Race Reports

Luke Barfoot of Primera-TeamJobs claimed the 52nd edition with a GC time of 4:06:49, holding off Piers Mahn (+0:06) and Ben Meek (+0:48) across three stages.

A four-stage edition decided by 2 seconds. Gabriel Dellar (Stolen Goat Race Team) beat Charlie Meredith (Mid Devon CC) after a relentless team battle. Nick Makin (Mid Devon CC) took a brilliant solo break in the final criterium to claim a stage win.

Two seconds — the margin of victory for James McKay (Cycle Sheffield) over defending champion Oliver Hurdle (Stolen Goat Racing). McKay bided his time as a four-man break including 16-year-old MDCC junior Nick Makin took the bonus seconds out of play, then beat a tired Hurdle in the bunch sprint to take yellow.

Oliver Hurdle (Stolen Goat RT) made sure he was in the right place at the right time, chasing the key move 15 miles out on the final Roy Hopkins Memorial Road Race to clinch overall victory by just 8 seconds from Ben Millar. The three stages were named after Colin Lewis, Ken Robertson and Roy Hopkins — three great club figures who had all died recently.

Rory Townsend (Canyon dhb SunGod) outsprinted a 13-strong bunch to win a rain-lashed 90-mile road race at Bridestowe. Townsend and teammate Max Stedman covered every serious move before Stedman drove hard on the final run home from Lewdown to set up Townsend's finishing kick. A puncture ended Steve Lampier's chances early — he finished 30th, then rode an extra lap for training. A notable 13th place for a certain Luke Barfoot (Primera-TeamJobs), four years before his overall win. The 2021 edition ran as a single-day road race.

The smallest winning margin in the race's 45-year history — three-tenths of a second in the Haytor TT — gave Steve Lampier (Saint Piran) his second Totnes Vire title. Lampier's team controlled the final road race perfectly to hold off Peter Kibble (Wales Racing Academy), who finished level on time. A second successive Saint Piran win after Will Harper's 2018 victory. Notably, former winner Marcin Bialoblocki (2007) was racing in the field.

Will Harper (Saint Piran) won the final stage over a wet, windy 70 miles from South Brent at just the right moment to claim the GC. The race's great story was Paul Double (Zappi Racing), who broke the 39-year-old Haytor course record with 12:36 — eight seconds faster than Jeff Williams in the 1979 national hill climb championships — only to finish third overall. Marcin Bialoblocki was arguably the strongest rider but a 40-second time penalty for a late TT start cost him victory by 25 seconds.

Stephen Bradbury (Morvelo Basso RT) dug deep to clinch overall victory by just 9 seconds after three hard stages. Bradbury seized control by winning Stage 2 at the Velopark with a huge sprint and 30 bonus seconds, then made sure he was in the decisive break on Stage 3's punishing 70-mile Okehampton circuit. Douglas Coleman took the final stage, but it wasn't enough to overhaul Bradbury's lead.

Matt Holmes (Madison Genesis) delivered a textbook team performance to take overall victory, with Gruff Lewis third. Holmes finished Stage 1 in second behind Dexter Gardias, rode a strong TT, then on the final 72-mile stage his team split the bunch on a hairpin to expose overnight leader Adria Moreno (Raleigh GAC) — whose energies were already spent by the time Holmes made the front group to seal the win. A young Charlie Meredith, then an ex-MDCC junior, finished 10th overall — eight years before winning Stage 1 of the 2024 edition. Race director Ken Robertson described as delivering 'another masterclass in event organisation'.

Steve Lampier (Raleigh GAC) sealed his first Totnes Vire title on the brutal Haytor finish in Stage 3, grinding away in atrocious weather to claim a 15-second margin over Jonathan Mould (One Pro Cycling). One Pro dominated the race with Mould winning Stage 1 and Opie taking the criterium, but Lampier had the legs when it mattered most on the moor.

James Lewis (NFTO) claimed overall victory in a points-based format, with NFTO dominating across all three stages. Ryan Perry (Army Cycling Union) took Stage 2, George Fowler (1st Chard Wheelers) won Stage 3 in impressive fashion, but Lewis had built enough of a cushion through Stage 1 and consistent top finishes to take the title.

Richard Handley (Rapha Condor JLT) took overall victory by 10 seconds from Rob Partridge (Team UK Youth) after three hard stages. Marcin Bialoblocki — back at the Vire six years after his 2007 win — took the Stage 1 TT in 6:06, but Handley clawed back the deficit by winning Stage 2 and finishing second on Stage 3 to Williamson. A strong Team UK Youth squad, featuring Partridge, Bialoblocki and Josh Hunt, pushed Handley all the way.

Tom Bustard (Herbalife-Leisure Lakes) won the RST Cycle Clothing & Trigon Bikes-sponsored edition with a dominant Stage 1 road race in 2:39:27, beating Tom Stockdale (Primal Europe) by 3 seconds. Peter Vincent of local club Mid Devon CC had led after the TT and finished third overall, giving the home crowd something to cheer.

James McLaughlin (Pendragon Le Col Colnago) claimed the win on the Rockbeare finishing circuit after the decisive 6-man break on Stage 3's third lap built a 2:10 lead, then held off a furious chase to win by just 10 seconds. Only 41 of 80 starters finished Stage 2 — a brutal 62-mile Spreyton circuit in all weathers — proof of the quality of the field with 7 national-level teams present. Defending champion Yanto Barker (Le Col Pendragon Colnago) went in an early move with local rider Jake Durant but Will Bjergfelt dragged the bunch back. MDCC's Mark Dolan crashed out on Stage 2; Andy Parker punctured. Doug Dewey won the opening Spreyton hill TT in 9:15.

