After much deliberation since the cancellation of the Bottlebutt 100, the CycleNation Team have confirmed that the top 3 results of each rider will still count towards their final Real Insurance XCM Series Rankings.
After considering great feedback from competitors and stakeholders the Series organisers have decided not to change the way the rankings are calculated. The Real Insurance XCM Series encourages people to race consistently throughout the year, therefore rewarding those who have been committed to the Series and participated in at least 3 events. The feedback received on CycleNation, Facebook and Rotorburn indicated that many competitors prioritised the Series events throughout the year and will now reap the reward after the unfortunate Bottlebutt 100 cancellation.
The battle is on…
The competition for the top 5 in the men’s Series will come down to the wire at the Briars Highland Fling and the competitors will put it all on the line.
The Series win will still be fiercely contested between current Series Leader, Matt Fleming and previous event winners Dylan Cooper and Ben Mather.
In poll position, Matt Fleming’s 1st, 2nd and 6th place finishes puts him more than 700 points ahead of Anthony Shippard (6,214 points), James Downing (6,175 points), Justin Morris (5,874 points) and Tate Dogan (5,813 points). All these riders have done all 3 events so far.
With wins in previous events, and still yet do a 3rd Series event, Dylan Cooper and Ben Mather are down on the current rankings, but the only ones with a chance to take the overall Series win from Matt Fleming. With the 3 best results out of 4 to count, Fleming will drop his worst result after the Fling. Fleming so far has finished 1st, 2nd and 6th. A few scenarios:
• As long as Fleming finishes ahead of Cooper and Mather, he wins the Series
•If Dylan Cooper wins the Fling or beats Matt Fleming (whilst finishing in the top 6 and ahead of Mather) he will win the Series
• If Ben Mather finishes 1st or 2nd* and finishes ahead of Fleming and Cooper, he wins the Series
Both Matt Fleming (Rockstar Racing) and Dylan Cooper (Trek) ride in strong teams and it can be expected to see a certain amount road tactics come into play, with team riders being used to pace and work for the Series contenders. It will be interesting to see what Ben Mather does in this regard.
In the women’s category Jenny Fay has the Series win in the bag if she can finish in the top 5 women inside the overall (men included) 200th position. This should not be too hard for Fay seeing that she has won 2/3 and managed to finish 21st and 38th overall. Should Fay for some reason not manage to do that the Series win and the rest of the podium can be contested by Women’s Leader Sue Thompson, Vanina Vergoz, Sarah Nuemann, Kate Heyns, Vicky Cluver or Wendy Stevenson.
The Rankings are calculated on both position and time so riders will not only be racing one another but also racing the clock. The Highland Fling will be a race you won’t want to miss!
Bigger and better
As a result of the tremendous support for the inaugural Series, the Real Insurance XCM Series promises to be bigger and better in 2012. More information about the 2012 Series will be released at the end of the year.
View the current Series Rankings
Current standings
Download the full Rankings scenario – Real Insurance XCM Series 20113 events counting.xlsx