Lyndsey Glazier and Rhys Lloyd winners at the third Springtime Pursuit of 2012 in the South West
 |
Organiser Ken Robertson writes… The ladies started with wet roads underfoot but clear skys above. With a 2 minute gap to make up, the scratch soon got down to serious work. A tight corner after 3 miles ended with 4 girls sat wondering why they were on the tarmac. This gave half a dozen riders the opportunity they sought and getting into a TTT formation they soon closed down the gap but in the process whittled down their number to three.
The front group were still clear after 2 laps and the prime went to Sarah Austin (YOGi Cycling). On lap three the trio caught and went straight past the lead group. The lap four sprint went to Nicole Walters (Team Hope factory RT). At the end, the sprint was well taken by Lyndsey Glazier (Team Hope Factory RT) from team mate Nicole Walters and Bristol Road Club’s Robyn Golding third.
The bunch gallop ended up as a contest between the 2 juniors with Adele Martin (GB Cycles)holding off Laura Clode (Revo Racing). Miriam Freemantle (Team Hope Factory RT) who had been one of the chief victims of the fall finished the race and in doing so won the overall series.
Photos: Click for photos from Ann and Richard Owens
Result
1 Lyndsey Glazier 25.2 miles in 1hr 11mins 49 s
2 Nicole Walters
3 Robyn Golding @ st
4 Adele Martin @ 3. 6s
5 Laura Clode
6 Gillian Taylor
7 Sarah Austin
8 Charlotte Hurst
9 Carla Haines
10 Jessica Hill – all st
MENS
By the time the men gathered for the start, roads were dry under the influence of a rising South West wind. The four groups were separated by 2 minutes gaps. This gave the first group away the chance to contest the prime at the end of lap two. This was won by Jacob Keatt, a junior who rides for RUTrainingtoday CC.
By the time the prime came around on lap 4, groups one and two had merged with Jason Poore of the promoting Mid-Devon CC/Colin Lewis Cycles crossing the line first. Behind groups three and four had also merged and were hot on the heels of the front runners. All the groups came together on lap 5.
The prime on lap six proved the decisive moment of the race. Rhys Lloyd (Metaltek-Scott) and Mark Dolan (Mid-Devon CC) jumped away with the Welshman holding off the Devonian. Instead of sitting up they stuck their heads down. Little by little the gap grew between the leaders andth bunch reaching a maximum of 45 seconds.
Lloyd took the final prime of lap eight. Behind some serious chasing got underway and a trio of riders went clear of the bunch that was shedding riders from the rear at a prodigious rate. The three riders who broke away were Ben Simmons (Team Wiggle), Jake Alderman (One and All Cycling) who had won race one of the series and the evergreen Andrew Hitchens (Mid-Devon CC/Colin Lewis Cycles).
In the final kilometre Lloyd proved too strong for Dolan to win by 6 seconds. Simmons and Alderman also shook off Hitchens but the latter had enough time in hand to claim fifth place ahead of the frantically sprinting bunch led home by Ashleigh Martin (Cadence / Cannondale).
The overall series winner was George Pym of Exeter Wheelers CC.
Photos of the Mens race from Ann & Richard Owens
Result
1 Rhys LLoyd 37.8 miles in 1hr 27 mins 47 secs
2 Mark Dolan @ 6 secs
3 Ben Simmons @ 11 secs
4 Jake Alderman st
5 Andrew Hitchens @ 15 secs
6 Ashleigh Martin @ 27 secs
7 Jake Durant
8 Ian Cullen
9 George Pym
10 Andy Hopkins – all st
