Fred Wright takes emotional victory at British national road race championships, as Pfeiffer Georgi reclaims title with powerful late attack

The British national champion’s jersey will be on full display at next month’s Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes, as Fred Wright and Pfeiffer Georgi both launched late attacks to take the elite men’s and women’s national road race championships at Saltburn-by-the-Sea.

In the men’s race, Bahrain Victorious rider Wright, a silver medallist in both the 2021 national road race and Wednesday’s time trial championships, finally grabbed hold of the first elite British champion’s jersey of his career – which also marked the 24-year-old’s first win as a professional – attacking James Knox and Stephen Williams with 4km to go before soloing to the finish.

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That elite trio had forged clear from a leading group of six, including Conor Swift, Owain Doull, and Samuel Watson, as Knox relentlessly forced the pace on the course’s steep hills in the worsening weather conditions.

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However, after Williams launched his own dig towards the finish, no one could match Wright, who dedicated an emotional, breakthrough win to teammate Gino Mäder, who tragically died following a crash at the Tour de Suisse this month.

“I still can't believe it, to be honest. I knew I had some of the best legs I've ever had today and it was so special to cross the line,” Wright said. “I still imagined in my head, you know, 200 metres to go, ‘he's going to come flying past me!’.

“It’s being able to wear the stripy jersey and then also for the rest of my career, I'll have a little GB logo on my jersey as well. It means a lot to win this and I can’t wait for the next year.”

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In the women’s race earlier this afternoon, Team DSM’s Pfeiffer Georgi continued her impressive run at the British nationals, taking the second senior road race title of her career in three attempts with a powerful late move on the final climb to the finish.

The 22-year-old, who won the national title in 2021 and finished second last year, attacked a group of seven who had battled it out on the previous two laps, beating Israel-Premier Tech Roland’s Claire Steels by five seconds, while Anna Henderson outsprinted Elinor Barker for the bronze medal.

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“It was a really hard course today, constantly up and down. It was really attritional,” Georgi said at the finish. “I wanted to keep it all together on the last lap and take those corners first on the descent to the climb, then go full gas. I believed in it but I’m still in shock. It’s really nice to win the title again.”

Elsewhere, in Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, EF Education-EasyPost continued his superb 2023 – and underlined his long-range attacking credentials – with a dominant solo display at the Irish national road race championships.

The 22-year-old attacked a leading group including Sam Bennett, Ryan Mullen, and defending champion Rory Townsend with around 90km to go on the rolling course’s hardest hill. While a surge from Townsend briefly brought the gap down, Healy paced his effort to perfection to win by over four minutes, with a fading Bennett taking third.

Healy’s Irish title caps a stellar first half of the season which included breakthrough performances in the Ardennes Classics and a stage win, and a further second place, at the Giro d’Italia.

“It’s going to be super awesome to wear this jersey for the next year,” Healy said following his win. “The last time I had it I was the Under 23s, so now to have it as a World Tour rider, hopefully I can do it justice.”