Wales In A Day, one of the hardest sportives in Great Britain, crosses a whole country in a day – 185 miles and 15000 vertical feet of Wales – and it rolled out from magical Caernarfon Castle for the last time on Saturday 17 July. 

31

Prior to the event, organiser Open Cycling let it be known that this 2021 edition would be the last and over 500 participants signed up for an unforgettable day (and night for some) riding through the beautiful Welsh countryside between Snowdonia, the Cambrian and Black Mountains.

363 riders completed the journey with Jonathan Bryan finishing fastest in 13:04:27 and Matthew James closing out the final edition with a beaming smile in 19:37:07.

12

Afterwards, Matthew James said, “I’ve want to thank the organisers for a special day yesterday, what an experience, one of the toughest days I have ever had and I wouldn’t have made it without the help I received from other riders on this event, a really good community, hope you all recover well and take care, oh and I am proud of my last place lol.”

26

Rider Sean Cleary (16:38:47, 149th) simply said, “That was epic !!  What a absolutely fantastic day, though it was very hot, hot, hot.”

With temperatures reaching 80+ degrees in 60% humidity, heat exhaustion was a concern as riders searched for water, water and more water throughout the day.  

28

Andy Pugh (16:54:24, 173rd) commented, “An amazing day, I would like to thank the two cyclists and the lady and her daughter who were sat outside there van helped me when I was overcome with heat exhaustion near the top of gospel pass, they gave me plenty of water and gave me a seat for 20 mins, then I got up and finished the ride.”

21

Wales In A Day was Gethin Morris Owen’s first ever sportive (note: we do not recommend sportive rookies start with a 185 mile event) and he crushed it, finishing 28th in 14:36:59. “What an experience! First ever sportive, having only done a few century rides in the past, what a baptism of fire!”, he said afterwards. 

22

Darren Payne, who rolled across the finish line in at 11pm (18:52:55, 333rd) summed up his epic day as, “A long hot day in the saddle. Unforgettable stunning scenery and never-to-be-forgotten random acts of kindness and generosity – lady in her house and her tap of cold water, Man and Woman in the ‘57 plate Transporter and their water, young lad in a car (nothing to do with the race at all and his cold can of coke) and the Essex boy and his van of water).”

He then added, “there won’t be another Wales In A Day?…or will there?” 

30

If it were up to the riders, this iconic sportive would return in 2022, but rest assured Open Cycling is not abandoning the “xxx In A Day” sportive model.  They plan to hold the 150 mile Coast To Coast In A Day sportive on 9 July 2022, traveling across England from Seascale to Whitby. 

