Stannard helps Swift win the title
Only four months after the horrific crash in Tenerife, Ben Swift rode past John Archibald (Ribble Pro Cycling) and Ian Stannard (Team Ineos) to claim his first-ever national title.
“To be honest the last few kilometres were the easiest few kilometres,” Swift said. “Once we got away, whittling groups down, Stannard played his role and I could really just wait. In the past I’ve been a bit too eager, done a bit too much, but today I was like don’t do anything, just wait, and that’s what I did. It worked out really well.”
Ian Stannard was at the front of the race the whole time, waiting to set things up for Swift after he joined the leading group. The 2012 British road race champion did a perfect job.
“I just wanted to make sure I softened up the others for Swifty,” Stannard explained. “It was quite a big group for a while and I thought a lot of them were going to end up coming to the line but it caught up with them so it was good.”
One would not expect Swift to win four months ago when he suffered a ruptured spleen while training with Geraint Thomas. The 31-year-old was getting a gel out of his pocket, hit a rock and went straight down. He almost had to have the spleen removed altogether. However, he is now back and in the British road champion jersey for a year.
British men’s national road race championships 2019
1. Ben Swift (Ineos) – 4:09:08
2. Ian Stannard (Ineos)
3. John Archibald (Ribble Pro Cycling)
4. Alex Dowsett (Katusha-Alpecin)
5. Ethan Hayter + 1:20
6. Alexander Richardson (Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes)
7. Erick Roswell (Madison Genesis)
8. Mark Christian (Wiggins Le Col)
9. Matthew Bostock (Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes) + 3:10
10. Scott Thwaites (Vitus Pro Cycling)
