After 500 riders took part in the inaugural event last October, the Red Bull Timelaps is set to return in 2018 pitting its competitors against the world’s longest race.
Taking advantage of the extra hour at the end of British Summer Time, the 2018 event will run across 27th - 28th October, with teams of four riders attempting to complete as many laps of the 6.6km closed-road Great Windsor Park circuit within the 25 hour time limit.
This year, entries for an extra 300 riders will be allowed, with 200 teams of four competing for the overall victory. Entries for the event open at 10:00 on 22nd May and can be found here.
Like last year, the use of a 'power hour' between 02:00 and 03:00 will also be utilised. In this hour, riders will compete on a shorter lap but with laps counting for double. Red Bull also promises a few surprises in this hour which will make rider choice crucial.
You’d expect to be victorious in such an event you would need to enter it with Team Sky precision with a regimented schedule of when and how much one rider will ride, a detailed nutrition plan and sleep.
Yet the 2017 winning quartet of Wellingborough Cycles was anything but this with just one game plan on en-route to victory: just ride really fast.
'We ended up entering the 2017 race as a bit of fun at the end of our season, so it's really great that we ended up winning the whole event,' said team captain Jack Patmore.
'We didn't really have a game plan apart from just letting one of the guys hit it really hard! We are looking forward to coming back this year to defend our title.’
Patmore's team took victory after clocking 138 laps of the circuit with their fastest lap taking 9:23 while averaging an impressive 11 minutes a lap for the entire race.
Head through to page two for our report from the 2017 Red Bull Timelaps
Red Bull Timelaps: 25-hours non-stop racing (gallery)
Words and photographyPeter Stuart
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Windsor Great Park played host to 536 riders racing for 25-hours over the weekend for the inaugural Red Bull Timelaps
Windsor Great Park is often a hub for weekend cyclists, but never like it was this weekend. Closed to all normal traffic and visitors, segments of the park normally not accessible to cyclists were opened to create a 6.6km loop that played host to Red Bull’s 25-hour race.
Taking advantage of the clocks going back on the evening of Saturday 28th October, the Red Bull Timelaps ran from noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday, taking in 25-hours of racing. In that time, teams of four competed to see who could complete the most 6.6km laps in relay form.
A full 150 teams had entered the event, with 134 teams eventually starting on Saturday. That comprised of a mixture of men’s, women’s and mixed category teams competing for top spots.
While the team with the most laps would win, a galvanising twist was scheduled for 2am on Sunday morning. In that hour, the Tag Heuer ‘Power Hour’, all laps were counted as double toward the overall competitive count.
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All nighter
Proceedings kicked off with a slight hiccup, with the only accident of the day bringing down a group of riders after two laps. The subsequent safety measure needed to take one rider taken to hospital cost the race nearly two hours.
Thankfully, it was the only hurdle of the day, and the event went smoothly afterwards.
The real differences were to be made through the night, with logistics and swaps between team members becoming highly influential in the total lap count.
The leading teams held a punchy pace near 40kmh throughout.
The 2am ‘Power Hour’ had serious implications for the final order, with several teams with a larger total lap count than higher finishers slipping down the overall order as a result of relatively fewer laps during the bonus hour.
Taking the highest number of laps was the Wellingborough Cycles Team who clocked a stunning 138 laps and recorded the fastest lap time in the event of 9:23 – requiring a speed of over 43kmh.
The team’s total distance added up to over 800km.
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They were followed in 2nd place by the fastest mixed team, the curiously named Dr Cock and the Boys.
In 3rd place was the fastest men’s team (the winners were male but U25 category), which was Team Tekkers. They also clocked 138 laps.
In 24th place was the fastest women’s team, 5th Floor, who took 120 laps. They secured a solid six lap margin over 2nd place Team Paria CC.
Jack Patmore, team leader for winner Wellingborough Cycles Team said, ‘We are ecstatic. We ended up entering as a bit of fun at the end of our season, so it's really great that we ended up winning the whole event.
'We didn't really have a game plan apart from just letting one of the guys hit it really hard! We will definitely be back next year to defend our title!’