Men’s race

Women’s Update

Nicky Shaw

Nikki Ray

Annie Dixey

Saz Harris

Penny Wilkin

Nadine Ansorg

Sarah Lewthwaite

Jenny Wheeldon

Christine Lee

Lucy Cook

Cheryl Reid

Elizabeth Bruton

Amy Powell

Kate Bradley

Jade Lau

India Landy

Stephanie Boland

Tessa McInnes

Georgina Frank

Gill Crane

Ian To

Thomas Fitton

Paul Watts

Paul Wainwright

Richard Gate

Rupert Robinson

Phil Marchant

George Knuff

Matthew Vickers

Huw Greenish

Sven Cappuyns

John Wilson

Tim Castle

Daniel Ambrose

Alex Thorel

Joe Le Sage

Paul Jennings

Ian Coxon

John Wood

Oliver Northern

Nicholas Hulse

Wayne Harrod

Karl Somers

Steve Large

Robert Peacock

Edward Pini

Ian Mitchelson

Mark Davis

Tom Van Hout

Tim Doole

Daniel Brayson

Daniel Morris

Nick Adamson

Raymond Cox

Matthew Whittle

Kevin Stuart

Jack Smith

Mark Baker

Alex Armstrong

Ed Smith

Leo Hemsted

Niel Copeland

Brad Harsant

Bob Ghandour

David Wong

Sam Wilson

Calvin Okeeffe

Adrian Wikeley

Stefan Powell

Marc Sowik

Terry Steeley

Dave Knight

Russell Coleman

Gary Smith

Jim Karthauser

Farhad Timuri

Tayyab Dilmohamud

Florent Hives

Carlos Abrahams

Marc Cheetham

Matthew Garthwaite

Stuart Kimberley

Jason Gaines-Burrill

Jacob McGuire

John Regan

Benjamin James

Simon Potter

Nick Livermore

Steve Eastwood

Paul Redbarnes

Matthew Jarvis

Simon Pope

Thomas Dutton

Jake Brewer

Jan Punter

Daniel Welch

Mike Ford

Matthew Clarke

Ryan MacGillivray

John Packham

David Scrivener

Rob Hyde

Thomas Stocker

Rhys Clarke

Mike Jacklin

Tony Clare

Ieuan Stroud

John Hunt

Richard Lam

Jonathan Shubert

Lee Putnam

Si Woodhams

Jason Austin

Martin McShane

Ayaz Khan

Gav Scott

James Head

Tom Long

Sean Ryan

Caven O'Hara

Maria Holdcroft & Andrew Holdcroft

Gaspar Rodriguez & Marielle Schweickart

Lindsey Bonner & James Ward

Fiona Leonard & James Pepper

Catherine Davis & Neil Davis

Jonathan Abbott & Benjamin Whiston

Nicolas Roissard & Julien Roissard

Rob Gloyns & David Carr

Laurent Audibert & Richard Jean

Dan Gohl & Joe Cox

Denis Donskikh & Nicholas Cassell

Eliot Davies & Mark Chatburn

Marcus Elliott & Daniel Thompson

James Gill & Laura Probert

Rachael Marsden & Catherine Dixon

The last few riders remain on the road as Day 4 came to a close.

![Solstice Sprint - Race Update - Day 4 [VIDEO]](//videos.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/55z07n5tdOR8PCgafIaYdC/ac62b8ebeb68f12c8d332e9356150ce2/4-day-4-report.mp4)

Day 4

It's been another scorcher today for our remaining riders as they ticked off the final kilometres towards Warwick. Penny Wilkin, who has been on the move since 3am this morning, rolled over the line in 5th position with a remarkable time of 72 hours and 32 minutes. 

Nadine Ansorg (6th) and Sarah Lewthwaite (7th) are also back on home turf, having averaged over 300km a day since Thursday - definitely not a feat to be taken lightly! 

As the night draws in on day 4, we are now left with four riders out on the route, with Elizabeth Bruton unfortunately having scratched earlier this afternoon due to having "nothing left in the tank". 

Jenny Wheeldon (8th) is due to finish imminently, whilst Christine Lee (9th), and Lucy Cook (10th) could be expected to cross the line in the early hours if they decide to keep pedalling into the night. 

