Joe Holt (County Cycles RT) won the final stage, but it was Charlie Quarterman (Zappi’s Racing Team) who secured victory in the overall standings, winning by 1-13 at the end of the three-day Sleepwell Hotels Isle of Man Junior Tour, part of the British Cycling Junior Road Series.
After Saturday’s brutal conditions, the final day of the Isle of Man Junior Tour didn’t look much better with thick fog, driving rain and howling winds. The forecast was for an improvement, though, and racing was delayed by half an hour to allow the weather to roll away.
It hadn’t entirely gone by the time racing started, but things did improve over the course of the race and there were even some patches of blue sky in the closing stages. The fast Ramsey course made it difficult for breaks to stay away and the race ebbed and flowed – for the most part coming back together in short order.
Prologue winner Joe Holt of County Cycles Racing Team had an early attempt before Nathan Draper of RST Racing Team powered off the front – followed by compatriot Matthew Bostock of Team Isle of Man.
The break didn’t last – and, after battling a chest infection all weekend, neither did Bostock who retired shortly afterwards. Matthew Clements of Catford CC Equipe/Banks and Jack Mattock of Giant Cycling Club-Halo Films also got a couple of seconds on the bunch before falling back into its clutches.
But with two laps to go a sizeable and decisive break opened up with of Holt, Charlie Meredith of Giant Cycling Club-Halo Films, Joey Walker of RST Racing Team, Andy Brown and Angus Claxton of Glasgow Cycle Team, Ethan Hayter of VC Londres, Marcus Burnett of Corley Cycles-Drops RT and Fabian Brennan of North City Velo Cycling Team.
As they hit the finishing section on Ramsey promenade, Morgan, Meredith, Walker, Hayter and Holt pulled away to contest the final sprint and it was Holt that took the win from Hayter and Burnett.
It wasn’t enough to alter the overall lead, with Charlie Quarterman of Zappi’s Racing Team finishing in the bunch to take the overall by a minute and 13 seconds from Walker with Gabriel Evans of Catford CC in third.
Afterwards, Holt talked to British Cycling about his second stage win: “The weather wasn’t much better, but it brightened up towards the end – it was alright. At the start, I was the first person to attack and kept attacking for the first lap or so, but the Zappi’s were bringing it all back, so I knew nothing was going to stick.
“They did really well in bringing all the breaks back so I just gambled and waited until they blew a bit – you can’t ride all day - and then in the last two laps I gave it a go. I got in a group with about seven of us at the start, but it came down to about five. We got to about 30 seconds and then held them off to the finish.
“I went early – with about 300 metres to go – because there was a tailwind. I kicked and then kicked again to make sure and I held on to the line – it was good.
“I always knew I was going to lose the jersey yesterday because I was going to get worked over, but I did the last three laps on the front [of the peloton] with Matt Bostock – the majority of the turns were done by me and him – and just tried to limit our losses really.”
Quarterman was delighted with the overall victory: “It hasn't quite sunk in yet but I just feel really lucky! Today it was really hard as all of the GC contenders were attacking one after another and although my team closed it all down for the first part of the race, after a while I was alone and working really hard. What a relief to finish!
“I punctured just as the winning break went and it contained Joey from RST who was dangerous, so it was terrible. Luckily I was given a wheel and helped back on by my remaining team-mates before eventually securing the GC.
“For a moment I could see the jersey slipping away but I'm really lucky to have the team I do! Pat, Josh and Buauna all played their roles incredibly today.”
In the two other competitions, Robert Scott of VCUK PH-Mas took the Points jersey by a single point from Matthew Clements of Catford CC and Walker.
And the consistency of the Velocity Globalbikes trio Peter Kibble, Reece Wood and Lewis Bulley handed them the team prize – five minutes ahead of Catford CC and Giant Cycling Club.
Stage 2 result
1 Joe Holt County Cycles Racing Team 2:17:45
2 Ethan Hayter VC Londres same time
3 Marcus Burnett Corley Cycles - Drops RT
4 Joey Walker RST Racing Team all at 3sec
5 Charlie Meredith Giant Cycling Club - Halo Films at 4sec
6 Etienne Georgi Giant Cycling Club - Halo Films at 14sec
7 Nathan Draper RST Racing Team at 16sec
8 Fabian Brennan North City Velo Cycling Team st
9 Owen Dudley Team Isle of Man at 21sec
10 Luke Morgan Corley Cycles - Drops RT st
Overall – Final result
1 Charlie Quarterman Zappi's Racing Team 5:18:21
2 Joey Walker RST Racing Team at 1:13
3 Gabriel Evans Catford CC Equipe/Banks at 1:18
4 Peter Kibble Velocity Globalbike at 1:20
5 Louis Modell Catford CC Equipe/Banks at 1:31
6 Reece Wood Velocity Globalbike at 1:39
7 Robert Hogg Corley Cycles - Drops RT at 1:46
8 Etienne Georgi Giant Cycling Club - Halo Films at 2:56
9 Robert Scott VCUK PH-MAS Junior Cycling Team at 4:31
10 Joe Holt County Cycles Racing Team at 4:36
Points
1 Robert Scott VCUK PH-MAS Junior Cycling Team 6 points
2 Matthew Clements Catford CC Equipe/Banks 5
= Joey Walker RST Racing Team 5
3 Fabian Brennan North City Velo Cycling Team 3
= Nathan Draper RST Racing Team 3
= Buauna Ball Zappi's Racing Team 3
4 Marcus Burnett Corley Cycles - Drops RT 2
= Etienne Georgi Giant Cycling Club - Halo Films 2
5 Joe Holt County Cycles Racing Team 1
Teams
1 Velocity Globalbike (Peter Kibble, Reece Wood, Lewis Bulley) 16:03:29
2 Catford CC Equipe/Banks (Gabriel Evans, Louis Modell, Matthew Clements) 16:08:26
3 Giant Cycling Club - Halo Films (Etienne Georgi, Elliot Redfern, Jack Mattock) 16:08:48
4 RST Racing Team (Joey Walker, Nathan Draper, Joseph Fry) 16:12:54
5 VCUK PH-MAS Junior Cycling Team (Robert Scott, Adam Hartley, Max Spedding) 16:14:00
6 Zappi's Racing Team (Charlie Quarterman, Buauna Ball, Patrick Christopher) 16:48:57
