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by Ron Duggins
Some call him Dan the Man, but now he's getting a new name - Alexander the Great! And that was underlined this weekend when Dan Alexander pulled off another fine win in the Notts and Derbys cyclo-cross race on Saturday and followed it up on Sunday with a fifth in the London open 'cross championship. The Matlock CC/Wards Shoe Shops/Clarks rider set about the race in Alfreton Park on Saturday in a workmanlike manner along with George Richardson (MI Racing), Phil Dixon (Team Y2K), Daniel Booth (Ace RT) and Vin Cox (cyclo-cross.com). Dixon punctured soon after the start but kept on riding and Alexander noticed this and attacked immediately, pulling out a gap of about 30 seconds. "I knew this was the time to go, and although it was early in the race I felt strong enough to hang on," he said. Dixon changed bikes in the pits and finished third one minute six seconds down. Richardson was second at 49 secs.
The event - in Alfreton for the first time - was organised by Chesterfield-based Ace RT's Simon Burney, Julian Gould and Dan Ellmore and attracted over 120 riders on a course which had something for everyone. As Julian was organising and not riding he lost his No.1 spot in the league table, although at the end of the season he can claim his average number of points like all other organisers and be back up there. New leader is Matlock's Steve Bloor with 847 points, second is Gould 786 with Cox and Mark Stanley joint third with 783.
The youth race (U-16) was won by Sam Thorne (Matlock CC) who led for the whole of the five laps, pushing Matt Roach and Kyle Graham into second and third respectively. Edward Parker (Beauvale CC) was first U-14. The U-12 event went to William Verney (Chevin Chasers) closely followed by Lawrence frost (Ashfield RC). Emily Verney was first girl in 11th place.
1 Dan Alexander (Matlock CC/Wards Shoe Shops/Clarks) 54.56 2 George Richardson (MI Racing) 3 Phil Dixon (Team Y2K) 4 Daniel Booth (Ace RT) 5 Vin Cox (cyclo-cross.com) Category winners Veteran: Pete Harris (private member) Grand vet: Pete Mooney (Rugby Velo) Master vet: Terry Taylor (Matlock CC) Senior vet: Dave Smith (Derby Tri Club) Senior women: Alison Whiteley (Team Y2K) Super vet: Ron Duggins (Matlock CC)