2007 Junior Tour of Wales

 

25-27th August, 2007; www.juniortourofwales.com

Report & Images, Richard Robotham

 

Kennaugh takes the Stage 5 Win but McEvoy takes the Overall Victory on GC

 

 

The last two days of the Junior Tour of Wales was full of some hard racing with some exciting finishes and some misfortune. Peter Kennaugh (Isle of Man “A”) took firm control of the race on stage one by taking the Yellow Jersey in the Time Trial by just one second over Andrew Griffiths (Glendene CC / Biketrax). Kennaugh then consolidated his lead by winning Stage Two. Luke Rowe (Wales) and Ben Plain (Glendene CC / Biketrax) then managed to break clear in the Circuit Stage to take first and second respectively but they also gained valuable time on the race leader.

 

But it was a puncture, which lead to Kennaugh loosing the Yellow Jersey and two places to Stage Four winner Johnny McEvoy (Kinesis UK). Kennaugh fought hard following his puncture to regain his lead on GC but was unable to make up sufficient time on the stage. Kennaugh later commented that he was not upset by loosing the Yellow but very pleased with his overall form.

 

Left: Peter Kennaugh in the KOM jersey, wins his third stage of the race whilst right, Andrew Griffiths chases alone.

 

Stage Five was run over a large loop of 68 miles and saw 94 of the original 100 Riders starting off rather slowly as the riders gently warmed up over the first 12 miles to the first KOM Sprint of the day. Following that climb the race then gradually climbed to a Points Sprint at Penderyn at 14.5 miles. It was at this point when the only attack of the day began to form. Initially five riders broke away but were quickly chased down and joined by three other riders to form the winning break.

 

The riders involved were Luke Rowe (Wales), Matt Jones (In Gear Development), Rhys Lloyd (Liverpool Mercury / Dolan), Erick Rowsell (South East England), Ben Plain (Glendene CC / Biketrax), Peter Kennaugh (Isle of Man “A”) and Johnny McEvoy (Kinesis UK). These riders were to work well together to form a time gap of 1 minute 24 seconds until the dual carriageway section after Brecon when the Team Managers were invited by the Chief Commissaire to join the break and speak to their riders if they so wished.

 

At this point Andrew Griffiths (Glendene CC / Biketrax) launched a solo chase and with the gap increasing over the peloton he was still able to catch and pass the leaders. At this point the gap was now up to 2 minute 20 seconds on the peloton. Griffiths attempt for the stage victory was thwarted when the pace increased and he was caught at the foot of the final climb of the day, the notorious “Tumble”.

 

Peter Kennaugh launched repeated attacks on the climb but was gradually reeled in by the chasers, however, Kennaugh’s stylish determination and sheer will power was to win him the stage victory and demonstrated his World Class ability.

 

As for the overall win, Johnny McEvoy needed to stay with Erick Rowsell on the Final Climb to ensure the Yellow Jersey remained on his shoulders. This he did all the way up the “Tumble” despite Rowsell’s attempt to sprint clear. They were to record the same time which meant McEvoy would be awarded with the GC win.

 

Left: Peter Kennaugh drives the break along.

 

REACTIONS

 

Pre Race Quotes:

Luke Rowe – Wales: Fourth Overall but less than a minute behind the Leader -- “Well I think its going to be decided before The Tumble, the course goes over Penderyn Moor which is really open and exposed, I think it will split there, like it did last year but I’ll give it my all over the Tumble to get a time.”

 

Commenting on the stages and race so far,

“So far so good, I am pleased with the Stage 3 win at Brynbach Park.  Day One didn’t go so well, I was eager to do well, so I attacked on the first lap and Ben Plain made it over too me and we worked well together and opened up a gap which put me in second place, only four seconds behind the Leaders. 

