do a lot of travelling around and it is a great sized car for carrying all of our cycling equipment as the seats fold flat and it's very comfortable inside." The Laguna Sport Tourer was launched last September and the new version has an innovative 'Super-fold' system that enables the rear seats to fold down simply by pulling a small lever, making it perfect for storing the team's heavy cycling equipment. Once the back seats have been folded down, there is flat space in the back that can be extended to two metres. Ricky Mottram, General Manager at Renault Oldham, said: "We are more than happy to be able to help the team and couldn't think of a better car for them than the Laguna Sport Tourer, as it is very practical and spacious. The car is also scored top marks in the Euro NCAP safety assessments."  For details on the fantastic service and range of vehicles available at Renault Oldham, please see the following link. http://www.renaultretail.co.uk/dealer.aspx?ID=10Lacuna cycle Sport 21.04.2008 MARCH INTO APRIL
After a period of bad luck, the tables seem to be turning for Team Lacuna, with Dave Clarke taking second place at The Betty Pharoah Memorial Legstretchers Road Race, and then following that with a win at the Ham Hill Road Race in Exmouth.  Recent events seemed to be going against the team at The Girvan Stage Race and The Tour Of The Reservoir, though April appears to have brought a change in fortunes for the team, as Dave Clarke has now opened his account for the season, and Dan Smith showing good form during his three week stint racing in France, finishing in 11th place on the last stage at La Tour Du Pays De Lesneven, having rode strongly throughout.The Girvan Stage Race saw Rob Orr crash after only 10km of stage one, with his injuries eventually forcing him to abandon the race. Rich Williamson and Dave Clarke also failed to complete the race due to illness. At The Girvan Dan Smith's race was seriously affected by punctures, with a double puncture on stage three seeing him have to race the last 100km alone after a change of wheels from the neutral service vehicle in the absence of a Lacuna team car. The Tour Of The Reservoir saw a change in riders suffering from a virus, with Rich Williamson still not back to strength from the virus he suffered with at The Girvan, and Rob Orr having picked up a virus and only taking to the start line hoping to be of some use to the team in the opening kilometres. The race split up very early due to the strong cross-winds, with only the strongest riders on the day surviving the event. Dave Clarke eventually finished in 23rd place, having attacked his group several times in the final kilometres, hoping to open a gap and take 13th place at the head of his group. Dan Smith rode solidly throughout the race and came home safely in the third group, having just missed out on the split to form the group racing for what proved to be a top 15 finish. Attentions for the team now turn to the UCI 1.2 category East Midlands International CiCLE Classic (Rutland-Melton) on 27th April, the Chas Messenger Stage Race the weekend after and then The Lincoln Grand Prix on 11th May. Details on the Rutland-Melton can be found at http://www.cicleclassic.co.uk/ Further updates on the team, its results and support will be forthcoming over the next few weeks. Many thanks, Lacuna Cycle Sport 14.04.2008 THE BIKELINE 2 DAY & IMPSPORT
The Bikeline 2 Day, held in North Wales on 8th and 9th March 2008 saw the opening round of the 2008 Premier Calendar Series, and so effectively the start of the 2008 season for Team Lacuna. Dave Clarke was a member of the stage two break that was away for roughly 90km, but which was unfortunatly pulled back by the peleton before it got to the terrain where it could cause most damage and potentially gain the most time. Dave's escape can be seen on the forthcoming Eurosport coverage, and the race will also be shown on cycling.tv. Whilst the race did not bring a result for the team, events from the race suggest that Team Lacuna will very much be involved in the action in the next round of the Premier Calendar, The Girvan Stage Race. At The Girvan the team will also be complete due to the addition to the team of Richard Williamson, an athlete with top level international experience from his time based in France. Richard is a welcome addition to the team and replaces Rico Rogers. Below are some images from the Bikeline 2 Day.   Photos are courtesy of British cycling. For a full report on the event see the following link. http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/roa/EventReports2008/20080308_Bikeline_Home.asp The next race in the Premier Calendar series (The Girvan Stage Race, 22-24 March 2008) is very much one of the teams objectives. At The Girvan the team will be looking to make its presence felt in an event that should suit the characteristics of the team. The Girvan sees four stages over a period of three days, and is one of the most prestigious races in Great Britain. A report on the race will be forthcoming in due course, meanwhile see http://www.girvanrace.info for more details on the race.  At the Bikeline 2 Day the team raced in clothing provided by Impsport, and so we would like to take this opportunity to thank Dan Ellmore at Impsport - see http://www.impsport.com - for providing the team with initial race clothing. Impsport are one of the leading manufacturers in sports clothing, and work with a broad range of sports people, from small club teams right through to national squads and major sports brands. Team Lacuna could not recommend Impsport more highly!The photo shows Rob Orr and Dave Clarke with Dan Ellmore of Impsport outside the Impsport offices after being presented with the kit. Lacuna Cycle Sport 12.03.2008 LACUNA CYCLE SPORT IS LAUNCHED
Welcome to Lacuna Cycle Sport.  As the first article in our "news" section we would like to thank Adam Tranter at http://www.fusion-media.co.uk for his expert assistance in the creation of the website.Further updates with regards to Team Lacuna, its partners, sponsors and race results will be added in due course. 2008 looks like being a very exciting year, and we thank you all for your on going support and assistance towards achieving our goals. Kind regards, Lacuna Cycle Sport 05.02.2008 Content Management Powered by CuteNews |
