Cycle Kingdom Classic Road Race
Chris McNamara (Wildside RT) proved a strong and worthy winner of the Cycle Kingdom Classic Road Race held on Sunday 29th June over a combination of challenging circuits based around Milland in Hampshire.
The racing started early as a small group of 4 riders ( John Wager, Jaco Ehlers, James Smith, Rob Willcocks ) attacked within the first mile. They were to form the basis of a larger breakaway which established itself on the opening circuit and by the time the race had moved on the 2nd circuit that contained the 25% Milland Prime Hill the lead group had already gained around 2 minutes on the peleton (Chris McNamara, Wouter Sybrandy, John Venness, Jaco Ehlers, Rob Willcocks, Jason Edwards, Tim Elverson, John Wager, James Smith, Stephen Richards, Ross Adams, Andy Betts).
The break grew their lead to a maximum of 4 minutes at one point, until a chase group of 7 finally formed behind and set off in pursuit (Warren Jesse, Steve Gower, Anders Christensen, Justin Hoy, Warrick Spence, Rob Hurd and Danny Axford). But ahead it was McNamara who looked the strongest on every hill, taking maximum KOM points at almost every opportunity.
Onto the finishing curcuit and the leaders split with McNamara dragging both Sybrandy and Veness off the front. At the same time the chasers also accelerated with Axford, Spence and Hurd gaining on every lap. At the bell McNamara again had his companians in trouble on the steeper sections of the climb, while Ross Adams had pulled clear of the remains of the break and was heading for 4th place.
As the 3 leaders made the final ascent to the finish line Chris McNamara had saved the best until last, distancing both Veness and Sybrandy for a clear and well deserved victory.
1 - Chris McNamara - Wildside RT E 2hrs 54 mins
2 - John Veness - ES Torigni 2 @10s
3 - Wouter Sybrandy - Sigma Sport/Specialized E @ 20s
4 - Ross Adams - Red Kite Cycles/Torq 1 @1min
5 - Andy Betts - Twickenham CC 1 @1min 20s
6 - Jaco Ehlers - Wildside RT 2 @1min 25s
7 - Stephen Richards - VC Meudon 2 @1min30s
8 - Robert Willcocks - Ajchva Limoux 1 @1 min 35s
9 - James Smith - Team Certini 1 @1min 40s
10 - Tim Elverson - Felt Racing E @1min 45s
11 - John Wager - Felt Racing E @2min 25s
12 - Warrick Spence - Cyclefit-Serotta E@2min 50s
13 - Danny Axford - Artic-Premier RT 1 st
14 - Rob Hurd - PM 1 st
15 - Steve Gowar - Sigma Sport/Specialized 1V @3min 50s
16 - Jason Edwards - Wildside RT 1 @ 6 min
17 - Anders Christensen - Cycle Kingdom RT 1 st
18 - Justin Hoy - Felt Racing E st
19 - Ben Luckwell - Sport Beans EV @ 8min
20 - Wayne Coombs - VC Montpellier 1 @ 8min 20s
21 - Darren Barclay - Artic-Premier RT 2@ 9mins
22 - Pete Wager - VC Meudon 2 st
23 - Simon McNamara - Wildside RT 1 st
24 - Michael Cripps - Army CU 3 st
25 - Mark Sussex - Wildside RT 2 st
26 - Chris Birch - East Street Cycles.com 2 st
27 - Simon Warren - Norwood Paragon CC 1 st
28 - John Glaysher - www.agiskoviner.com 2 st
29 - Sam Allen - I-Team 2J @19mins