Yanto Barker (Pendragon Le Col Colnago) took his first win of the season at the 38th edition, outsprinting Marcin Bialoblocki on the Aylesbeare finishing circuit — helped when Bialoblocki was docked 10 seconds by the chief commissaire for discarding his bidon in the final mile. The race honoured the George Drewell Memorial at the request of his nephew Simon Breakwell — George was a former rival of club president Colin Lewis. The French club Velo Club du Bocage, from the twinned town of Vire, made a welcome return to Devon. James McLaughlin and Rhys Lloyd shared the Stage 1 TT in identical times; McLaughlin won Stage 2 in a sprint; Barker then dominated Stage 3 on the Aylesbeare circuit despite facing a nine-strong Willier-Big Maggys squad with just six Pendragon teammates.

William Bjergfelt (Wilier-Live2Ride) took overall victory on points, with Wilier dominating throughout — teammates Luckwell and Bayton filling 2nd and 4th overall. Bjergfelt was consistent across all three stages, taking 2nd on Stage 1 and 2nd on Stage 3. Marcin Bialoblocki won Stage 2, while Douglas Dewey (Pendragon) won the opening stage. Simon Gaywood delivered a strong Stage 3 win for Pedal Power RT.

Jonathan Tiernan-Locke won for the home club — Mid Devon CC — taking Stage 3 and accumulating enough points to overhaul Marcin Bialoblocki, who had won Stage 1 but could only manage third in the finale. Tiernan-Locke was second on Stage 2 behind Mark Perry (Bournemouth Arrow), then delivered when it mattered on the final stage. Racing in MDCC colours for the organisers' own club made the victory particularly special. He would go on to win the Tour of Britain in 2012.

Marcin Bialoblocki (Middridge CRT) delivered a dominant performance, winning all three stages to take the overall title. He swept Stage 1 and Stage 2 then sealed it with another stage win on Day 2, finishing clear of Martin Smith (Army Cycling Union) and Grant Bayton. A clean sweep of stage wins is exceptionally rare in any stage race.

Ben Luckwell (GWR Team/Swindon Cycles) secured his fourth Totnes Vire title with a composed points-race performance, winning Stage 2 alongside teammate Peter Kench and staying consistently near the front throughout. Mark Perry (Bournemouth Arrow) won Stage 1 and pushed Luckwell closest overall. Notably, a young Marcin Bialoblocki — then with Somerset Road Club — finished 13th overall in only his first Totnes Vire appearance, the year before he returned to win all three stages. James Cusden of the organising club Mid Devon CC took a fine third overall.

Ben Luckwell (Team Maestro) won his fourth Totnes Vire title by the narrowest of margins — a single point — over Benoit Lagorce (Cycleurope Bianchi). Lagorce won two of the four stages, including the big finale, but Luckwell's stage win in Stage 3 and consistent top-six finishes throughout gave him 64 accumulated points to Lagorce's 63. Cycleurope Bianchi dominated the field but couldn't convert it into overall victory.

George Richardson (Kona UK/Paligap) took overall victory in a competitive points-based edition. Greg Sandy (Cycleurope Bianchi) won Stage 1 and the final stage, but Richardson's consistency — including a stage win and top-two finishes throughout — gave him the GC edge. Lee Davis (Team Maestro) took Stage 2. Ben Luckwell, four-time winner during this era, finished 11th overall.

Ben Luckwell (Team Maestro) secured his second consecutive Totnes Vire title, accumulating the most points across four stages to hold off David Asbridge (Cheltenham & County CC), who was the standout stage performer — winning both Stage 1 and the final Stage 3. Mark Perry took the short middle stage. A 19-year-old Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, then with Bioracer UK RT, finished 10th overall — five years before returning to win the race outright in 2008.

Ben Luckwell (Team Maestro) claimed his first Totnes Vire title, winning the overall points classification ahead of John Veness and Andrew Parker (Mid Devon CC). Matthew Watch (Angliasport) was the opening stage winner, but Luckwell dominated thereafter, taking the final stage and accumulating the most consistent points across the event.

Jake Folkerd-Hobbs (Finsbury Park CC) took overall victory ahead of David Cowie (Twickenham CC) and Timothy Wood. Mark Perry won Stage 2 for Team Maestro, while Rory Wyley (London Irish CC) took Stage 3. A notable entry: a young Oliver Beckingsale (Team Scott UK), already making his name on the MTB circuit, finished 12th overall.

Adrian Sluman claimed the millennial edition, accumulating 30 points across the stages to win the GC comfortably ahead of Neil Martin (CC Giro) — the defending champion — and Tom Rowan (Twickenham CC). The stage winners were not recorded in the results database. Andrew Parker rode for the home club Mid Devon CC. A young Daniel Lloyd, later to turn professional, was in the field.

Neil Martin (CC Giro) secured overall victory by winning both the second and third stages, proving the strongest rider across the three days. Jonny Towers (On The Edge RT) took Stage 1, but Martin's dominance in the road races proved decisive. Peter Kench and Andrew Parker (Mid Devon CC) featured strongly in the final stage.