 

I missed the break in Stage 4, but I thought it was up to the Manx riders to do the chasing as they had the Jersey but they didn’t get it organised, the race split on the climb and I rode aggressively up there and about 8 of us formed a small group to chase them down but didn’t quite get there”

Peter Kennaugh – Isle of Man: “I wasn’t disappointed with the road stage yesterday just a bit unlucky, I’m in good form at the moment and finished the day with good spirits as at one stage I was over 4 minutes down but I managed to finish just over a minute down, and I am looking forward today.”

 

Erick Rowsell – South East England: “I had a good day yesterday, I managed to get into a good breakaway with John McEvoy, we were just driving it as either of us could be in Yellow, but he just took the lead by seven seconds, if I can get up the Tumble before John then who knows.  I think it will split over the moor lands just after the Storey Arms, the leaders will try to get away and I will be in that group.”

 

Johnny McEvoy – Kinesis UK: “Its good to be in yellow going into the last stage, as I only have to defend it for this stage and I will try hard to keep it. I think today's stage will kick off before the Tumble so I’ll just have to dig in on the Tumble to keep it.

 

Mark McNally – Liverpool Mercury: I am nearly two minutes down on the leaders and the most I can hope for today is a stage win.

 

The start of the break forming.

 

Post Race Quotes:

 

Peter Kennaugh and Ben Plain lead the break.

 

Peter Kennaugh – Isle of Man: Winner of Stage 5

“I attacked from the bottom (The Tumble), I thought I would have a better chance to get time back. Initially I got a good gap and I felt good but with the other stages in my legs I began to die towards the top, I finally got caught and had to sprint it out in the last few hundred metres, but fortunately I’ve got good speed and track legs.”

I am a bit disappointed not to get the overall win, but I have had three stage wins, the first stage was probably my better win as I gained the Yellow.”

 

Erick Rowsell Second Place – Stage 5

“Really good race, got away in the break, all the favourites were there but no one really wanted to drive it.  Andrew Griffiths caught us and went straight through, we let him go as he wasn’t a threat to anyone, and we caught him on the climb. I was trying to keep two seconds ahead of John McEvoy but I just couldn’t do it as he was really strong.”

 

Matt Jones and Erick Rowsell (right).

James Taylor – Welsh Coach: “It’s been a really good and well organised race. The Junior’s made it hard for themselves yesterday but even harder in today’s stage with several riders breaking away, but a worthy winner.  The standard of racing at Junior level has moved up considerably from when I used to race at that level”

Johnny McEvoy – Kinesis UK – GC Winner: “I am made up to win it, as my aim today wasn’t to win the stage but to keep the Yellow Jersey. My Kinesis sponsored bike was really good and aided my performance over the event.

 

When Peter Kennaugh jumped at 14 miles, I knew I had to go with him as I knew he could be very dangerous, then a few others came with us and we were away then for the rest of the race.

 

Right: Jonathon McEvoy in yellow alongside Mark McNally.

 

Then Peter attacked on the climb, I had a gap of seven to ten seconds, then Erick Rowsell caught me up, the plan was to finish with Erick. I jumped with 400 metres to go, but it was too early and on the wrong bit of the climb but he managed to come round and Erick was trying to get away, but we finished together.

 

Race Commentator - Stuart Stanton
"Before I came away from work last week, I told my work colleagues this race has to be run like a ballet, there’s so much at stake in it, with such a big entry and such a class entry we can’t afford to put one foot wrong behind the scenes and I think we have pretty well matched expectations. Then, following on from that, I have to say that the standard of riding on the road and the competition has exceeded expectations."

 

"What has happened over the last 18 months the Tour of Wales is now running in tandem with the Ras De Cymru which was run off extremely successfully at the end of June we went through 5 days and 6 stages, with the essentially the same backstage team, and the same marshalling team  and bike crew, through the 6 stages without a single incident. We learnt lessons from that which we have incorporated into this race so what you are seeing is another building block in the pyramid to making Welsh events the best in the World."

 

"In the three days of racing we have had one very minor incident where somebody touched wheels and fell off and that’s it.  When you have a criterium circuit where the descents are taken at 45 mph followed by an extremely sharp right hand bend it quite unbelievably remarkable. The aim of this race is to help British riders to develop and we are happy with that the race has reached a high standard. There are no plans to make this an international event, although foreign teams and riders do participate."

