5 members of the Wightlink-LCM Systems Cycle Race Team travelled to Castle Combe in Wiltshire on Sunday for the final round of the Cycling South League.
Racing first in only his second ever race was Stu Waite. Waite lined up with 40 other 4th category riders for the 24 mile circuit race. From the off, Waite looked strong and sat near to the front of the bunch for most of the race. Coming into the last lap the paced changed and Waite was swamped by other riders, but managed to finish in the middle of the bunch. He gained valuable experience for other races to come in the future.
Shortly after the 4th category race, Ed Sutton lined up for the Elite, 1st and 2nd category race. This comprised of 17 laps of the 2 mile flat circuit. From the gun the pace was relentless and Sutton had his work cut out to stay in the pack. Trying to stay near to the front Sutton did a few small turns to help chase down a 4 man breakaway but was overpowered by the bigger and more experienced teams. Coming into the finish, Sutton held his position and finished in the main bunch. This was his first race at this high standard and will be used as a springboard for races later on in the season.
Next to take to the track in the 3rd category race were Matt Allsopp, James Ebdon and Kev Foster. This was also 17 laps of the race track. After 2 laps of racing Allsopp attacked from the front of the bunch and formed a small breakaway with 3 other riders. The 4 riders soon gained a lot of time on the peloton containing Ebdon and Foster. After 10 laps, Foster broke a spoke and was forced to retire from the race. With 3 laps to go, Allsopp was left off the front of the race on his own as his 3 breakaway companions all tired and dropped back into the pack. Unfortunately Allospp was caught with 2 laps to go and it was now clear that the race would come down to a bunch sprint.
On the last lap Ebdon got into a good position with Allsopp on his wheel. Coming into the finish Ebdon attacked with 400 metres to go to make sure the pair didn’t get caught up with crashes in the sprint. Ebdon took 2nd on the line and Allsopp took 5th.
The result gives Ebdon enough points to gain his 2nd category licence and Allsopp more points towards his. This also secured Ebdon the overall season long league title with Allsopp taking 6th overall.
