Mossley CRT

Saturday 18^th April saw the second round of the National Youth Circuit Series. The venue for this race was Hyde Park in Hyde, Tameside. Basking in the Greater Manchester sun the racing was held round a tight, twisty, hilly one kilometre circuit which saw plenty of action across all categories through-out the day.

For photos of the racing, please click on the "Photos" link on the menu on the left of the page.

      The first race of the day was the Youth D and E event. The distance was 7 laps of the 1km circuit. The flag dropped bang on schedule at 10am and the 19 riders got themselves underway. There was a small coming together at the start but all riders crossed the finish line fine at the end of the first lap. Once the race hit the climb for the second and third time the race was beginning to split and it was Anthony Anderson (Kingston Wheelers) and Thomas Mein (Hetton Hawks) who were making a name for themselves at the front of affairs. As the laps went on the field became split up more and more and by the time the riders took the chequered flag it was race long leader Anthony Anderson who took the spoils from Thomas Mein. Third place in the Youth D category was Brad Dransfield (North Midlands Youth Squad). First girl in the Youth D category was Jessica Roberts (Towy Riders). The Youth E race was won by Kieran Morris (Mid Shropshire Wheelers) as he got himself mixed up in the Youth D race and rode really well around the course. Paul Errington (Hetton Hawks) took second place with Matthew Baptista (Eastlands Velo) in third. Oliva Braybrooke took fourth place and first girl in the youngest race of the day.

      The Youth C race was the second race of the day, 14 laps awaited the U12 riders of which their was 28 competitors. From the start the pace was fast and furious and leading the first couple of laps was a lone leader, Robert Armstrong (Ribble Valley Juniors) made a nice gap and rode hard to try and stay away, however the chasing group of Reece Wood (Wakefield Tri Club), Alex Braybrooke (Eastlands Velo) and Jake Poole (VC Lincoln) had other ideas and worked hard to pull Armstrong back, once the attack was neutralised their was a bit of a lull in the action at the front of the race and this is where Wood launched the move that would prove to be the race winning move. The chasers worked hard but Wood looked unstoppable as Braybrooke, Poole and Armstrong chased hard. Leighton Sharman (Eastlands Velo) who had arrived with minutes to spare and started at the back of the field was picking his way through lap by lap and eventually joined the three chasers to make a four strong group. As the laps went by the short sharp climb was beginning to take its toll on the Youth C riders and in the end the elastic snapped and Jake Poole lost contact with the leaders. Sharman, Braybrooke and Armstrong continued to drive at the front but there was no stopping Reece Wood taking a well deserved victory. Leighton Sharman managed to shake off Alex Braybrooke to take 2^nd whilst Robert Armstrong finished in 4^th. Megan Barker (Maindy Flyers) crossed the line in 7^th and took the prize of first girl.

      Due to the big entry list in the Youth A boys event (60) the riders had to qualify for the final over 12km of racing. Both heats went more or less the same way with the riders working hard over the first couple of laps to try and whittle the fields down to a size where the favourites would qualify before just riding the remaining laps out. Twenty riders qualified from each heat Owain Doull (Cardiff Ajax) won the first heat with Matthew Holmes (Sportcity Velo) winning the second heat.

      After a small break for lunch the Youth B girls lined up for 24 laps of the course. The youth B girls had their own event, usually finding themselves combined with the Youth A girls, the riders had an opportunity to race it out against girls their age. Thirteen girls lined up for the event and almost as soon as the flag dropped three riders clipped themselves off the front of the race. Alice Barnes (Palmer Park Velo), Zoe Armstrong (Ribble Valley Juniors) and Emily Kay (Halesowen A+CC) rode together for the next 15 laps. With around 8 laps to go the action began to take place. The first attack came from Armstrong who tested the other girls, Barnes and Kay brought her back around a lap later and it was Barnes who counted the move, she quickly opened up a gap over the two chasers. Behind Armstrong had moved herself into contention and opened up a gap over Kay. The race result was looking sewn up until 3 laps to go, Barnes suffered a rear wheel puncture whilst leading the race and when the riders came into view it was Armstrong who was now leading with Barnes running just behind. Barnes had to complete the course back to the pits to change her wheel. By the time she got there Kay had passed her and Barnes was into third. Armstrong was riding as hard as she could at the front of the race with Kay chasing hard, metre by metre Kay was closing in on Armstrong. As the riders started the climb for the last time the lead was a tantalising ten metres, it was clear Armstrong had nothing left and with fifteen meters to go to the line Emily Kay roared past and took the victory with Zoe Armstrong taking second. Alice Barnes completed the rest of the race with her spare wheel to take third place.