 

"Today’s race completely surprised everyone as it worked against the pattern of the past six years where by a early break goes containing riders who are lower down the order and tend to get caught before the mountain."

 

"Yesterday we had the most amazing days racing over the two stages’ so we knew it would be a hard act to follow. With five riders all within one minute and two seconds at the top of the GC, all from different teams it was inevitable what would happen, those five riders would not give each other one single inch, they broke away after the prime point at 14 miles and stayed away, essentially maintaining their advantage."

 

"As I watched the race from the top of the Tumble, a fabulous ride by Andrew Griffiths who bridged the gap went right through the break between Crickhowell and Abergavenny and was the first man on the mountain. Peter Kennaugh launched a massive attack on the first two hairpins but never gained more than thirty yards at anyone time, I knew the strength of McEvoy and Rowsell would reel him back in on the flatter section, but Kennaugh attacked another five times from here to the finish, but McEvoy and Rowsell were in the driving seat and they only needed to keep Kennaugh in sight, all they had to do was fight it out between themselves for the winning bonus on the line."

 

"We have never had a finish where the first three riders have come to the line together and it is also a mirror of last weeks National Junior Road Race Championship which involved the same three riders, which just goes to show that the cream has definitely come to the top for the Junior Tour of Wales 2007."

 

 

 

 

 

 

RESULTS

 

FINAL OVERALL
1. Johnny McEvoy KUK  7:35:16
2. Erick Rowsell SEE 7:35:18
3. Peter Kennaugh IMA 7:35:55
4. Luke Rowe WAL 7:36:42
5. Rhys Lloyd LVM  7:37:56
6. Matt Jones IGD  7:39:36
7. Andrew Griffiths GLN7:39:38
8. Jack Pullar KUK 7:42:00
9. Ben Plain GLN  7:42:20
10. Andrew Whitehall ART  7:43:05
11. Ashley Finn LUN  7:43:52
12. Andrew Williams WAL  7:43:57
13. Mark McNally LVM  7:44:06
14. Ben Stockdale MJS  7:44:33
15. Sam Redding BSW  7:45:17
16. Sam Webster GLN  7:46:03
17. Daniel Kogan GLN 7:47:10
18. Hamish Batchelor YOR  7:47:32
19. Sean Downey ULS  7:47:34
20. Joel Perrett GLN  7:48:01
21. Mark Christian GLN  7:48:06
22. Scott Flynn IMA  7:48:21
23. Joel Davison BRO  7:49:09
24. Nathan Edmondson LMC  7:49:27
25. Kieran Friend TQC  7:49:44
26. Tom Skubala JEJ  7:51:34
27. Sam Freeman EMI  7:52:04
28. Rico Wientjes TTN  7:52:10
29. Guy Wilkins BIM  7:52:13
30. Sam Patrick BSW  7:52:21
31. Edward Griffin IGD  7:52:42
32. Jonathan Eijssens TTN 7:52:58
33. Alex King BSW  7:53:04
34. Lewis Earthrowl-Gould IGD  7:54:06
35. Anthony Lynch IRL  7:54:10
36. Gareth James WAL  7:54:31
37. Sebastian Batchelor YOR  7:55:02
38. Tom Copeland IGD  7:55:26
39. Ben Carty CEN 7:56:15
40. David Nicholls EAS 7:57:15
41. Richard Handley SCV 7:57:46
42. Josh Miers CLW  7:57:50
43. Billy-Joe Whenman SEE 7:57:51
44. Dexter Gardias TQC  7:57:54
45. Dave De Best TTN  7:58:40
46. Luke Dunbar BRD  7:59:08
47. Colm O'Shea IMA  7:59:12
48. Thomas Martin ULS  7:59:18
49. Peter Wilson ULS  7:59:26
50. Shane Leadley WBE 7:59:37
51. Dane Percival CAJ  7:59:38
52. Tom Burman EAS 7:59:52
53. Peter Dibben BSW  7:59:53
54. Will Jansen BIM  8:02:11
55. Arron Buggles IRL  8:02:56
56. Scott Taylor EAS  8:04:03
57. William Penn MID  8:04:32
58. Chris Whorrall IOB 8:05:20
59. Matt Zietz IGD  8:06:56
60. Jake Eddy BRD  8:07:29
61. Dean Martin SCO  8:07:35
62. Michael Butler SEE  8:08:19
63. Jonathan Mould CAJ 8:08:24
64. Liam Demery BUS  8:08:37
65. Luke Merrilees CEN  8:09:04
66. Thomas Mendham WHW  8:10:05
67 21 Matt Fostun EMI 8:11:31
68 12 Tim Butt EAS  8:12:12
69 56 James Wagstaff OBR  8:12:35
70 54 Stuart Chamberlayne SEE  8:13:03
71 105 Michael Duffy IRL  8:14:31
72 100 Maik Wensink TTN  8:15:26
73 88 Alex Kinfig IOB 8:15:58
74 2 Mike Webb WAL  8:16:13
75 95 Andrew Miles BRD8:19:38
76 78 Robert Bordi CEN 8:20:15
77 5 Aaron Murray SCO 8:22:41
78 85 Tom Black IOB 8:23:32
79 37 Callum Lister TQC 8:25:30
80 23 Jack Salt EMI 8:31:05
81 33 Callum Sewell LMC 8:31:38
82 68 Frederick Maier GSS 8:35:50
83 6 Magnus Davidson SCO8:38:48
84 97 Matt Shipley CCC 8:44:26
85 17 Tom Snape IGD  8:45:44
86 75 Michael Wilmot CEN  8:47:55
87 48 Robert Peart NPV 8:53:32
88 77 Sam Lawson CEN  9:01:27
89 46 Stuart Henry ULS 11:02:42

