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Brian Curtis upheld London honour in coming very close to capturing the South of England title at The Howard School in Rainham on Sunday. Curtis (Team Corridori) was locked in a fantastic battle with Team Y2K rider Jody Crawforth for most of the race. The two had joined forces on the second lap after the early sorting out. Stuart Bowers (Hargroves Cycles), Sean Williams (Vectis) and Steve Bayliss (Addiscombe CC) were other early pace setters, but Bowers punctured on the first lap and lost time and spent the race chasing the leaders. Williams was chasing in third, but a crash which damaged his bike put paid to his chances and he retired. With Bowers at most 30 seconds behind, the leaders, Curtis and Crawforth attacked each other relentlessly. However the critical incident occurred with less than 3 laps remaining.
The course was very slippery due to recent heavy rain and the cambered section below the playground was like a skating rink. As Crawforth led across this section, Curtis slithered down to the left and collided with a course marking pole. Crawforth took his chance and opened a 10 second gap. Curtis managed to stay upright and stormed after Crawforth. However Crawforth had the bit between his teeth and at the end of the lap the gap had grown to 15 seconds with Bowers a further 15 seconds down. Crawforth maintained this gap until the bell, but he still had to negotiate the cambered section. Safely across, he looked unlikely to be caught. Curtis was next and took the section more tentatively. Seconds behind, Bowers charged across still in pursuit. The trio headed for the depths of the course and in the gathering gloom it was difficult to make the leaders out. The first rider to emerge from the 'bowl' was Crawforth had he had pulled out enough of a lead to play to the crowd across the playground section. Curtis held off fast finishing Bowers for second. A now very tired looking Bayliss had slipped back to fifth behind Alex Forrester (RATS).
Mark Russell (VC Meudon) was the clear winner of the Juniors/Veterans and Women race and won the Junior Championship. Mick Bell (London Fire Brigade) was chasing in second when he punctured and lost a couple of places, but he recovered to take second and become Veteran Champion. Chloe Henderson won the Women's Championship in a London dominated one, two, three.
The Youth riders also provided fantastic entertainment with their race. Despite Ben Crawforth failing to start, we still had the current top three in the National Trophy series plus the Under 14 leader. National Champion Sammy Cotton (Ancillotti UK) stormed away at the start and opened up a 20 second lead. A chasing group formed, led by Ian Field (San Fairy Ann CC) with Alex Atkins (VC Meudon) and Thomas Budd (GA Cycles). On the third lap, Atkins punctured and Field pulled away, still only about 20 seconds behind Cotton. Across the cambered section, Cotton fell and lost a few seconds but was soon up again. However Field was unable to take advantage as he slipped in exactly the same place and lost roughly the same time. This allowed Cotton breathing space to take the win ahead of Field. Atkins fought every inch of the last lap but was unable to re-catch Budd and just missed out on the bronze medal.
In the Under 14's David Wood and Amy Thompson were locked together for most of the race, but with two laps to go, Wood fell foul of the slippery camber and Thompson attacked. Wood pulled her back and outsprinted her at the finish.
In the Under 12's, Alex Paton tried a new tactic against Oliver Fritter and opened up a big lead on the first lap. However he slid off on the bend into the finishing straight allowing Fritter into a lead he held comfortably until the end. Ben Goldstraw (Army CU) repeated his success in the Eastway Festival Under 10's. Once again he opened up a big early lead, but this time he was able to hold it more comfortably.
