Peterborough's Pearl Izumi Tour Series round saw success for Britain's Olympic and Paralympic athletes with wins for Ed Clancy and Dame Sarah Storey, but the real story was victory for One Pro Cycling setting up a thrilling final round in Bath later this week.
The team win in Peterborough sends One Pro Cycling and Madison Genesis to Bath level on points for the closest ever Pearl Izumi Tour Series finale, with the team of England cricketer Matt Prior ahead on countback thanks to their seven team victories to Madison Genesis' four.
The women's Matrix Fitness GP Series will also be decided on Thursday in Bath, with Nikki Juniper's third place giving her a 23-point lead over Charline Joiner and Jessie Walker, but with the final round scoring double the majority of the top ten still have a mathematical chance of victory.
Juniper claimed second in the bunch sprint behind Eileen Roe, but Dame Sarah Storey had by that point already claimed victory alone after an attacking ride from her and her Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International team.
Teammate Joanna Rowsell claimed the combativity award for an equally aggressive ride, while the team stretch their lead over Team Giordana Triton to 16-points. Juniper did though tie up the Series' Sprints competition with an unassailable lead over Walker with one race remaining.
As what will be a disappointing series for defending champions JLT Condor presented by Mavic draws to a close, there was some cheer for the men in black, with Ed Clancy claiming his eighth Pearl Izumi Tour Series race win to extend his rank as the most successful rider in the series. The victory was also the team's 25th since the series began.
Clancy won outsprinting Canary Wharf winner Steele Von Hoff from a small group of seven riders who broke away from the fast moving peloton with ten minutes remaining. Pedal Heaven's David McGowan did his best to emulate last year's Peterborough winner Matt Gibson by taking a final lap flyer but was caught with 50-metres to go to the line, setting up Clancy's powerful sprint.
Two seconds was the winning margin for the five riders of One Pro Cycling over Madison Genesis, giving them the ten points for victory in Peterborough and making things all square with one event to go and setting up the closest ever Pearl Izumi Tour Series finale.
Highlights from Peterborough will be shown on ITV4 at 8:00pm on Wednesday 10 June, with a repeat at 9:10am on Thursday 11 June.
The Pearl Izumi Tour Series concludes in Bath on Thursday 11 June as both the men and women's series host their 2015 finales on a circuit based in Royal Victoria Park, including a stretch in front of the world famous Royal Crescent.
Support activities, beginning with primary school races begin from 10:30am, including amateur women's and men's races before the final round of the Matrix Fitness GP Series at 5:30pm and the final Pearl Izumi Tour Series race at 7:30pm.
Results
Pearl Izumi Tour Series
Matrix Fitness Women's Grand Prix Series