Meanwhile, with just over 250km to go, Cheryl Reid seems to have hunkered down in Ruthin before tackling the final stretch.

Day 4 - Women's Race Update

As anticipated, our riders chose to forego another night of sleep and pushed onto the finish. We've now seem Nikki Ray (2nd), Annie Dixie (3rd), and Saz Harris (4th) across the line. Saz is particularly pleased after smashing her personal goal of sub 72 hours - well done, Saz!

We still have riders out on the field and expect the majority to roll back into Warwick at some point today, although the rear end of the pack still have a good 300km to go so by no means is this going to be smooth sailing.

Congratulations to all our finishers so far, you should all be incredibly proud of yourselves; it's sometimes easy to forget that these dots we follow on our screen are actual people, complete with needs, emotions, and niggles that need to be managed over the course of the race. Riding your bike 1,000km is one thing, keeping yourself fed, watered, and in good spirits is a different challenge entirely!

Let's see what the rest of the day has to bring...

Women’s Race Update

Day 3 is nearly over, we have seen some really fast finishers in all categories. plenty of riders still out on the course, all with a tale to tell. 

![Solstice Sprint - Day 3 - Recap](//videos.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5KBtSFZOrQiCAkPtOWahBE/a869d21582f867bc63f133fe9a1473a1/3-day-3-report.mp4)

Day 3


Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Nicky Shaw has rolled into the finish having completed the route in an astonishing 54 hours and 52 minutes. What’s more impressive is that she maintained a 91% moving time, meaning that she only stopped for a total of 4 hours and 41 minutes. An absolutely spectacular effort, and only a few short weeks after her win at Wild West Country. Chapeau, Nicky - we can’t wait to see what’s next!
Another incredible effort has come from Nikki Ray, who is currently closing in on the finish and looking to secure second place - a position she’s held firm for the last 30+ hours. After choosing to bed down in a hotel near Stwlan Dam, she hauled herself back onto the bike in the early hours, just in time to keep her lead over Annie Dixie who had stopped earlier in the evening but got back on the road just after 2am.
Only 24km behind Annie is Saz Harris, who is learning from yesterday’s fuelling mistakes and eating allllll the food; chocolate ice-cream and a jacket potato being the winning combo so far! With under 200km to go, third place is still very much up for grabs and we can expect to see some competitive riding between these two over the coming hours.
Unfortunately India decided to scratch this morning after a terrible night’s sleep and a disturbingly high heart rate - but she’s chosen to enjoy the morning in Machynlleth before catching a train home.
With the finish line in sight but not yet touching distance, will our riders choose to grit their teeth and power on into the night, or will they continue the race into day 4…

Female Solo Winner

The sun may be setting on day 2, but our women’s race isn’t showing any sign of slowing down. Nicky Shaw is still absolutely dominating the field as the first rider to reach CP7, having spent 30+ hours on the bike and covering over 700 km. With less than 2 hours of stopped time, she’ll surely be looking for a place to get a few hours' kip this evening before making a final dash to the finish tomorrow.
Nikki Ray is still holding strong in 2nd place, but still has 70km to make up if she wants to be in with a chance of catching our leader. Will she choose to ride into the night, or prioritize rest and recovery to allow herself topush a little harder tomorrow morning?
Annie Dixon (3rd), who was found enjoying a road-side nap earlier this afternoon, has decided to call it a night due to the rain, and plans to tackle the upcoming climbs and subsequent descents at sunrise when it is hopefully a little less wet.
India (6th) has continued to struggle with what she believes to be “a mixture of heat and poor sleep” (as well as forgetting to ask for her Gregg’s coffee sans lid, marking “plastic fail number 1”), so has also decided to check into a hotel for the night and have a good feed before tackling Stwlan Dam tomorrow.
With India resting, Saz Harris and Penny Wilkin have taken advantage and moved further up the field, now sitting in 4th and 5th place respectively. Will they keep pushing into the evening to leapfrog Annie Dixon, or will everyone choose to wait out the rain and start again tomorrow?

Women’s Solo update

Re-cap of the 2nd day.