WALES IN A DAY 185 MILES  
1 Jonathan Bryan 13:04:27
2 Mark Powell 40+ 13:04:31
3 Nicholas Lemin 40+ 13:07:59
4 Jim Karthauser 13:09:31
5 Tim Sharpe 40+ 13:09:44
6 Keith Walden 40+ 13:31:07
7 Frans Frison 40+ 13:43:22
8 William McIntosh 50+ 13:43:34
9 Christopher Finn 50+ 13:46:27
10 Matthew Chard 40+ 13:54:46
11 David Vickers 50+ 13:56:58
12 Jonathan Eggett 50+ 13:59:59
13 Sally Ozanne 40+ 14:01:11
14 Andrew Woodhead 14:05:58
15 Aidan McLucas Gen 14:06:35
16 James Southwell Gen 14:09:24
17 Kathryn Miller 14:21:11
18 Ben Anderson 40+ 14:22:59
19 Neil Parnell 40+ 14:24:46
20 Rick Tarver 50+ 14:25:42
21 Chris Warren 40+ 14:25:57
22 Edward Davies 40+ 14:27:09
23 Andrew Fry 40+ 14:27:15
24 Pete Lowson 40+ 14:29:40
25 Jason Newman 50+ 14:32:42
26 Oliver Northern 40+ 14:33:29
27 Matthew Davies 14:36:21
28 Gethin Owen 40+ 14:36:59
29 Phil Drew 14:37:44
30 Neil Darke 50+ 14:38:21
31 Tina Albrecht 40+ 14:38:26
32 Robert Pilato 14:38:32
33 Mark Westcott 50+ 14:38:36
34 Mark Pickering 50+ 14:39:31
35 Lewis Stevens 14:42:05
36 James Halle-Smith Gen 14:42:08
37 Keith Roberts 50+ 14:43:33
38 Gary Davies 40+ 14:47:42
39 Craig Tweedie 40+ 14:47:46
40 Tom Gibbs 40+ 14:47:47
41 Ian Grace 50+ 14:47:52
42 Ben Turner 14:47:55
43 Tom Davies 40+ 14:47:58
44 Christian Haw 40+ 14:53:33
45 Jim Hildreth 40+ 14:55:19
46 Kieran Lloyd 50+ 14:56:29
47 Richard Ridgway 14:57:32
48 Cat Ridgway 14:57:35
49 Roger Stubbs 50+ 14:58:13
50 Del Nash 40+ 15:00:28
51 Paul Davis 40+ 15:00:35
52 Stuart Robertson 50+ 15:01:04
53 Howard King 40+ 15:01:44
54 Luke Gething Gen 15:01:56
55 Martin Clark 50+ 15:02:59
56 Stuart Coupe 50+ 15:02:59
57 Nikolas Hanson 40+ 15:03:07
58 John Shanks 15:03:09
59 Andy Howell 50+ 15:03:40
60 Graham Collins 50+ 15:04:01
61 Dan Murray 40+ 15:04:28
62 Jason Procter 50+ 15:04:49
63 Jason Holmes 50+ 15:05:13
64 Jason Evans 40+ 15:05:30
65 Ian Sime 50+ 15:05:54
66 Lee Burchell 50+ 15:06:02
67 Rob Forster Gen 15:06:25
68 Dougie Pratt 50+ 15:10:28
69 Dan Kingston 40+ 15:11:04
70 Anthony Fidow 50+ 15:11:05
71 Darren Dalton 40+ 15:11:53
72 Mark Whitby 50+ 15:11:55
73 Chris Bone 40+ 15:14:16
74 Allen Horrigan 40+ 15:14:31
75 Mark Endersby 40+ 15:14:35
76 Chris Perry 50+ 15:15:17
77 John Hines 50+ 15:15:30
78 Phil Birch 50+ 15:15:32
79 Sam Miller 40+ 15:16:49
80 Paul Steckler 40+ 15:18:13
81 Richard Pollard 40+ 15:18:45
82 Joseph Southall 50+ 15:20:00
83 Darren Wood 40+ 15:20:46
84 Stephen Swinton 50+ 15:23:29
85 Chris Woolley Gen 15:23:36
86 Hector Rodriguez Piedrabuena 15:23:43
87 Pete Gough 40+ 15:29:53
88 Martin Cook 50+ 15:29:53
89 Aisling Patterson 40+ 15:31:16
90 Justin Mark Phillips 40+ 15:32:09
91 Stephen Tonge 50+ 15:38:26
92 Steven Mosley 50+ 15:38:29
93 Steve Wilkins 40+ 15:38:39
94 Alistair Smyth 50+ 15:38:44
