Road Nationals: Surprise wins for Connor Swift and Jess Roberts

Madison-Genesis rider Connor Swift and Team Breeze’s Jess Roberts have pulled off surprise wins in, respectively, the men’s and women’s road races at the HSBC UK National Road Championships in Northumberland today.

Swift, aged 22 and the cousin of the UAE Team Emirates rider Ben Swift, who finished eighth today, was part of a large early escape group in the 185.6-kilometre race.

He attacked with 12 kilometres remaining and stayed out alone, with former national champion Adam Blythe putting in a solo attack with 3 kilometres left in an unsuccessful bid to reel him in.

Blythe, who rides for Aqua Blue Sport, would finish second, while Team Sky’s Owain Doull came third.

Swift is the first rider from outside the UCI WorldTour to win the national title since Rapha-Condor-Sharp’s Kristian House did so in 2009, both men riding at UCI Continental level.

Following his victory, Swift said: “When I crossed the line it was pretty surreal – I burst into tears. It’s emotional and it’s not going to sink in for a while.

“Going into that race today, with the amount of WorldTour guys that were in there, I was a big underdog, but I had good legs at the end and I could tell that everyone else was suffering.”

He added: “It was so hard on the legs, and I knew it would be hard for them to pull someone back who was running on such adrenaline.”

Earlier in the day, Roberts clinched the women’s title after attacking along with Mel Lowther of Storey Racing with 15 kilometres to go.

The Team Breeze rider attacked alongside Storey Racing’s Mel Lowther with around 15km to go on the Northumberland course, and held off a late charge from Dani Rowe (WaowDeals Pro Cycling) to claim her maiden elite national road title.

Former Olympic team pursuit champion Dani Rowe of WaowDeals Pro Cycling put in a late challenge but was pipped to the line by Roberts, whose team mate Ellie Dickinson finished third.

 “I’m just so happy – I can’t believe it, I think it will take a while to sink in,” Roberts reflected. “I started crying as I crossed the finish line because I was just completely overwhelmed.”