Stokes Takes SuP6R Six Win

Navigation:
Home

Stokes Takes SuP6R Six Win

Teenager Jordan Stokes (Pedal Power) bade farewell to the junior ranks on a winning note when he snatched victory in the final race of the Scottish Power Renewables SuP6R Six B Series over the Lathalmond circuit near Dunfermline.

Contested in windy conditions over ten laps of the five mile route, the race followed what has now become the traditional pattern of ending in a bunch sprint.

However, that should not suggest that the race was anything other than highly competitive, and there were many attacks in the course of the event, the first coming on the opening lap and featuring the eventual winner. However, that effort was reeled in and the bunch remained intact until midway through the second lap when an injection of pace as the group passed Balmule Farm shook a few riders out the back and saw a quartet go clear by a handful of seconds.

Among them was Graham Doig (Moray Firth) who was to feature prominently throughout the race. Once again, however, the attack was nullified. The next rider to make a bid to break away was Wim Chalmet of the organizing club, Sandy Wallace Cycles, but his effort was to suffer the same fate as those which had gone before. And it happened again when Doig, David Griffiths (Glasgow Wheelers) and King of the Mountains leader Jonathan Buckley (West Lothian Clarion) managed to carve out a lead of a few seconds approaching the half way point in the race. Back in the field, series leader Callum Gough (Onimpex RT) was keeping a careful eye on Keith Laird (Glasgow Couriers), his nearest challenger for the overall win.

The long descent from Dunduff Farm offered an opportunity for a group of four to make a breakaway bid on lap seven, but once again it came to nothing and as the field crossed the finishing line with two laps to go, they were all together again, with Doig once more at the head of affairs.

The bell sparked the next attack, this time John Patterson (Dumfries CC) seizing the initiative to move a couple of bike lengths clear. But, approaching the final climb, Stokes moved to the front and signaled the start of the final gallop.

As the riders crested the hill, he was still there and he held off his pursuers to cross the line a bike length ahead of Gough who secured the series win in the process, while Lindsay Gordon (Musselburgh RCC) took third spot.

Reflecting on his performance, Stokes said, "I tried a wee break on the first lap but didn't get away." And the 18 year old from Carstairs added, "I was in the main field and then I went up near the front of the bunch on the last lap and when we got to the bottom of the hill I started to sprint. This is my last race as a junior, so I'm pleased to win."

Meanwhile, Gough, admitted that defending the leader's jersey had forced him to ride more conservatively than he would have liked.

"On a course like this, Keith and I would normally have been attacking. But we were watching each other and we ended up riding negatively. 

 "I was also wanting to win the V50 category, so on the last lap I decided to move up a bit and it just became a straight sprint."

As a fan of the SuP6R Six concept, he was delighted to see a youngster take the honours. "It's great to see kids coming through - that's what it's all about really."

And, acknowledging the efforts of the race organiser and his helpers, he added, "It was a good course, a good promotion and it was very well marshalled."

While he has some interesting views on the future of the series, he is a fan of the SuP6R Six concept and pointed to another heartening aspect of the Dunfermline event, saying, "This was a pretty technical course and the standard of riding was good. It has really improved with every race - the first race was like Ben Hur!"

Results

1 Jordan Stokes Pedal Power Jun 02:00:57
2 Callum Gough Onimpex RT V50 same time
3 Lindsay Gordon Musselburgh Roads 4th same time
4 Ramsay Muirhead Johnstone Wheelers 4th same time
5 Ewan MacPherson Dunfermline CC 4th same time
6 Matthew MacDonald Edinburgh RC 4th same time
7 Keith Laird Glasgow Couriers 4th same time
8 Brendan Roe Leslie Bike Shop V50 same time
9 Trevor Wilson Dales Cycles RT 4th same time
10 Jonathan Buckley West Lothian Clarion 4th same time
11 Graham Moore Stirling BC 4th same time
12 David Griffiths Glasgow Wheelers 4th same time
13 Rich Semple East Kilbride RC 4th same time
14 Gary Cross Falkirk BC 4th same time
15 John Patterson Dumfries CC 4th same time
16 Bruce Fullerton Falkirk BC 4th same time
17 Georges Avraam Edinburgh RC V50 same time
18 Martin Lonie Dooleys RT 4th same time
19 Michael Fong Edinburgh RC 4th same time
20 Duncan McIntyre Glasgow Nightingale 4th same time
21 Cameron Stewart Edinburgh RC 4th same time
22 Terence McMahon Glasgow Ivy CC 4th same time
23 Graham Doig Moray Firth CC 4th same time
24 William Bowers Pedal Power 4th same time
25 David Blockley Rapha Condor CC 4th same time
26 William McMillan Dales Cycles RT V60 10
27 Paul Hornby Glasgow Ivy CC 4th 12
28 Paul McSkimming Dooleys RT 4th 14
29 Alasdair Begbie Unattached 4th same time
30 Peter Ward Edinburgh RC 4th same time
31 Andrew Douglas Pedal Power 4th 16
32 Scott Patterson Sandy Wallace Cycles 4th same time
33 Malcolm Paterson Glasgow Nightingale 4th 20
34 Owen Philipson Stirling BC 4th 23
35 Lee Anderson East Kilbride RC 4th 37
36 Murray Ford Dunfermline CC 4th 04:35
37 Jake Brown Pedal Power Jun same time
38 Jenny Stanning Edinburgh RC Women 13:40
39 David Lang Glasgow Wheelers V60 15:18
40 Jay Burgess Sandy Wallace Cycles Women 17:48
41 Andrew Kilpatrick Leslie Bike Shop V50 at 1 Lap
42 David Hamill Pedal Power 4th at 1 Lap