95 Simon Vallance 50+ 15:38:45
96 Vincenco Wilson 50+ 15:38:46
97 Clive Bandy 40+ 15:38:52
98 Carl Betts 40+ 15:40:01
99 Mark Jacobs 40+ 15:40:06
100 Jon Finch 15:40:31
101 Dean Thomas 15:40:43
102 Rachel Meredith 40+ 15:41:08
103 Fraser Jamieson 50+ 15:41:38
104 Scott Walker 50+ 15:42:05
105 Steve Osmond 50+ 15:42:15
106 Steve Clayton 50+ 15:43:53
107 John Campbell Gen 15:46:40
108 Neil Titterton 50+ 15:48:46
109 Gordon Simpson 50+ 15:48:54
110 Paul Bruton 40+ 15:52:06
111 Terry New 50+ 15:52:35
112 Craig White 40+ 15:53:36
113 John Fairhurst 40+ 15:53:36
114 Dominic Seymour 50+ 15:55:30
115 John Parr 50+ 15:55:33
116 Duncan Cupit 50+ 15:56:51
117 Shaun Dutton 50+ 15:59:39
118 Andy Fletcher 50+ 15:59:42
119 Shuna Neave 16:01:03
120 Allan Howatson 40+ 16:02:55
121 Mark Davies 40+ 16:04:38
122 Mike Williams 50+ 16:06:50
123 Adrian Bond 40+ 16:07:34
124 Peter Thacker 40+ 16:07:35
125 Greig Milsom 40+ 16:08:18
126 Luke Pugh 16:08:46
127 Richard Bruce 40+ 16:09:44
128 Malcolm Hazle 50+ 16:10:14
129 Dave Gaskell 40+ 16:10:38
130 Rod Hill 40+ 16:10:39
131 Jacques Smith-Woodman Gen 16:11:00
132 Adrian Kirk 40+ 16:14:32
133 Ian Wood 40+ 16:14:33
134 William Hartwell 40+ 16:16:55
135 Geraint Morton 40+ 16:17:01
136 Andy Davies 50+ 16:18:09
137 Graeme Crane 40+ 16:18:40
138 Mike Busher 40+ 16:29:34
139 Peter McKernan 40+ 16:32:04
140 Daniel Mallon 40+ 16:32:15
141 Wayne Cooper 50+ 16:35:40
142 David Hormigo 40+ 16:36:29
143 Carl Davies 50+ 16:36:31
144 Matthew Brereton 40+ 16:36:35
145 Jason Davies 16:38:01
146 Colin Thornton 50+ 16:38:07
147 Kevin Snowball 50+ 16:38:10
148 Ben Worrall 16:38:13
149 Sean Cleary 50+ 16:38:47
150 Darren Aldous 50+ 16:39:09
151 Dave Bache 40+ 16:40:11
152 Ian Mortlock 50+ 16:40:20
153 Colin Bird 40+ 16:40:49
154 Andy Taylor 50+ 16:40:51
155 Andy Robertson 50+ 16:40:52
156 Richard Blythe 16:41:14
157 Irfon Thomas 40+ 16:41:19
158 William Fox Grant 50+ 16:41:23
159 Chris Mingo 40+ 16:41:25
160 Jamie Menzies 40+ 16:42:17
161 Chris Parsons Gen 16:42:32
162 Iain Shone 50+ 16:42:52
163 Dale Cochrane 50+ 16:43:30
164 Ben Howard 50+ 16:43:35
165 James Noble 40+ 16:45:24
166 Gareth Davis 40+ 16:45:27
167 Mike Rodgers 16:45:42
168 Matthew Bailey 40+ 16:46:00
169 Nick Coward 50+ 16:46:17
170 Daniel Bishop 40+ 16:46:18
171 John Rhoades 40+ 16:46:51
172 Neil Smailes 50+ 16:53:01
173 Andy Pugh 50+ 16:54:24
174 Andy Hemsley 50+ 16:54:43
175 Chris Elliott 40+ 16:56:29
176 David Williams 50+ 16:59:02
177 Sion Davies-Rollinson 16:59:16
178 Gareth Jones 40+ 16:59:30
179 Richard Shaw 50+ 16:59:38
180 Nick Gaunce 50+ 17:01:02
181 Mike Hale 50+ 17:01:14
182 Gareth Banks 40+ 17:02:30
183 George Harris 40+ 17:04:02
184 Gary Lloyd 50+ 17:05:11
185 Mark Webster 40+ 17:06:34
