Norfolk Cycling Team @ UK National Cycling Champs

Yesterday I was out at the feed zone two in Holkham Estate, helping out some good friends at DAP cycling, who were racing in the UK National Champs.
Swapping the camera for several musettes!

Knowing the roads well, I did manage to get ahead of the race on a couple of occasions and shoot some images (packed the 70-200 in the car just in case)

Joining the local DAP riders were a host of household names, including Mark Cavendish MBE, Ian Stannard and eventual winner Ben Swift.
in 25-degree heat, over 180 of the UKs best cycling talent took to the winding country lanes and wind-stricken roads of Norfolk for a true test of grit and endurance over the 125 mile route.
Reigning champion, Connor Swift (Team Arkea-Samsic), was back to defend his title, but he faced competition from 2016 champion Adam Blythe (Lotto Soudal), 2013 winner and former world champion Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data) plus 2012 national champion Ian Stannard.

From the start, some of the large UCI teams began driving the pace, gradually thinning out the field, with attacks happening on a regular basis.
The journey from the coast, back through Wroxham and towards home was a telling point, with attack after attack, eventually seeing Ben Swift roll through the tight city centre corners to win the British road race title in some style.
Two of the DAP riders finished in extremely good company, with Andrew Taylor coming in 54th and Harley Matthews a credible 83rd.

#DAPCC #Cycling #Norfolk #NCC #Britishcycling #nationalchamps

About Julian Claxton

My passion for photography is supported by experiences gained on exciting travel adventures and through working for fantastic photographers. In 2006, I made the exciting step of realising my dream of becoming a freelance photographer. Since this pivotal moment, I have held numerous exhibitions, been featured nationally & internationally in print and won numerous awards, including being a finalist in the National Geographic Photographic competition in 2013 with one of my documentary images from the Sudan. From an early age I began to enjoy taking pictures of my daily life, basking in the thrill of sending the film to the printers and eagerly awaiting the pocket sized prints. My first foray into the world developing and printing strangely began at school when I was asked to produce a descriptive photo for the school newspaper. A front page shot later and I was destined to start the long arduous journey of becoming a photographer. In between exciting travel adventures and working for fantastic photographers, I graduated from college and at a crossroads in my journey to becoming a pro photographer, I embarked on a career working as a medical photographer. Learning new skills and dabbling in video production as well as progressing design skills, I yearned for the challenge and freedom of becoming a freelance. I have been fortunate enough to work on some amazing assignments which have included shooting a documentary assignment with an air ambulance, gaining full access to a British Pro cycling team during an international UCI tour, cycling to Rwanda and creating a photographic documentary of my journey. The experiences continue to grow, meeting wonderful people to photograph and telling the story of their journey. The list of events and striking moments that have played out through my viewfinder continue to grow and provide me with ever increasing snapshots of life to capture. One of the highlights of my career thus far has been staying in rural Uganda, teaching photography to the kids from the region, in a project I set up in late 2014, entitled ‘Give a child a camera’. The basis of the project is to supply 35mm cameras and film to the rural schools in this region of East Africa, teaching the children how to shoot photographs. After a week of taking photos of their life, an exhibition is held at the school and the children leave with their very own album, camera and film. One of the images I shot at Eden school in rural Uganda, during morning chapel won the 2015 Travel Media Tourism and Photography award. A great honour and one that I wouldn’t have picked up had it not been for the wonderful children of East Africa. For further information please visit www.julianclaxtonphotography.com

View all posts by Julian Claxton →