The Coleman Delivers!

Local hero takes shock victory in thrilling finale.

A tantalising start sheet for the third annual TMG Horizon Road Race featured a rich selection of regional strong men .  With local teams such as Arbis-Colbert Cycles, CC Luton, G.S. Henley, LBRCC, London Dynamo, Python Racing Team , Team Quest and Twenty3C all fielding at least three riders, it was clear that the £100 first prize was going to be hotly contested.

Only twenty kilometres into the race a strong breakaway group took flight , featuring local favourites Simon Cannings, Mike Broadwith and Doug Coleman.  It was an ominous sign for anybody looking to sit in the bunch that this was not going to be an easy day.  Showing that there was no shortage of fire power further back, a chase group had already sensed the danger and was in pursuit at 34 seconds with the bunch a further 25 seconds behind.

Gunther Zechmann of Zappi’s cycling club took the honours in the lap 2 prime by a slender margin as the lead group buckled down to work with the pressure intensifying behind them.  By lap three, the pressure of the pace began to show as the lead group started to splinter with weaker riders in the lead group losing contact and the main field bringing the gap down to 54 seconds. 

Lap 4 saw Gunther Zechmann continue with his attacking style to take the 2 Prime of the day but his pace was at risk as he was begging for hydration from spectators.  Having forced the pace with his sprint, it emerged that only the Arctic Sram duo of Mike Broadwith and Danny Axford could stay with the acceleration. 

Ratcheting the pressure up another notch, the  Arctic Sram riders followed up with a turn of speed which would put them in a commanding position.  In tight formation they seemed in overdrive for the next five kilometres, but just as it looked like they had hit top speed, Danny Axford launched out of the breakaway and put his cards firmly on the table. 

The remains of the original lead group remained defiant and quickly recaptured Zechmann and Broadwith.  Determined as they were though, they were unable to contain the surge of speed from Axford and as the bell sounded over the finish line, he had built a commanding  gap of over 1 and a half minutes.  Organiser, Neil Wass: “We thought it was all over. Danny is a super strong rider and that kind of solo effort is one of his hallmarks.” 

As the chase group climbed the finish hill to take the bell, Richard Cleaver of Leisure Lakes Bikes made his bed for glory.  With a solo effort for the next five kilometres, it was a big ask to reach the lone leader.  Just behind him, Douglas Coleman of CC Luton had given chase and with sixteen kilometres left, the duo teamed up to attempt to overturn Axford’s impressive advantage. 

Eight kilometres to go, and the alliance was weakening; “The adrenaline was flowing and I could feel time running out,” recalls Coleman.  Raising the pace once more, he left Cleaver behind and the chase intensified through the village of Whitchurch. 

The adrenaline must have kicked in because by the final turn with four kilometres to go, Coleman could see Axford ahead: “That was one hell of a carrot,” he smiles.  Chasing all the way down the 60kmh plus descent from Whitchurch, his pursuit was merciless.  By the bottom of the finish hill, the gap was down to tens of metres and with two riders slugging it out for the win like two spent boxers, the throng of spectators was treated to a thrilling finale.

With only 100 metres to go, an exhausted Axford was overhauled by the 28 year old Coleman from Hemel Hempstead.  Axford had clearly given his all and by the finish line Coleman had a decisive gap of 6 seconds. 

For Coleman it was a dream scenario: "I’ve had a couple of wins but to win on this local circuit with a lot of friends watching made it extra special."

Promoter, Neil Wass, was delighted with the result: “It’s been a great morning of racing.  All the fast guys got stuck in and gave us a truly entertaining three hours. A fantastic finish; you couldn't have scripted it better!” 

TMG Horizon cycling team plans to raise the event to National B status next year.

