Black clouds rolled in again over Palmer Park to set up a windy, bitterly cold individual pursuit qualifying session. By the time the opening Senior A/B scratch began, the wind had dispersed the cloud but the temperature was still in single figures.
Full results. Picture galleries
The riders decided to heat things up by going for it from the whistle, with Bryan Taylor of VC Londres leading the way. With barely a break in pace over the 10 laps, it was Taylor who took the Senior A win from Stephen Bradbury of AW Cycles and Sam Sturgeon of Team Terminator. In the Bs, Steve Clarke from AW Cycles lead home his team mate Tristan Natolie and George Withers of Palmer Park Velo.
In the Individual Pursuit, Newbury CC’s Ian Greenstreet set the pace in the opening heat clocking 5 minute 26.12 seconds for the 9 laps. AW Cycles Matt Gittings ran him close in the early stages but faded towards the end, stopping the clock at 5:30.98 with Sturgeon at 5:47.20.
Heat two saw mechanical problems for Sturgeon’s team mate Cam Swarbrick who pulled his wheel over at the start but there were no problems for Reading CC’s Nick English who stormed into the lead with a very rapid 5:16.00. Alex Peterson of AW Cycles moved into 3rd with a 5:26.45 with Kevin Holloway of High Wycombe CC just failing to break the 6 minute barrier in 6:00.58.
The third heat saw a third leader with Bryan Taylor storming round in 5:12.08. Rapidly reeling in Stephen Bradbury – who went on to finish in 5:46.57 – in the closing stages Taylor also caught Natolie, who had already been caught by Donal Linehan. Natolie finished in 5:46.40, Linehan in 5:37.87.
The penultimate heat was the most evenly matched of the evening, with the gaps between the four riders moving back and forward throughout the race. Swarbrick made the most of his second chance – starting on his third rear wheel of the night – with a 5:49.04, finishing a fraction ahead of Banjo Cycles’ Martyn Harris (5:50.682). Steve Bayle of Reading CC wasn’t far behind on 5:52.90 with Team Zappi’s Gawain Bailey on 5:56.60.
Neil Rutter of Swindon RC topped the times in the final heat – his 5:35.56 good enough for 6th overall – ahead of two Palmer Park Velo youngsters. William Macke went off like a rocket but tied up towards the end, his 5:57.26 just two seconds quicker than the slightly slower starting but metronomic Frazier Carr who finished in 5:59.20. Trevor Bradbury of Reading CC clocked 6:13.89.
The final between Bryan Taylor and Nick English will take place next week – 17 May.
The B Sprint Final saw the first Reading Track League rider to fall foul of the recent British Cycling/UCI directive insisting that riders keep their hands on the bars at all times. Natolie crossed the line first ahead of Withers, but the road man’s ‘traditional’ arms-in-the-air celebration saw him disqualified and saw the youngster move up to third in the Senior B points table. The As once again saw the sprinters mixing it with the endurance riders, with Sturgeon taking the win from Peterson with Tom Sparkes of Team Terminator in third place. The Ladies final saw a dominant win from Nicci Meadows of AW Cycles ahead of Sarra Boyd (Mildenhall CC) and Jayne Paine (Willseden CC).
The pursuit seemed to have provided a good warm-up for the riders, with the 20k run at a fearsome pace. By half distance there were just 15 riders left with all of the youth riders – and many of the Seniors – calling it a day. The pace didn’t relent and the last lap saw all the remaining riders charge for the line with Taylor taking his third win of the evening ahead of Stephen Bradbury and Nick Abrahams. Trevor Bradbury took the B race from Harris and Carr with Paine first Lady home.
Youths
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Seniors
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