      The Youth B boys race was all over the place. The pace was flat out at the front from the start and the riders were spread all over the one kilometre circuit within a couple of laps. Jake Ragan (Sportcity Velo) and Chris Lawless (Eastlands Velo) rode at the front of the race for most of the 30 laps. They worked really hard through-out the race and opened up a big lead over the challengers. The riders at the front were working hard to crack each other and in the end it was Ragan who managed to open up a gap over Lawless and take the victory. Third place went to Kieran Tennyson (Heanor Clarion) who managed to pass the rider who had been in 3^rd for the whole race Jake Kelly (Royal London 360 IOM).

      The Youth A girls race was over 30km the same as the race before. For the first few laps their was a group of five riders who battled around the twisty and technical course. Lucy Ganer (Leicestershire RC), Hannah Layland (Sportcity Velo), Amy Roberts (Cardiff Ajax), Hannah Barnes (Pinarello RT) and Bethany Crumpton (Halesowen A+CC). The girls were having to think about tactics in order to out wit each other and in the end it was Garner who roared off the front of the race and started on her mission to lap the field. Crumpton started to chase and managed to hold the gap for a few laps whilst Roberts, Barnes and Layland chased behind. Garner worked on lap after lap and in the end achieved a remarkable feat and lapped the whole field to win the race. Crumpton managed to hold onto her second place after riding alone for about twenty laps. Third place went to Roberts in a three up sprint with Barnes taking fourth and Layland fifth.

      There was a minor Final for the Youth A boys non qualifiers and only ten riders took to the start for the 15km race which was won by Stephen Bradbury (Palmer Park Velo) from Matthew Rotherham (Sportcity Velo) with Benjamin Bailey (Welywn Wheelers) in third.

      The final race of the day , the Youth A boys final, started at 4.15pm and was over 35 laps of the circuit. A full field of 40 riders lined up and as the flag dropped the front of the race went hard. It was James Berryman (Sportcity Velo) who lead the race for the first couple of laps, but a group that would dominate the race had formed behind and soon caught and dropped Berryman. Josh Papworth (Wyre Forest), Jordan Hargreaves (Planet X), Alistair Slater (Bourne Wheelers), Sam Lowe (Go-Sports Spex RT) Harry Tanfield (Cleveland Wheelers), Matthew Holmes (Sportcity Velo) and Jonathan Dibben (DH Cyclesport) formed the group that would take control of the race. Slater was active within the front group and tried to get himself of the front several times but without luck. There was an unfortunate crash which involved Lowe and Papworth with around ten laps to go but the riders got themselves back to the pits and took their lap out. Slater and Dibben meanwhile had got themselves off the front but this attack was once again nullified. In the end Lowe and Dibben managed to get themselves off the front of the group with Slater chasing in third. This stayed the same till the end with Sam Lowe taking the win from Jonathan Dibben with Alistair Slater crossing the line in third place. 

Click on this link for a full set of race results from Hyde Park in Tameside.

      It was a fantastic day of racing at Hyde Park with the sun out all day long. A massive thanks to Tameside Council, Greater Manchester Police, Tameside Cycling Development Group, Mossley CRT, St. John’s Ambulance and CDNW who were all present throughout the day. Thank you also to all the marshal’s and officials who work really hard all day long.