Location: Ludgershall, Wiltshire
Event: 18 February 2012
Report: Snowdon Sports
Berkshire’s Tom Smith took victory in the latest round of the Ludgershall Series in Wiltshire on Saturday after he and a breakaway rival lapped the bunch following an early break.
Smith, the 35-year-old Felt Colbornes rider from Winkfield Row near Berkshire, was quick to react when Pedal Heaven rival Rob McCarthy attacked after about 15 minutes of racing.
Both riders had strong back-up from their teams who tried to stop any attempts to pull them back, and they quickly built up a good lead and powered on into the distance.
They caught the bunch with about five laps remaining, and lapped everyone apart from two lone attackers as they headed for the finish McCarthy tried to gap his rival, unsuccessfully.
In the sprint for the line, Smith proved the stronger rider and took the win with relative ease, crossing the line several bike lengths clear of McCarthy.
Third spot went to Cycle Kingdom’s Anders Christensen who crossed the line 1:12 ahead of fellow escapee James Cartridge (Cadence Cannondale) who were the only riders not to be lapped by the leading duo.
What they said
“We dug in and pushed hard, and we built a good lead,” said Tom Smith afterwards. “We caught the bunch with five laps to go and carried on pushing.
“I’m more of a sprinter, whereas Rob is more of a time triallist, and I led out the sprint and won comfortably in the end by quite a few bike lengths. I knew before the finish that in a sprint I would have a good chance, but so did Rob so he had two or three digs towards the end to try and drop me, but I just kept on his wheel.
“It’s great to get my first win of the season. I’ve been doing the Hillingdon events [Imperial Winter Series] since the beginning of January, and I’ve had some second and third place finishes, so I knew I had reasonable race legs.
“But I’ve just had a baby girl about two or three weeks ago, so I’ve not been getting much sleep. Thankfully that didn’t affect me much today!
“I’ll be finishing the Ludgershall Series, and then for the season we’re going to take on a lot of the local road races and crits, and do some of the national events too. I’m looking forward to the year ahead, and hopefully the team can get a bit of form and get some success.”
And in the supporting third and fourth cat races, swelling fields meant they were split into two groups and the third cat riders were set off 30 seconds behind the fourth cats.
It took them eight of 17 laps to catch the fourth cats, and in the bunch gallop for the line it was Army CU rider Carsten Duke who took the win in the third cat race, while Chippenham Wheelers’ Simon Barnes held off junior Andy Shackel (VC St Raphael) for second.
And Nigel Pratt (Andover Wheelers) was top fourth cat, ahead of Bath university CC’s Mark Bleakley.
Results:
E/1/2/3:
1st Tom Smith Felt Colbornes RT
2nd Robert McCarthy Pedal Heaven RT
3rd Anders Christenson Cycle Kingdom
4th James Cartridge Cadence Cannondale
5th Tim Elverson Pedal Heaven RT
6th Daniel Dolan Army Cycling Union
7th Nick Allen Pedal Heaven RT
8th Mark Ottaway WyndyMilla UK Youth
9th David Barnaville Felt Colbornes RT
10th Brian Macpherson VC Meudon
11th Paul Carson Performance Cycles RT
12th Deacon Cutterham Army Cycling Union
13th David Young Fareham Wheelers Cycling Club
14th Stuart Thompson Andover Wheelers
15th Alex Harding Poole Wheelers
16th David Creggan Pedal Heaven RT
17th John Hyde VC St Raphael / Waite Contracts /Hewitt Cycles
18th James Wilson Supernovacycles.co.uk
19th Jordan Wade Poole Wheelers
20th Daniel Stephens Sotonia CC
21st Matthew Conner Banjo Cycles
22nd Paul Jones Army Cycling Union
23rd John Wager Felt Colbornes RT
Third Cat:
1st Carsten Duke Army Cycling Union
2nd Simon Barnes Chippenham Wheelers
3rd Andy Shackel VC St Raphael / Waite Contracts /Hewitt Cycles
4th Gareth Dickinson Farnborough and Camberley RC
5th Garaint Manley Cardiff JIF
6th Mark Field Addiscombe CC
7th Michael Greaves Gannett CC
8th Matthew Hinshelwood Vicious Velo
9th Joseph Donohue Fareham Wheelers Cycling Club
10th Chris Hutchings BC PM - South
11th Leigh-Roy MacFarlane Cycleworks.co.uk
12th Jordan Wade Poole Wheelers
13th Aaron Tayler Swindon RC
14th Jan Labrooy Behind The Bikeshed
15th Paul Jones Army Cycling Union
16th James Cotty Cannondale Racing Team
17th Matt Woods Hargroves Cycles / Trant / Next / specialized
18th Chris Mattocks Army CU
19th Will Nicklin Kingston Wheelers
20th Gareth Adams Cadence RT
21st Malcolm Dixon Severn RC
22nd James Atherton VC St Raphael / Waite Contracts /Hewitt Cycles
23rd Andy McKay Zappi Cycling Club
24th Phil Taynton BC PM
25th Adam Morris Army Cycling Union
26th Pete Phillips Bath CC
27th Tim Jay Somer Valley CC
28th James Bailey Southdowns Bikes CC
29th Simon Parton Kingston Wheelers
30th Steve Cottington Cadence RT
31st Frazier Carr AW Cycles
32nd Wayne Thomas Reading CC
33rd Rob Carter BC pm - South
34th Deacon Cutterham Army Cycling Union
Fourth Cat:
1st Nigel Pratt Andover Wheelers
2nd Mark Bleakley Bath University
3rd Thomas Kay Southampton University RC
4th Terence Smith Andover Wheelers
5th Alan Spurden Andover Wheelers
6th Gary Hill BC PM
7th Ben Chuilon BC PM
8th Kieran Holdstock Worcester St Johns
9th David Billings supernovacycles.co.uk
10th Robert Clowes BCPM
11th Thomas Hayward Andover Wheelers
12th Lewis Gray Evesham & District Wheelers CC
13th Nathan Risbey BC PM
14th Simon Meadwell BC PM
15th Felix Young Bath University
16th Alain Ritchie Kyklos/Edco Race Team
17th James Wilding Supernovacycles.co.uk
18th Andrew Kennard BCPM
19th Gerald McDermott Gannett CC
20th Trevor Boyd Oxonian CC
21st Ben Gritton offcamber
22nd Matthew Franklin Bristol RC
23rd Will Hunt Army Cycling Union
24th Darren Gardner Cadence RT
25th Martin Merryweather Swallowfield Velo Club
26th Benjamin Hall Bristol RC
27th Tony Solon Cadence RT
28th Simon King VC Revolution
29th Nicholas Cooper Andover Wheelers
30th David Hobbs Corinium CC
31st Richard Calladine Army Cycling Union
Women:
1st Tamina Oliver Abergavenny Road Club
2nd Hannah Drewett Unattached
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.
