TMG Horizon Road Race 2011
The inaugural TMG Horizon Road Race got off to a flying start yesterday. Following a concerted publicity effort by the promoting club, 73 riders took to the start line and tackled the Cublington Circuit in Buckinghamshire.
The circuit has seen a lot of action over the years, but this event marked a return to the course after nearly a two year absence. Promoter Neil Wass comments “It’s a challenging circuit with a drag in the last km and then two steep-ish ramps so you it finds you out.”
Contrary to what was expected, there was little in the way of long term breaks, but that is not to say no –one was trying!. Mike Jackson of Luton CC dug deep with repeated attacks, especially on laps 2 and 3 which netted him the honours in the points competition but there were too many experienced riders in the bunch to let him get away: “I think I’m pretty heavily marked,” was his understatement at the finish.
Laps 4 and 5 continued with an aggressive pattern of attacks with Team Virgin Active and CC Luton attacking and countering repeatedly. Paul Caton of Anders TMG Horizon: “You got the feeling something was going to stick, but there were so many strong riders, it looked like it would end up the luck of the draw.”
With just under a lap to go, Andy Eagers of Derby Mercury entered the fray with a ferocious attack which had other riders hesitating. Gavin Rumbles took up the challenge for CC Luton and the two of them formed an alliance which din’t escape the attentions of the bunch and looked quite fragile with 4k to go.”I reckon they had about 15 seconds,” comments Douglas Coleman of the promoting team.
Fortunately for the brave escapees, an awkward incident at this point with a local motorist delayed the progress of the chasing bunch and added another few seconds. However, with a fast descent immediately afterwards, they still had to work hard to hold off the advancing pack.
Andy Eagers came in first, showing that even when outnumbered by the collective strength of local teams, a combination of savvy, selective effort and a little luck goes a long way, while Gavin Rumbles took second place, 4 seconds behind. Jeremy Addis led the bunch home at 12 seconds.
Thanks to a number of kind volunteers, the promoting team was able to field two riders, who worked hard. Doug Coleman took 8th place whilst Paul Caton was 16th. “It’s not a bad result for us,” comments Caton. “I’m working quite hard on the track at the moment and Doug is still recovering from a mountain biking accident, so pretty positive.”
Neil Wass concludes: “It was a great day’s racing – a challenging course, quality riders and the local teams really came out fighting. We’re already looking forward to next year.”
RESULT
1 Andy Eagers Derby Mercury RC at 2:59:36
2 Gavin Rumbles CC Luton at 4”
3 Jeremy Addis VC Montpellier at 12”
4 Roger Browne Beeline Bikes Rt ST
5 Aaron McCaffrey Virgin Active
6 Christopher Dredge Team Milton Keynes
7 Conor Ryan VC Montpellier
8 Douglas Coleman Anders TMG Horizon
9 Neil Beasley Beeston RC
10 Joe Harris Reading CC
11 Mike Jackson CC Luton
12 Jamie Scott Renault Rotor Race Team
13 Tony Kiss Stratford CC
14 Gary Turnock Finsbury Park CC
15 Malcolm Dixon Severn RC
16 Paul Caton Anders TMG Horizon
17 Tom Kirk Team Zappis
18 James Foster Team Quest / The Bike Shop
19 Darren Parker Python RT
20 Gunther Zechmann Team Zappis
21 Mark Baines Spirit Racing
22 Lubomir Belak Welwyn Wheelers
23 Andy Lack Kingston Wheelers
24 Justin Belcher Banbury Star CC
25 Richard Stanton Arbiss LLP – Roy Pink
26 Paul Doel Team Quest / The Bike Shop
27 Rob Yeatman Team Jewson / Thule
28 Campbell Noon Virgin Active
29 Philip Murrell Finsbury Park CC
30 Chris Grange Hemel Hempstead
31 Tim Carter Virgin Active
32 Ben Leadbetter BC Private
33 Nigel Williams Python RT
34 Ed Ashby BC Private
35 Hiroshi Kobayashi Team Milton Keynes
36 Damien Breen Kingston Wheelers
37 Ed Clemens VC10
38 Mark Williams Python RT
39 Tim Hyde GS Henley
40 Mike Inder Thames Velo
41 Aled Jones Gloucester City
42 John Peters CC Luton
43 Sean Dines Virgin Active
44 Chris Smith Python RT
45 Andy Sykes Thames Velo
46 Clare Leaver Team Zappis
47 John Donovan CS Grupetto
48 Edgar Medallin Finchley RT
49 Keir Apperley
50 Mark Jervis Python RT
51 Richard Cleaver VC Montpellier
52 Stephen Nunn Artic RT
53 Ian Humble Gloucester City
54 Rob Fletcher Arbiss LLP – Roy Pink
55 Richard Wood Team Milton Keynes
56 Mike Deeney CC Luton
57 Tim Kearley Rapha Condor CC
58 Joe Harris Reading CC