Seniors 1 Jody Crawforth (Team Y2K/Trek) 2 Brian Curtis (Corridori/Specialized) 3 Stuart Bowers (Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next) 4 Alex Forrester (RATS) 5 Stephen Bayliss (Addiscombe CC) 6 Peter Rice (Army CU) 7 Matthew Starey 8 Stuart Fritter (Wigmore CC) 9 Andrew Seltzer (East Grinstead CC) 10 Gareth Roberts (Army CU) 11 Jay Pinsent (London Phoenix) 12 Neil Simpson (London Phoenix) 13 Mark Goldstraw (Army CU) 14 Steve Palmer (Army CU) 15 Ryan Hill (Private Member) 16 Craig Stevens (Ciclos Uno/PCA) 17 not eligible 18 Richard Kennison (Team 2000) 19 Pat Hayes (Catford CC) 20 Liam Goodall (Gemini BC) 21 Christopher Pryor (Gemini BC) Veterans/Women/Juniors 1 Mark Russell (VC Meudon) 2 Mick Bell (London Fire Brigade) 3 Andrew Macdonald (GA Cycles) 4 Christopher Remnant (VC Meudon) 5 Malcolm Cross (Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next) 6 Darren Dowling (Farnborough & Camberly CC) 7 Peter Hargroves (Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next) 8 Ian Macdonald (Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next) 8 Christopher Ansell (Festival RC/Chelsea Audio/Nico) 10 Carl McDonagh (Brixton Cycles) 11 Alan Duncan (GS Invicta) 12 Paul Warner (Team Darenth) 13 Kevin Martin (Team Darenth) 14 Craig Martin (Team Darenth) 15 Graham Parkin (Team 2000) 16 Barry Martin (Team Darenth) 17 Graham Stacey (Catford CC) 18 Harvey Pope (Medway Velo) 19 Stephen Dines (Vectis/Offshore Sports CC) 20 Chloe Henderson (Corridori/Specialized) 21 Marek Glowinski (VC Londres) 22 Paul Wilkinson (Gemini BC) 23 Bill Edwards (Cheltenham & County CC) 24 Mick Curtis (Corridori/Specialized) 25 Stuart Reilly (VC Deal) 26 Jim Whenman (Team Darenth) 27 Michael Ansell (Festival RC/Chelsea Audio/Nico V50) 28 Abigail Armstrong (London Phoenix) 29 Stephanie Betts (London Phoenix) 30 Raymond Harrad (Gemini BC) Youth 1 Sammy Cotton (Ancillotti UK) 2 Ian Field (San Fairy Ann CC) 3 Thomas Budd (GA Cycles) 4 Alex Atkins (VC Meudon) 5 William Thompson (Cycles Unlimited) 6 Robert Whenman (Team Darenth) 7 David Wood (VC Deal) 8 Amy Thompson (Cycles Unlimited) 9 Nicholas Stacey (Catford CC) 10 Chris Barnes (Farnborough & Camberley CC) 11 Billy Joe (Whenman Team Darenth) 12 Gareth Dickinson (Farnborough & Camberley CC) 13 Kurt Warner (Team Darenth) 14 Kirk Jenns (Team Darenth) 15 Joe Tickner (Victory CC) 16 David Adams (Victory CC) 17 Anna Glowinski (VCL) 18 Tom Smart (VC Deal) 19 Sam Turner (Victory CC) 20 Michael Frost (Victory CC) 21 Christopher Richardson (VC Deal) 22 Edward Bradley (Victory CC) 23 Katy Wade (VC Deal) 24 David French (Victory CC) 25 Laura Allen (Farnborough & Camberley CC) 26 Sarah Wilson (Farnborough & Camberley CC) 27 Michael Halkin (Victory CC) Under 12 1 Oliver Fritter (Victory CC) 2 Alex Paton (VC Deal) 3 Alex Aldham(-Breary Team Darenth) 4 Rebecca Thompson (Cycles Unlimited) 5 Peter Dibben (New Forest CC) 6 Robert Allen (Farnborough & Camberley CC) 7 Luke Vulgar (Victory CC) 8 Daniel Nottage (Victory CC) 9 Mattew Edwards (Cheltenham & County CC) 10 James Wade (VC Deal) Under 10 1 Ben Goldstraw (Army CU) 2 Martin Stolton (Victory CC) 3 Samantha Bryant (Team Darenth) 4 Spencer Stevens (Victory CC) 5 James Wade (VC Deal) 6 Jonathan Dibben (New Forest CC) 7 Daniel Layton (Team Darenth) 8 Samuel Johnson (VC Deal) 9 Dominic French (Victory CC) 10 Ryan Frost (Victory CC) 11 Carl Vulgar (Victory CC) 12 Michael Edwards (Cheltenham & County CC) 13 Thomas Kennison (Victory CC) 14 Marc Denness (Victory CC) 15 Kieran Reilly (VC Deal) 16 Ben Gevaux (Victory CC) 17 Ryan Frost (Victory CC) 18 Jordan Clark (Victory CC) 19 Matthew Stairs (Victory CC) 20 Liam Fitzpatrick (Victory CC) 21 Jacob Kennison (Victory CC) 22 Liam Stolton (Victory CC) 23 Ayla Jenns (Team Darenth)