Ben Sumner (Beeline Cycles) continued his winning start to the new Cyclo Cross season by winning the second round of the Wessex League held at the Mary Hare School near Newbury. The 22year old from Reading led the race throughout and held onto a 15secs gap from Adrian Lansley and Sam Allen (PedalOn).
Another late autumn day with bright sunshine at the school combined with a large course spread throughout the school ground meant there were lots of good riding all through the categories. The course was a mixture of playing fields and wooded sections. The ground remained firm under wheel and times per lap were very quick.
Right from the early run out Sumner had opened out a lead from Lansley with John Pybus (Compressport) all ready losing ground. Sam Allen Paul Lloyd (Rides on Air) and Scott Chappell (Behind The Bikeshed) were the next riders up and these three were soon to be locked together.
After three laps Sumner’s lead had extended to 16secs over Lansley with Allen now at 36secs but more importantly he was clear of a tussle for fourth and thus able to pick his lines. Pybus, Lloyd and Chappell were locked together along with Jamie Norfolk (PedalOn) on 55secs. The order remained the same over the next few laps until the bell lap when Chappell found some energy to drop Lloyd and Pybus slipped back.
Sumner took the win with 15secs to spare with Lansley second and Allen now nearly 2mins adrift in third place. Chappell had dropped Lloyd for 5secs to take fourth; Pybus was sixth another 2secs down
Steven Davies (Hargroves Cycles) also was a double winner of the +50 race taking a large lead on the early laps and stretching out a lead of 30secs over Dave McMullen (Cotswold Veldrijden). Kevin Holloway was running with Tim Costello (GS Vecchi) and Chris Hutchings (VC Venta) and these three were already over a minute down. Davies continued to set a good pace to hold the lead throughout and the only change to the top six saw Holloway slip back to be passed by Martyn Dymond (Cotswold Veldrijden).
Sarah Barber (NHRC) won the women’s race once she got passed early leader Maddy Gammons on the second lap and Helen Pattinson (Solent Pirates) held onto third. As Gammons found the pace too fast she was picked up and passed by Rosie Brown (Westbury Wheelers) and Natasha Reddy (RP Racing).Faye Cripps was quickly closing in on the battle for third and soon passed both Brown and Reddy to secure a podium spot.
The earlier vet 40 race was keenly contested between Crispin Doyle (Hargroves Cycles) and Dan Guest (Performance Cycles). The two could not be split throughout the entire race and came down to sprint which was won by Swindon based rider Doyle.
The early laps saw Doyle out front from Guest with a group of five riders already slipping back. Tom Sewell (Cotswold Veldrijden) and last week’s winner had his hands full with Charlie Cooper (Eden Veranda), Graham Rogerson (Cotswold Veldrijden) and Lewis King (Beeline Cycles), also running close by were Elliot Lassiter (Cotswold Veldrijden) and a fast charging Mike Simpson (Beeline Cycles).
After four laps Doyle and Guest had a clear lead of 14secs over Sewell and Simpson, Rogerson was at 33secs and Lewis King at 38secs. In the junior race while Sewell was in third overall Charlie Cooper now had Harry Rose (Zappi’s Racing) right on his wheel but the Eden Veranda rider managed to apply the pressure over the closing laps to distance Rose by nearly 30secs.
Report by Graham Robins.
Full results will be available HERE from the chip timing company Black Sheep timing.
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