POINTS
1. Luke Rowe WAL  31
2. Ben Plain GLN  18
3. Sam Webster GLN  16
4. Erick Rowsell SEE 14
5. Peter Kennaugh IMA14
6. Rhys Lloyd LVM  10
7. Johnny McEvoy KUK  10
8. James Wagstaff OBR  6
9. Andrew Griffiths GLN 6
10. Tom Copeland IGD

 

KOM
1. Peter Kennaugh IMA 22
2. Johnny McEvoy KUK 21
3. Erick Rowsell SEE 18
4. Andrew Griffiths GLN 9
5. Rhys Lloyd LVM 8
6. Luke Rowe WAL 5
7. Ben Carty CEN 4
8. Joel Perrett GLN 4
9.  Maik Wensink TTN3
10. Matt Jones IGD 3

 

STAGE RESULTS

 

STAGE 5
1. Peter Kennaugh IMA 2:24:33
2. Erick Rowsell SEE  2:24:35
3. Johnny McEvoy KUK  2:24:35
4. Luke Rowe WAL  2:25:01
5. Matt Jones IGD  2:25:27
6. Ben Plain GLN 2:25:34
7. Andrew Griffiths GLN 2:25:35
8. Rhys Lloyd LVM 2:26:08
9. Andrew Williams WAL  2:27:53
10. Jack Pullar KUK 2:27:53
11. Sam Redding BSW 2:27:58
12. Sam Webster GLN 2:28:06
13. Hamish Batchelor YOR2:28:09
14. Sebastian Batchelor YOR 2:28:22
15. Daniel Kogan GLN2:28:33
16. Joel Davison BRO2:28:44
17. Lewis Earthrowl-Gould IGD2:28:45
18. Andrew Whitehall ART2:28:49
19. Scott Flynn IMA2:28:56
20. Luke Dunbar BRD 2:28:57

 

