Feature Report! Chorley GP

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Edmund Bradbury of NFTO solo’d to his first ever victory in a Prem in a 1-2 for NFTO with Dale Appleby outsprinting Dexter Gardias of Pedal Heaven

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Edmund Bradbury of NFTO solo’d to his first ever victory in a Prem in a 1-2 for NFTO with Dale Appleby outsprinting Dexter Gardias of Pedal Heaven

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Emund Bradbury of NFTO wins the Chorley Grand Prix 2016

Summary

As the weather got steadily worse, it was on the last lap that the Chorley Grand Prix really exploded. The final time up Rivington, James Lowsley-Williams (NFTO) jumped away and was quickly joined by Steve Lampier, Dexter Gardias (Pedal Heaven) and Dale Appleby (NFTO), and with others struggling to stay in touch, the break was down to eight riders by the top of the climb and NFTO had the numbers with four.

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The break with a lap to go playing follow the leader as Dexter Gardias is followed across the road into Chorley

With still 20k to go, Bradbury attacked and the rider trying to lose his reputation as a tester, went into time trial mode to put daylight between himself and the chasers. Lampier reacted but couldn’t bridge to him and whilst Gardias and Lampier chased, Appleby got a free ride.

Bradbury continued to solo to victory, whilst Appleby beat Gardias in the sprint for second (below) to make it a 1-2 for NFTO. Lampier was 4th.

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James ‘Hank’ Lowsley Williams (NFTO) was 5th

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With the rain falling out of the sky, Gruff Lewis of Madison Genesis finishes the race. 

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REPORT

Video – Winner Edmund Bradbury

VIDEO – DALE APPLEBY (2ND)

VIDEO – DEXTER GARDIAS (3RD)

VIDEO – ROB PARTRIDGE (PART OF THE FIRST BREAK)

VIDEO – TOMMY BUSTARD (METALTEK KUTOA)

REPORT

HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO

Lap 1
Through the town of Chorley after a lap of the circuit, three leaders; Ben Hetherington, Rob Partridge and Ian Wilkinson of Pedal Heaven, had over a minute on the peloton who were about to catch a trio of chasers. Despite the wind and the climb, there was limited damage done to the big peloton from the start with many dropped on the climb, getting back on before the lap was completed.

The lap had started with Wilkinson and Hetherington going clear before being joined by Partridge whilst in the peloton, unsurprisingly on narrow roads, there were crashes also disrupting many a rider’s race.

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Three leaders led by Rob Partridge

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Three chasers just about to be caught by the peloton

Lap 2

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It was yet again on the climb where the pace went up and the lead of the break dropped to 36 seconds as the riders with the better power to weight ration put the bigger riders into the pain cave. The cross winds on this very exposed section of the course were also giving many riders a hard time as they chased Partridge, Wilkinson and Hetherington.

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Stephen Swindley chasing across to the leaders.

As they came through the town again though, whilst the leaders were still away, about to have another rider bridge to them, the lead was 20 seconds ahead of a largely intact peloton with a lot of very fit bike riders!

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Jon Mould and Steve Lampier lead the peloton with Graham Briggs close behind.

Lap 3

This was the lap where the conditions took their toll and the leader’s were caught and the peloton split on the climb. Dexter Gardias (Pedal Heaven RT) had a go but that came to nothing.

The pressure was certainly starting to tell and soon a group of around a dozen including last years winner Ian Bibby (NFTO) and his teammate Edmund Bradbury, Dan Fleeman (Metaltek Kuota) and teammate Adam Kenway, Steve Lampier, Jack Pullar (Pedal Heaven) and teammate James Gullen, Max Stedman & Grant Ferguson, Craig Wallace (Raleigh GAC) and his teammate Adria Moreno and one other (Williams). This group had some firepower and were soon opening a gap as many of the big teams would be happy with the make up of it.

But alas it did not stick and with plenty of action at the front of the peloton, a new break break soon developed with Jonny McEvoy and Conor Swift with Dexter Gardias of Pedal Heaven having a go to bridge to the move and plenty more behind willing to try too.

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Conor Swift and Jonny McEvoy leading the race after three laps.

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Dexter Gardias of Pedal Heaven RT

Lap 4

The four leaders soon had company though as eight chasers bridged across, Ed Bradbury, Dale Appleby, Jonathan Lowsley-Williams (NFTO), Gruff Lewis (Madison Genesis), Rhys Howells (Richardsons Trek), Craig Wallace (Raleigh). Grant Ferguson (Pedal Heaven) was dropped just as they caught the four leaders, making an 11-strong lead group.

