Five riders of the Wightlink-LCM Systems Cycle Race Team travelled to Portsmouth for the first race of their road season on Sunday.
Racing in his first ever race, Ed Sutton lined up in the 4th category race along side Matt Allsopp and Matt Evans. The trio worked well for the 30 minutes plus 3 laps race. After 10 minutes of racing, Sutton decided that the slow pace played into his hands and attacked off of the front of the bunch. Unfortunately, no one came with him and his breakaway attempt was unsuccessful. Coming into the sprint finish, both Allsopp and Sutton got boxed in and couldn’t find a way through the pack. Sutton managed a very creditable 8th Place in his first race.
Later in the day, James Ebdon and Kev Foster lined up in the 3rd category race. After a dull first 15 minutes or racing, a 5 man group broke away from the peloton. Both of the Wightlink-LCM systems riders watched to see how the break formed. After a few laps Ebdon tried to get across to the breakaway on his own but with the main peloton averaging almost 28mph, he was unsuccessful.
Back in the main bunch Ebdon sat tight and waited for the bunch sprint. 3 of the 5 riders in the breakaway had been caught so Ebdon and Foster were racing for 3rd place. With 1 lap to go Ebdon was in the perfect position in 3rd place. Using the other teams to his advantage, he came into the last 200 metres and used his strong sprint to take the bunch sprint win and a brilliant 3rd overall.