STAGE 4
1. Johnny McEvoy KUK 1:49:37
2. Erick Rowsell SEE  1:49:43
3. Rhys Lloyd LVM  1:49:50
4. Peter Kennaugh IMA 1:51:07
5. Luke Rowe WAL 1:51:07
6. Ashley Finn LUN  1:51:07
7. Jack Pullar KUK  1:51:09
8. Scott Flynn IMA  1:51:47
9. Mark McNally LVM  1:51:48
10. Andrew Griffiths GLN  1:51:48
11. Ben Stockdale MJS  1:51:48
12. Matt Jones IGD  1:51:48
13. Andrew Whitehall ART  1:51:56
14. Andrew Williams WAL  1:53:44
15. Joel Perrett GLN  1:54:25
16. Sam Webster GLN  1:54:29
17. Gareth James WAL 1:54:46
18. Edward Griffin IGD 1:55:13
19. Ben Plain GLN  1:55:15
20. Kieran Friend TQC  1:55:16

 

STAGE 3
1. Luke Rowe WAL  1:02:16
2. Ben Plain GLN  1:02:38
3. Peter Kennaugh IMA1:03:34
4. Sam Webster GLN 1:03:34
5. Mark Christian GLN1:03:34
6. Rico Wientjes TTN 1:03:34
7. Jack Pullar KUK 1:03:34
8. Tom Skubala JEJ 1:03:34
9. Anthony Lynch IRL 1:03:34
10. Hamish Batchelor YOR 1:03:34
11. Joel Davison BRO 1:03:34
12. Alex King BSW1:03:34
13. Andrew Whitehall ART 1:03:34
14. Jonathan Eijssens TTN 1:03:34
15. Andrew Griffiths GLN 1:03:34
16. Mark McNally LVM 1:03:34
17. Andrew Williams WAL1:03:34
18. Matt Jones IGD 1:03:34
19. Kieran Friend TQC 1:03:34
20. Johnny McEvoy KUK 1:03:34

STAGE 2
1. Peter Kennaugh IMA 2:04:41
2. Johnny McEvoy KUK 2:04:58
3. Erick Rowsell SEE 2:04:59
4. Andrew Whitehall ART 2:04:59
5. Sam Redding BSW 2:05:09
6. Joel Perrett GLN2:05:31
7. Luke Rowe WAL 2:05:32
8. Rhys Lloyd LVM2:05:32
9. Jack Pullar KUK 2:05:38
10. Andrew Williams WAL 2:05:40
11. Matt Jones IGD 2:05:45
12. Ben Plain GLN 2:05:46
13. Sean Downey ULS 2:05:46
14. Mark McNally LVM 2:05:48
15. Ashley Finn LUN 2:05:51
16. Alex King BSW 2:05:55
17. Andrew Griffiths GLN2:06:05
18. Oliver Graham MID 2:06:10
19. Anthony Lynch IRL 2:06:13
20. Tom Skubala JEJ 2:06:24

 

STAGE 1
1. Peter Kennaugh Isle Of Man 'A' 12:35 6
2. Andrew Griffiths Glendene CC/Biketrax 12:36 5
3. Erick Rowsell South East England 12:52 4
4. Rhys Lloyd Liverpool Mercury (Dolan) 12:57 3
5. Luke Rowe Wales 13:01 2
6. Mark Christian Glendene CC/Biketrax 13:01 1
7. Matt Jones In Gear Development 13:02 0
8. Sam Webster Glendene CC/Biketrax 13:02 0
9. Johnny McEvoy Kinesis UK 13:02 0
10. Mark McNally Liverpool Mercury (Dolan) 13:03 0
11. Joel Perrett Glendene CC/Biketrax 13:05 0
12. Andrew Williams Wales 13:06 0
13. Daniel Kogan Glendene CC/Biketrax 13:15 0
14. Tom Copeland In Gear Development 13:17 0
15. Ben Plain Glendene CC/Biketrax 13:17 0
16. Sean Downey Ulster 13:18 0
17. Sam Redding B.C. South West 13:20 0
18. Ben Stockdale MJS Racing 13:23 0
19. Hamish Batchelor York Cycleworks 13:24 0
20. Will Jansen Bikin Motion 13:25