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Tour Series - Peterborough and Stoke-on-Trent
Week four of the Halfords Tour Series saw the races held in perfect conditions on two beautiful summer evenings.
First up was Peterborough on Tuesday. The racers lined up facing the impressive Peterborough cathedral, on the same course used last year, but run in reverse. From our early afternoon wander around the circuit we knew this was going to be at the rapid end of the spectrum - the riders didn't disappoint, picking up the pace after the initial "sedate" opening laps.
After a number of attempts, a break made it clear with Dean Downing (Rapha-Condor-Sharp), Ian Wilkinson (Endura Racing), Malcolm Elliott (Mortorpoint-Marshalls Pasta), Yanto Barker (Pendragon Le Col Colnago) and Simon Richardson (Sigma Sport - Specialized) quickly gaining an advantage on the peleton. Another group containing Chris Newton (Rapha-Condor-Sharp), Jack Bauer (Endura Racing) Ian Bibby (Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasts) Rhys Lloyd (Pendragon Le Col Colnago) and Wouter Sybrandy (Sigma Sport - Specialized) also made it clear, but it was the leading group that were to make a real impression on the race.
The leading five were whittled down to four as Barker was forced to make an unsheduled comfort break. It wasn't until two more riders jumped clear of the bunch that they really kicked in to action - either to chase down the attack or prevent being lapped.
Ian attacked with a lap to go, but was just pipped to the line by Dean Downing, taking his 2nd win of the series by a tyre's width. That tyre width proved crucial as Endura and Rapha-Condor-Sharp were tied in points scored on the night, but Downing's narrow advantage brought team victory and a return to the top of the leaderboard too.
The circus rolled in to Stoke-on-Trent on Thurday and another lovely evening rewarded the big crowd who turned out to watch the action.
A shuffle of the pack saw James McCallum (sporting his new "Flashing Blade" facial hair combo) and Scott Thwaites return to the Tour Series fray after short breaks in their Tour Series campaigns.
Once again the pace from the gun was super-fast, with the peloton soon strung out along the 1.2km circuit.
Rob Halyes's bad luck struck again as a falling rider took out his rear mech, leading to a noisy return to the pits for his spare. Unfortunately for Rob, he wasn't able to make it back on to a charging peleton and reluctantly retired. A real shame for the veteran, who looked fired up for the challenge before the start.
The race definining move came late on, with Ian Bibby (Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta) and Dave Clark (Pendragon Le Col Colnago) breaking clear, joined a few laps later by Scott Thwaites (Endura Racing) and the trio stretched their lead to 25 seconds over the bunch.
It was Bibby who emerged victorious from Thwaites by a couple of bike lengths with Clark close behind in third spot.
With Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta having lost their lead in the all important team competion to Rapha-Condor-Sharp in Peterborough, the pressure was on the home team to regain and they didn't disappoint taking the team win and regaining topspot in the league table.
The next Tour Series event is in Chester on Monday evening.
Photos by Joolze Dymond & British Cycling
19/06/2010