Location: Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth
Event: 17 February 2013
Andy Hargroves, the 20-year-old Southampton rider with the new Felt Colbornes Hargroves Cycles team, was one of 11 riders who managed to get a lap on the rest of the field within a few minutes of the start of the race.
He then went on to put a further two more laps onto the bunch and he then went on to win the sprint to take the win in style.
The Mountbatten track was partly bathed in sunshine but in the shade it was very cold and the North Easterly wind did not help the riders.
The hour plus five-lap race soon saw loads of action as riders attacked from the first turn. It took just two laps for a group to appear on the front as one by one riders eased of the front of the bunch and soon there were 11 riders clear.
These 11 working hard and soon reeled in the back of the bunch, putting them up a lap. Not content some of these carried on through but other riders got onto their wheels and the lap scorers soon had their work cut out.
Not only were there 11 escapees who were one lap ahead, another group of five had gone off the front to try and reel them back in.
Not content with making life hard another group began to form and now we had some riders on plus three laps, some on plus two laps, some on plus one lap and then the rest of the bunch.
The hard working lap scorers soon had the race sorted and put a video on the leading group and waited for the race to settle down again.
During the remainder of the race one by one riders attacked and at one point most of the track had riders on it.
With the five laps remaining two riders, Andy and Mitch Webber (Primera Sport) - riding for his new team for the 2013 season - were off the front.
At the bell there was a lot of action on the front as the race came together and a large sprint opened out with riders on different laps it was going to be difficult sorting out the results. Andy took the win from Mitch, and Will Stephenson (Condor JLT) was third.
Earlier in the morning the third cat race was won by Cameron Campbell (Army CU) winning it on a lone breakaway with a little over five minutes to go.
The major break came when six riders joined together and soon gained a lap as they caught the bunch. The riders were Joe Donahue (Fareham Wheelers), Cameron Campbell (Army CU), Joe Fox (MG Maxifuel Pro Cycling), James Taylor (MJS Racing), Alex Clayton (Fluid Fin RT) and Rob Ward (ASFRA Racing Team).
Both James Cotty (Cannondale Racing) and Adam Herridge (VC St Raphael) had a go at putting the race back together but without help they succumbed to the bunch. So Cameron eased of the front and left the rest to fight it out in the sprint.
The earlier fourth cat race did see lots of action and some good racing but it all came down a bunch sprint.
Provisional Results:
E/1/2:
1st Andrew Hargroves Felt-Colbornes Hargroves Cycles 1hr +5laps
2nd Mitch Webber Primera Sport @ stame time
3rd Will Stephenson Condor JLT
3rd Cat:
1st Cameron Campbell Army CU 50mins+3laps
2nd James Taylor MJS Racing
3rd Joe Fox MG Maxifuel Pro Cycling
Women:
1st Ruby Baker Behind the Bikeshed
2nd Lili McLean Andover Wheelers
3rd Nikki Wheeler Team Wiggle
4th Cat:
1st Tom Morris Portsmouth NE CC
2nd Nigel Dinnington Norwood Paragon
3rd David Peel Salisbury Road &Mountain Bike
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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.