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Finish

With numbers in the break, NFTO were able to fire riders off up the road and James Lowsley-Williams (NFTO) attacked the final time up the climb chased by Lampier, Gardias and Appleby. Lowsley-Williams or Hank for short, was caught and soon there were eight up front, with the others being Dan Patten (Team Wiggins), Connor Swift (Envelopemaster), Craig Wallace (Raleigh GAC) and Gruff Lewis (Madison Genesis).

The numbers favoured NFTO even more now with four out of eight and they were soon playing their cards with Ed Bradbury attacking chased by Steve Lampier. With Bradbury known for his ability against the watch, he broke the elastic between him and Lampier who was caught by Appleby and Gardias. With Appleby sitting in it, his teammate Bradbury continued to open the gap all the way to the finish.

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RESULTS 

1 Edmund Bradbury NFTO 04:52:45
2 Dale Appleby NFTO 0:42
3 Dexter Gardias Pedal Heaven st
4 Steve Lampier JLT Condor 0:47
5 James Lowsley-Williams NFTO 01:05
6 Jonathan McEvoy NFTO 01:20
7 Gruffudd Lewis Madison Genesis 01:33
8 Craig Wallace Raleigh GAC 01:38
9 James Gullen Pedal Heaven 02:40
10 Connor Swift Envelopemaster Giant Sheffield 02:50
11 Daniel Patten Team Wiggins 02:55
12 Russell Downing JLT Condor 03:06
13 Adria Moreno Sala Raleigh GAC 03:17
14 George Wood Richardsons-Trek RT 03:29
15 Steven Lawley SportGrub Cycling Team 04:03
16 Jack Pullar Pedal Heaven st
17 Jake Womersley Pedal Heaven 04:14
18 Evan Oliphant Raleigh GAC st
19 Rhys Howells Richardsons-Trek RT 04:39
20 Rhys Lloyd NFTO 04:43
21 Jake Tanner Envelopemaster Giant Sheffield st
22 Steven Roach Raleigh GAC st
23 Matthew Holmes Madison Genesis st
24 Stephen Williams JLT Condor 05:41
25 Fraser Martin Raleigh GAC st
26 Ben Hetherington Planet X – Northside Cycling 05:46
27 Adam Kenway Metaltek Kuota 05:53
28 Alex Orrell-Turner Wheelbase Altura MGD 06:09
29 Matt Cronshaw Madison Genesis 06:11
30 Joel Lewis Wheelbase Altura MGD 06:25
31 Max Steadman Pedal Heaven 07:08
32 Daniel Nieto TBW Bottecchia Wigmore RT 07:17
33 Joseph Clark Envelopemaster Giant Sheffield 08:57
34 Oliver Maxwell Neon-Velo Cycling Team 09:24
35 Jez McCann Richardsons-Trek RT 09:26
36 Graham Briggs JLT Condor 09:29
37 Joe Evans Madison Genesis st
38 Joshua Burns SportGrub Cycling Team st
39 Kieran Simcox Neon-Velo Cycling Team st
40 Carl Donaldson GS Metro 09:31
41 Elliot Jones VC Equipe – Flix st
42 Oscar Hutchings Primera-TeamJobs st
43 Ben Rowe Wheelbase Altura MGD 09:33
44 Peter Barusevicus Wheelbase Altura MGD 09:36
45 Robert Partridge NFTO 09:37
46 Dan Fleeman Metaltek Kuota 10:16
47 Bradley Stokes Planet X – Northside Cycling st
48 Charlie Tanfield Planet X – Northside Cycling st

King of the Mountains
1 Edmund Bradbury NFTO
2 James Gullen Pedal Heaven
3 Daniel Patten Team Wiggins

Sprints
1 Ian Wilkinson Pedal Heaven
2 Ben Hetherington Planet X – Northside Cycling
3 James Lowsley-Williams NFTO

PRE-RACE FEATURES

Here are videos from riders expected to feature in the race:

Video – 6th in 2015 Adria Morena (Raleigh GAC)

Video Former Premier Calendar winner Evan Oliphant (Raleigh GAC)

Video – Another Premier Calendar winner Russell Downing

Ryan Perry of Metaltek Kuota

Ian Bibby of NFTO the winner in 2015

James Gullen of Pedal Heaven

Dan Fleeman of Metaltek Kuota, formerProTour professional

* Provisional start sheet – Click here

* Last year’s report – click here 

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