186 Marcus Williams 50+ 17:07:11
187 Martin Pulley 50+ 17:07:13
188 Matt Cornish 40+ 17:07:52
189 Charles Butterfield 40+ 17:08:27
190 Robert Thomson Gen 17:08:31
191 Penny Butterfield 40+ 17:08:31
192 Chris Evans 40+ 17:08:38
193 Iain Marshall 40+ 17:08:53
194 Andrew Bottel 50+ 17:09:57
195 Matthew Jones 50+ 17:10:00
196 Julian Lee 50+ 17:10:03
197 Gareth Chislett 40+ 17:10:03
198 Gari Jones 40+ 17:11:04
199 David Lewis 50+ 17:11:33
200 Tony Fisher 50+ 17:11:37
201 Joss Eastwood Gen 17:11:40
202 Ciaran Talbot 17:11:41
203 Steve Eastwood 50+ 17:11:45
204 Andrew Creese 17:11:49
205 Mark Blomfield 40+ 17:11:58
206 Steven Hudson 40+ 17:11:59
207 Anthony Lloyd 50+ 17:12:47
208 Alasdair Swanson 50+ 17:14:13
209 Robert Jennings 17:15:20
210 Philip McCormick 50+ 17:15:34
211 Lee Coulson 40+ 17:15:41
212 Phil Hughes 50+ 17:16:18
213 Alan Howells 40+ 17:20:17
214 Stewart Bailey-Smith 40+ 17:20:21
215 Stuart Robinson 40+ 17:20:26
216 Richard Banfield 50+ 17:23:51
217 Adam Mumford Gen 17:24:46
218 Alistair Hatton 50+ 17:24:48
219 Michael Bigwood 17:24:49
220 Dave Moore 50+ 17:25:07
221 Matt Smith 40+ 17:25:13
222 Glenn Parry 40+ 17:25:14
223 Val Ravenhill 50+ 17:27:04
224 Selwyn Fisher 17:27:23
225 Andrew Boutflower 40+ 17:28:20
226 Paul Slaymaker 40+ 17:28:23
227 Colin Parnell 40+ 17:28:30
228 David Davies 40+ 17:28:32
229 Matt Phillips 40+ 17:28:38
230 Matthew Geer Gen 17:30:19
231 Adrian Ward 40+ 17:30:24
232 Olivia Neal Gen 17:30:38
233 Adrian Aspinall 50+ 17:30:39
234 David Swann 40+ 17:31:00
235 Anthony Kelly 50+ 17:31:38
236 Andy Coldwell 50+ 17:33:18
237 Matthew Griffiths 50+ 17:33:57
238 Kevin Geer 50+ 17:34:27
239 Steve Brooks 50+ 17:41:53
240 Doug Davy 40+ 17:42:16
241 Jonathan Kettlewell 50+ 17:42:20
242 David Dodsworth 40+ 17:42:22
243 Paul Wright 50+ 17:47:32
244 John Dunne 50+ 17:48:35
245 Alexander Croft 17:49:26
246 Struan Lownie 40+ 17:50:09
247 Paul Carmody 17:50:29
248 Paul Lawton 50+ 17:51:44
249 Chris Strickland 50+ 17:52:50
250 Alex MacKie 40+ 17:53:19
251 Steve Ward 40+ 17:54:44
252 Mark Sargent 50+ 17:57:14
253 Wendy Carrington 50+ 17:57:19
254 Simon Sinclair 40+ 17:57:26
255 Darren Joint 40+ 17:57:27
256 Nathan Lee Gen 17:57:52
257 Roger Clay 40+ 17:58:33
258 Peter Whitbread-Abrutat 50+ 18:00:10
259 Martin Fido 50+ 18:00:26
260 Paul Harris 40+ 18:00:33
261 Nicholas Pounder 40+ 18:00:53
262 Paul Stubbs-Jefferies 50+ 18:02:46
263 Peter Ford 50+ 18:03:30
264 Jessica Notzing 18:04:49
265 Rich Brown 40+ 18:05:03
266 Mathew Nicholls 40+ 18:06:39
267 Shane Wolstencroft 50+ 18:07:21
268 Andrew Keary 40+ 18:08:23
269 Neil Duncombe 18:08:25
270 Scott Armstrong 18:08:28
271 Ben Green 18:08:29
272 James Upton 40+ 18:09:21
273 Phil Wilson 40+ 18:09:35
274 Ian Smith 50+ 18:10:31
275 Andy Davies 40+ 18:10:34
