Road: Tom Smith wins Ludgershall Series R6

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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.