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Sportive trophies and cheques at presentation night
16/08/2023
Riders and charities gathered at Broughton Castle to look back to the popular annual cycling challenge
July’s Broughton Castle Sportive raised £9,473 for local charities. The cycling challenge, which is in its eleventh year, is organised by the Rotary Club of Banbury Cherwell.
A presentation evening was held at the Castle yesterday (Tuesday), during which trophies were presented to the fastest teams on the longer routes and a number of local charities received donations.
450 riders took part this year with 110 of them facing the Kenco 100 – a 100 mile route out to the Cotswolds, which includes a number of challenging climbs. The Broughton Castle Trophy was presented by Martin Fiennes to a team from V C Jericho cycling club in Oxford.
The 75 mile Windrush Endurance was attempted by 74 riders, with team Apache Brave Racing from Coventry returning in the fastest time and receiving the Rotary Challenge Trophy.
Wellesbourne Wheelers won the Presidents Cup for the Cotswold Classic 50 mile route – the fourth year the team have taken the trophy. They were amongst 200 people cycling this route.
For the first time this year riders were challenged to obtain the fastest time ascending the “Kenco Centenary Climb” – the renamed Whichford Hill Climb between Hook Norton and Whichford. This testing section has a height gain of 102 metres and an average gradient of 6.1%. Jack Ratcliffe was the fastest male rider on the ascent, completing it in 4 minutes and 42 seconds. Claire Lever was the fastest female rider, finishing the challenge in 5 minutes and 48 seconds.
The Broughton Castle Sportive costs around £8,000 to run, with event sponsors helping to offset this, maximising the amount raised for local charities. This year donations were made to Grimsbury Scouts, the Let’s Play Project, Katharine House, Banbury Cross Rangers, Friends of Agnes Court, Cyclists Fighting Cancer, Radio Horton, Dogs For Good, Banbury Rotary Club and Raynet.
Since the first Broughton Castle Sportive the event has raised £90,167 for local charities.
Rotary Club of Banbury Cherwell President, Anne Cooper was grateful to all those who supported the event. She said: “We had support from the Scouts, the Rangers and various charities who supported us on the day, together with an army of volunteers to help us make the event successful.
“Thank you to our sponsors – we couldn’t do it without our sponsors. They are highly valued and make a massive difference.”
Anne is hoping next year’s event will take the total raised by the Broughton Castle Sportive since its inception over £100,000. She said: “Ideally next year we would like to raise £10,000 and have 500 or 600 riders. That would be very, very special.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam
Jennette On 16/08/2023 at 7:56 pm
Brilliant report thank you. Whilst this is a club event it is the complete dedication of Richard Moyle, Tony Carney, Chris May and John Rathbone who have kept it going from the start to now. They have encouraged good team work and set high standards to ensure the success of the Sportive. Banbury FM’s support has been fantastic and very professional thank you for all that you do. Working together for our local community is very rewarding.