Jubilant: Doug Coleman begins to raise his arms for the victory

So Close: Danny Axford refuses to give up and holds off the advancing attacks

more pictures in our flickr set here http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGvns5V
and more pro photos from Thomas Van Bracht at tiny.cc/tmgrrpics13 
finish line video at youtube.com/ourcyclingteam

Full Result

1		Douglas	Coleman	CC Luton	2nd	03:00:09
2		Danny	Axford	Arctic Sram RT	2nd	@6"
3		Colin	Roshier	Team Quest - The Bike Shop	3rd	@41"
4		Richard	Cleaver	Leisure Lakes Bikes.com	2nd	@50"
5		James	Locker	V-Sprint Racing	2nd
6		James	Local	London Dynamo	2nd
7		Simon	Cannings	www.twenty3c.co.uk	2nd
8		Owen	Jeffries	Northern CC/Dave Kane Cycles	3rd
9		Ben	Carty	Private	3rd
10		Robert	King	Private Member	2nd
11		Sean	Dines	Team Corley Cycles	2nd
12		Jack	Beezer	Edinburgh RC	2nd
13		Ben	Macland	VC Meudon	2nd
14		David	Palmer	MG-Maxifuel Pro Cycling	2nd
15		Steven	Hurrell	API - Metrow/Essex Utilities	2nd
16		Chris	Grange	LBRCC-Solgar	3rd
17		Adrian	Lawson	Cadence RT	2nd
18		Graeme	Clarke	LBRCC-Solgar	4th
19		Matthew	Gittings	AW Cycles	2nd
20		Luke	Souter	Banbury Star CC	3rd
21		Pete	Smith	Jewson - MI Racing	3rd
22		Jonathan	Marchini	Beeline Bicycles RT	2nd
23		Bad	Number	London Dynamo	?
24		Adam	Capes	London Dynamo	2nd
25		Dan	Tamplin	Aylesbury CC	2nd
26		Stuart	King	LBRCC-Solgar	3rd
27		Michael	Broadwith	Arctic Sram RT	3rd
28		Osama	Assem	Finchley RT	3rd
29		Glenn	McMenamin	www.twenty3c.co.uk	2nd
30		Jason	Gurney	www.twenty3c.co.uk	2nd
31		John	Peters	CC Luton	2nd
32		Darren	Parker	Python Racing Team	3rd
33		Stephen	Morrell	Aylesbury CC	3rd
34		Richard	John	Spirit Bikes Racing Team	3rd
35		James	Archibald	G.S. Henley	3rd
36		H Christian	Rudolf	De Laune CC	2nd
37		Ian	Baynes	LBRCC-Solgar	3rd
38		Tim	Edwins	LBRCC-Solgar	3rd
39		Sam	Williamson	Hemel Hempstead CC	3rd
40		Bad	Number	GS Henley	?
41		Bad	Number	Twenty 3c	?
42		Andy	Marriott	Spirit Racing Team	3rd
43		Simon	Oxenham	VC10	2nd
44		Edward	Catford	www.twenty3c.co.uk	4th
45		Stephen	Colbert	Arbis - Colbert Cycles RT	2nd
46		Andy	Lack	Kingston Whls CC	2nd
47		Ken	Buckley	AW Cycles	2nd
48		Stuart	Williams	Reading CC	2nd
49		Campbell	Noon	Virgin Active	3rd
50		Gunther	Zechmann	Zappi's Cycling Club	2nd
51		Robert	Taylor	Aylesbury CC	4th
52		Damien	Breen	Kingston Whls CC	2nd
53		Bad	Number	Python Racing Team	?
54		Richard	Stanton	Arbis - Colbert Cycles RT	2nd
55		Stephen	Wood	Peterborough CC	3rd
56		Philip	Starr	Python Racing Team	2nd
57		Fraser	Houston	Team Quest - The Bike Shop	3rd

finish line times

lap one [not complete lap] 0:25:56

lap	total elapsed	lap time
two	00:56:00
three	01:26:13	00:30:13
four	01:56:30	00:30:17
five	02:27:53	00:31:23
six	03:00:09	00:32:16

fastest lap 00:30:13 over 20.4km = 40.48kmh