276 Justin Crook 40+ 18:11:01
277 Jonathan Harris 40+ 18:11:10
278 Adam Edmundson 40+ 18:11:13
279 Ben Collier 40+ 18:11:17
280 Andrew Brown 40+ 18:11:18
281 David Morgan 40+ 18:11:28
282 John Moulds 50+ 18:12:57
283 Simon Fox 50+ 18:12:58
284 Marcin Saczek 18:13:07
285 Steve Rayers 40+ 18:13:15
286 David Moore 18:13:54
287 Phil Darlington 50+ 18:15:23
288 Ashley Cooper 50+ 18:19:10
289 James Vaughan 40+ 18:19:11
290 Dickie Davis 50+ 18:19:23
291 Ben Voisey 50+ 18:19:28
292 Sion Hunnam 40+ 18:19:39
293 Craig Pattison 40+ 18:20:15
294 Iwan George 18:20:17
295 Struan Marshall 50+ 18:20:30
296 Christopher Hughes 40+ 18:20:32
297 Simon Storey 40+ 18:20:41
298 Peter Satchwell 40+ 18:20:46
299 Andrew Floyd 18:20:48
300 Chris Taylor 50+ 18:20:51
301 Peter Gill 40+ 18:22:43
302 Richard Havercroft 40+ 18:22:53
303 Tim Simmons 40+ 18:23:00
304 Huw Davies 40+ 18:23:15
305 Neil John 40+ 18:24:14
306 Dan Simmons 50+ 18:24:20
307 Jamie Buckle 40+ 18:24:26
308 Ellie Salisbury 50+ 18:25:59
309 Chloe Rafferty 40+ 18:26:39
310 Martin Staples Gen 18:27:55
311 Ian Woodley 50+ 18:27:57
312 Jeffrey Fidler 50+ 18:36:27
313 Huw James 50+ 18:37:23
314 Louise Clague 50+ 18:37:24
315 Ben Hagger 40+ 18:37:44
316 Matthew Eglin 40+ 18:37:46
317 Mark Lavington 50+ 18:37:48
318 Steven Walsh 40+ 18:37:50
319 John Keegan 40+ 18:37:58
320 Cem Azakli 50+ 18:38:09
321 Sarah Weinberg 18:39:11
322 Dan Robson 50+ 18:39:22
323 Mark Prust 50+ 18:39:25
324 Adam Horrocks 18:39:39
325 James Coull 50+ 18:39:47
326 Simon Lovett 40+ 18:40:28
327 Yianni Karakousis 18:41:51
328 Martyn Gibbons 40+ 18:41:55
329 Philip Dearden 50+ 18:44:03
330 Matthew Rowe 50+ 18:44:54
331 Melville Jackson 50+ 18:52:18
332 Ian Price 50+ 18:52:36
333 Darren Payne 40+ 18:52:55
334 John O’Brien 40+ 18:53:42
335 Ed Slater 40+ 18:54:19
336 Gareth Dixon 18:54:35
337 Dafydd Gibby 40+ 18:55:12
338 Wayne Owen 50+ 18:59:15
339 Simon Pollitt 19:01:35
340 Ryan March 19:01:39
341 Paul Denham 50+ 19:03:22
342 Noam Sohachevsky 40+ 19:03:49
343 Stephen Webster 50+ 19:10:10
344 Adrian Carr 40+ 19:10:13
345 John Sammut 40+ 19:15:43
346 Craig Beaton 19:16:14
347 Paul Taylor 50+ 19:17:43
348 Phil Michael 40+ 19:18:39
349 David Smith 50+ 19:19:07
350 William Keeling 50+ 19:20:24
351 Pete Openshaw 50+ 19:20:26
352 Michael Matthews 50+ 19:24:50
353 Nathan Harper 19:24:53
354 Clayton Shorthouse 50+ 19:25:01
355 Kate Humphrey 40+ 19:28:55
356 David Williams 50+ 19:30:52
357 Mark Ford 50+ 19:30:52
358 Ian Reynolds 50+ 19:30:58
359 Peter Dawson 50+ 19:32:13
360 Matthew Allenby 40+ 19:33:30
361 Andrew Davies 50+ 19:34:40
362 Maxwell Hodson 50+ 19:34:58
363 Matthew James 40+ 19:37:07

PHOTOS: Wales In A Day / Open Cycling

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