Record-breaking Three Peaks Cyclocross (plus new drivetrain spyshots!)

Lining up were a number of past winners of the event, many old hands (including one in the Vet70s and the other in Vet80s)

Words Chipps | Photography James Vincent

The night before this year’s Three Peaks Cyclo Cross race, the 61^st running of the race, saw heavy rain sweep across the Yorkshire Dales, dousing hopes for many riders hoping to get personal best times, but the bad weather had completely cleared in time for the 9.30am start outside the Helwith Bridge Inn.

Lachs Came Back

Your author was there on merely his 15^th, but it’s safe to say that this event certainly brings people back (even if it took me ten years after the first one to face doing it again…). One hot favourite rider was EF-Education pro-rider, adventurer and all-round nice guy, Lachlan Morton, back to try to better 2019’s 4th place, however 2024’s winner Giles Drake was also there, along with Jenson Young, who came second to Drake last year by 90 seconds on his first attempt, despite some serious mechanical issues. 

The women’s race also had the first and second women from 2024 returning, Bryony Halcrow and Helen Jackson, so there were a lot of race honours to defend.

Toughest CX race in the world?

The course is 60km/38miles, with 1800m of elevation, taking in the famous Yorkshire Dales summits of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen y Gent, with rolling roads in between them. Widely considered the hardest cyclocross race in the World, the climbs are brutal, with hike-a-bike unavoidable, and the descents would be great on a mountain bike, but race rules limit riders to rigid cyclocross bikes and 35mm tyres.

Feet up, flat out

This year’s event started at 9.30am and the pace as usual was flat out, but this year saw a new course record (we think) from winner Jenson Young, who not only finished 11 minutes quicker (at 2.49.17) than the winning time last year (on his second attempt) but the top four of the race all beat the three hour mark, the first time we can remember that ever being done. Crowd favourite, Lachlan Morton, came in four and a bit minutes behind, with Cameron Orr third and Giles Drake in four (with a time quicker than his winning time last year…)

The women’s race saw a repeat of last year’s one/two, with Byrony Halcrow and Helen Jackson one and two, and Hannah Saville, fifth last year, in third.

More than a race

You can go and study the race results over here, but the Three Peaks is more than just the results. It’s a very British mix of village fete, sporting feats, fell run and cake stall. If it were in the US, it would be sponsored by Jeep and cost hundreds of dollars to enter. As it is, it’s open to all (on a lottery, as it’s usually oversold) and the prizegiving is the friendliest thing you’ll have seen at a bike race. 

New rear mech from Ratio?

Spotted from drivetrain bling-meisters Ratio Technology. We suspect this will be officially launched before the year is out…

A new rear mech, entirely made in the UK. The main parts are machined by Ratio in the Lake District. The MJF nylon parts are made down in Suffolk. The mech is entirely rebuildable using a multitool and will be available for both direct mount/UDH or regular mech hangers. So if you’ve got a UDH bike, you can mount it direct, if not then it’s three screws to undo and you can get the replacement parts from the website. It’s got a wrap spring clutch which has a very low backlash. Stainless steel bearings and pivots which makes for easier shifting and wear well.

We spoke to Tom Simpson (no relation) of Ratio Technology: “The Americans don’t really seem to be bothered because they only ride in nice weather, but our personal bikes are forever getting gunked up. You chase the friction around, changing cables, and eventually, often, you discover it’s actually the derailleur itself that’s causing the drag. It’s very hard to tell because when it’s not got a load on it, there’s no friction, so it’s only once the chain’s on that it starts to drag…”

It’s going to be available in two different cage lengths, for 46t and 52t, and can be made to work with all different shifter and cassette combinations. That’s a lot of options, so they’re planning to launch with a finite number to try and cover most bases: Shimano MTB, SRAM Transmission, SRAM Eagle, GRX and SRAM road. Bryony (3 Peaks Female winner) was running the mech on a 10-50 SRAM cassette, Tom used it with a 9-50 E13 cassette, and they’ve got testers running it on all sorts of combos. Looking to launch early November, with machining on the first batch starting this week.”