![Solstice Sprint -2024 -  Day 2 - Recap [VIDEO]](//videos.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3lIYyLbLidM6uRm0y2hpAm/00062e40d515dfb957eed4de51e05867/2-day-2-report.mp4)

Day 2 update


With temperatures rising, the race is really starting to heat up! Amy Powell has unfortunately decided to scratch having suffered numb feet from the 80km mark, and is very much looking forward to some non-bike related activities over the next few weeks! Annie Dixie and Saz Harris are both having trouble with their fueling strategy; Annie has turned to liquid calories (shout out to the chocolate milkshake) and Saz has turned to a caffeine hit in Haye on Wye to get herself back on track.
India is also finding things hard today, which she blames on a lack of sleep, but is still holding a strong 4th position en route to CP5, only 13km behind Annie Dixie.
Nicky Shaw is still dominating the field with an insane 95% moving time, but with the afternoon heat making itself known she pulled into Machynlleth to fill up her bottles (which are starting to look a questionable colour!) and grab a quick sandwich. It doesn’t look like she intends to stop any time soon and she’s still holding a 60km lead over Nikki Ray and a higher average speed than all the other riders.
Meanwhile, Nikki (2nd), Annie (3rd), and India (4th) are all expected to pass CP5 imminently and descend into Elan Valley for some serious views!

Women’s race update

While we slept…
It's 9am on day 2 and there's already been a flurry of activity from our riders this morning. Whilst India tucked into a "plastic-free dinner" of canned baked beans and enjoyed a well-earned rest in a hotel after 320km on the road, Nicky Shaw pushed on into the night and descended Gospel Pass at sunrise - which she considered a "life highlight". Nicky continues to lead with 70km between her and the next rider, Nikki Ray (this could get confusing!), but having chosen to not stop for sleep we can expect things to heat up here over the next few hours.
Amy Powell, an early race leader, has now dropped back, detouring to a Travelodge after 300km, and questioning her ability to carry on after nerve damage from a recent ultra has started giving her grief.
Jade Lau has unfortunately scratched after 170km due to an ongoing knee niggle - we wish her a speedy recovery!
All other riders prioritized sleep and chose to bed down at some point during the night, so we can expect some fresh(ish) legs chasing down the front pack. Let’s see what today has in store!

Overnight Women’s Solo

As we slept through the shortest night of the year, the mens race had a bit of a shakeup with top 10 men changing gear a bit.
Ian To (cap 1) kept kept moving through the night and seems to keep on increasing his lead against Thomas Fitton (cap 94) who is now in second place.
Of the top 10, Paul Waingwright (cap 7) seems to have stopped for the longest time over in Monmouth and will be trying to edge his way closer up the leaderboard through the day, if he can keep up his average speed up.
Hot on Ian’s back are Thomas Fitton and Matthew Garthwaite (cap 155) who will be hoping to try to reel in Ian. The wind will be starting to be in their favour as they start to head towards Stwlan Dam.
Gospel pass seems to have become a favourite with some riders tackling it through the night and some rewarded with a glorious sunrise on the descent.
We’re looking at another sunny day and with anything to go from yesterday, it’ll be important to stay fuelled up and hydrated as it warms up on some exposed sections through Wales.
Mens scratch report so far:
Simon Potter (cap 39)
Ryan MacGillivray (cap 6)
Jonathan Shubert (cap 50)
Nick Livermore (cap 130)
Jan Punter (cap 139)
John Packham (cap 141)
Denis Donsikkh (pair cap 49)
Thomas Stocker (cap 24)
Jonathan Abbot (pair cap 3)

Overnight Mens update

Solstice Sprint 2024 Tracking + Commentary: In this inaugural free-route event, with 10 checkpoints scattered across the South West of the mainland United Kingdom. Enjoy everything the area has to offer, sea-scapes, gorges and plenty of hills.

Solstice Sprint 2024 Tracking

For 2024 this event is now a fixed-route, riders will leave Warwick to pass through 10 checkpoints across the West Midlands, Wales and the South-West of England where things get a little bumpy for a while. The route flattens out en route to the finish in Warwick.

Solstice Sprint 2024

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