2008 Isle of Man Youth Tour
2-4 May 2008, Douglas, Isle of Man
Images - Andy Whitehouse; Report - Richard Allen
Results & Image Galleries
Day 1 - Results and pics from the Prologue time trial: Result & Images
Day 2 - Results and pics from Stage 2 of the Tour: Results & Images
Day 3 - Results and final overall standings plus pics: Results & Images
Andy Fenn takes the second stage and lays down the foundations of his overall win
Andy Fenn won the junior category race at the Sleepwell Hotels Isle of Man Youth Tour taking control on the hilly stage two road race.
The 17-year-old Dolan RT rider took control in the 100km road race around Peel where he won on the top of the Switchback climbing finishing 35 seconds clear of Erick Rowsell (Team Corridori) who had won the previous evening's prologue time-trial in Douglas.
In the Peel stage Fenn, who won the junior Paris-Roubaix classic last month, attacked alone after a breakaway was caught and then soloed to the finish. 'A break of eight riders went clear and no one wanted to do the work as we were all looking to Erick to defend the jersey,' said Fenn.'But because of people attacking from the bunch the gap did come down and as soon as the break was caught I attacked.'
After time bonuses were applied the Kent-based teenager went into the final stage with a 30 second lead over Rowsell and 39 seconds in front of third placed Luke Rowe (Rapha Condor). 'After the prologue Erick [Rowsell] was in yellow so it was down to the rest of us to do what we could,' said Fenn after defending his jersey in the final stage criterium in Ramsey. 'Most of us were riding for ourselves this year as there were no strong teams apart from Team Isle of Man. That was the only real team apart from GWR. That made it hard for me to defend the jersey on the final stage.'
Fenn was a deserved winner after doing the bulk of the work to chase down attacks on a windblown final stage circuit on Ramsey sea front. Luke Rowe (Rapha Condor) tried repeated attacks and was away in most of the significant breaks as riders battled into a fierce headwind. Each time breaks went clear it was Fenn who hit the front to make sure none of his GC rivals got enough time to snatch the race lead. 'If it had been a still day it would have been a quick race and would have been quite hard for people to get away,' added Fenn.
'But the headwind really was sorting out the race.'
Wind and rain made the final stage especially testing
Darren Tudor, GB Olympic Development Programme endurance coach, was impressed with the performances of his riders which included Fenn, Rowe and Rowsell. He was also pleased to see Team Isle of Man-Microgaming's Tim Kennaugh, the younger brother of Olympic Academy rider Peter, riding strongly in his first Youth Tour as a junior. 'Like all of the national series races this year the lads have raced pretty hard here,' said Tudor speaking after the final stage. 'There are a few youngers lads who have done well. Tim Kennaugh's riding really well, he rode well when he won the Sid Standard a couple of weeks ago and showed he has guts and determination. From what I've seen Tim's definitely turned himself around in the last couple of months. Andy and Luke always race hard, but it was unfortunate that Mark Christian wasn't feeling too good in his home race but that's bike racing.'
Christian, who got second on the final stage, is to have blood tests to identify the cause of a stomach bug which has been affecting him in recent weeks. In the other categories there were wins for Charlie Tanfield (Cleveland Wheelers) who finished ahead of Billy Harding (East Bradford CC) and Daniel Fox (Solihull CC) in the Youth C race. Welsh team rider Sam Harrison Wales won the Boys A race with Simon Yates (BC North West Region A) in second and Ben Dunn (BC East Midlands Region) in third. Jon Dibben (BC South East Region) won the Boys B race from Jacob Ragan (Eastlands Velo) and Harry Tanfield (Cleveland Wheelers). Hannah Barnes (Ease Midlands Region) won the Girls A race and Lucy Garner (Leicestershire RC) the Girls B race.
Results & Image Galleries
Day 1 - Results and pics from the Prologue time trial: Result & Images
Day 2 - Results and pics from Stage 2 of the Tour: Results & Images
Day 3 - Results and final overall standings plus pics: Results & Images