Location: Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth
Event: 11 March 2012
Report: Graham Robins ()
Riding for his new team Primera Sports, Toby Neave caught the bunch napping and escaped with four laps to go to take victory at the Omega Circuit Races in Portsmouth.
Neave, 29 and from Bournemouth, was riding his first race of the season, but looked sharp as he clipped off the front in search of glory and went on to win by a clear margin.
The E/1/2 race was 60 minutes and five laps on a warm and dry day at the outdoor track in Portsmouth, and once the race settled down there were several attacks by different riders and different teams but none of these attacks managed to stick.
Lap after lap the attacks went off the front but within a couple of laps it was all brought back. With the 60 minutes up, Toby came to the front and slipped away as the four-lap marker was shown. The bunch seemed to wait for something to happen, but all that happened was Toby got further away.
The third cat race was won by Matt Hargroves (Hargroves Cycles) who out-sprinted Steve Moss (Bournemouth Arrow).
The race saw many different riders having a go from the front but to no avail. With the race reaching its climax Matt Woods (Hargroves Cycles) attacked and soon opened up a good lead, but the young rider had gone a little too early and the bunch pulled him back with a couple of laps to go.
With the bunch now all together it came down to a sprint finish which the Hargroves rider from Southampton the stronger on the line.
The race for the fourth cats was a procession for all of the 30 minutes, which was only marred by two crashes in the closing stages.
Neither of the crashes had any influence on the result and the race was won by George Stainton Ellis (i-team CC).
In the women’s race Ellie Gilham (VC St Raphael) continued here early season form winning from Nikki Wheeler (Team Wiggle) with Fran Blake (Southdown Velo) taking third.
Results:
E/1/2:
1 Toby Neave Primera Sport
2 Lewis Atkins Twenty3C
3 Justin Hoy Felt Colbornes
3rd cats:
1 Matt Hargroves Hargroves Cycles
2 Steve Moss Bournemouth Arrow
3 Andrew Gough VC St Raphael
Women:
1 Ellie Gilham VC St Raphael
2 Nikki Wheeler Team Wiggle
3 Fran Blake Southdown Velo
4th cat:
1 George Stainton Ellis i-team CC
Under 14/16:
1 Joe Truman i-team
2 Harrison Fielding Poole Wheelers
3 Jake Coward Chippenham and Dist Wheelers
Under 12s:
1 Harry Tadman Hillingdon Slipstreamers
2 Ben Tullet Hargroves Cycles
3 Bethany Lewis PPV
Under 10s:
1 Evan Taylor BCDS
Under 8s:
1 Harvey Tadman Hillingdon Slipstreamers
2 Marshall Thompson Andover Wheelers
3 William Green Bayeux CT
British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.
