Winter Series Round-ups
Army CUWinter Series Darren Clarke and his fellow organisers have had to work hard at some of the rounds of the Army CUWinter Series to get the Ludgershall circuit prepared for racing. The hard frost at the first and fourth races meant that the surface had plenty of tricky areas which needed road salt thrown around. The weather hasn't affected rider numbers however, with high numbers of riders turning out to get their legs and lungs working again after the winter lay-off.
Round One
The 3rd and 4th Cats had been started separately for this race due to the large field but the two groups finished the race together. The hard-working lead 4th Cat riders caught the 3rds and then the 3rds refused to get out of the way, which would be the usual race etiquette. Deacon Cutterham (VC Bristol) won the bunch sprint for the line to claim first spot in the 3rds race. Once the organisers had carefully studied the finish line cameras, VC St Raphael rider James Atherton was declared winner of the 4th Cat race.
The E/1 /2/3 event had several attempts by riders to get clear of the main bunch, notably the VC St Raphael pairing ofDeclan Higgins and Rowan Horner working together early on, and thenAndoverWheelers’ Stu Thompson giving it his best until being brought back. The win eventually went to Declan Higgins ahead of the Strada Cycles duo ofPaul Derrick and John Russell.
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Round Two
After finishing third in the opening round, John Russell (Strada Cycles) stepped up to the top of the podium with victory in the E123 race. Russell, a 41 -year-old second cat rider, crossed the line around five seconds ahead ofhis breakaway rivals at the end of the near hour-long race, which was run off in windy but much warmer conditions than the previous week’s opening round.
The elite race saw a number of attempted breakaways come to nothing, but five riders finally broke clear at around one-third distance. They worked well together and were quickly out of sight of the bunch, which they eventually lapped. With two miles to go Russell attacked and he quickly got a gap on his rivals, and crossed the line five seconds clear of second-placed Ben Anstie (Cadence-Cannondale). Jason Streather (VC St Raphael) took third, just holding offnew team mate James Gray.
In the supporting 3/4 category race, Nick Noble (Bristol RC) took victory in a bunch sprint.
Round Three
JamesWilson, riding for Supernova Cycles, outsprinted breakaway rival David Creeggan (Pedal Heaven RT) for the win in the E123 race, with the main bunch just under half a minute behind after failing to reel in the escapees.
Wilson and Creegan worked well together and held their lead at 20-30 seconds for the race after their fifth lap getaway The supporting race for 3/4 Cat riders was won by Chippenham and DistrictWheelers’ Simon Barnes, who won a very close sprint finish from Junior rider JordanWade (Poole Wheelers). The final sprint was greatly reduced in numbers following a crash just before the final corner, where several riders hit the deck and many more were held up.
Round Four Primal Europe’s new signing Tom Stockdale took victory at Round 4, using the race as preparation for the (then) upcoming Perf’s Pedal race. Stockdale had established an early race breakaway with the winner of the previous Round, JamesWilson. The pair went on to lap the rest of the field with Stockdale winning their sprint for the finish by less than a wheel. In the 3/4 Category race, Nick Noble took his second win of the series, crossing the line around four seconds clear ofhis chasers after a solo attack with two laps to go, launched when the bunch caught an earlier break. I-Team CC JuniorAndy Shackel took second spot holding off fellow Junior, the consistently high finishing JordanWade. Noble went on to finish fifth in the following E123 event.
Unfortunately, Darren Clarke was forced to cancel Round Five due to the cold weather conditions.
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