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Location: Shrewsbury Sports Village, Shrewsbury
Event: 15 September 2013
Report and photos: Ben Goddard/ Snowdon Sports
Joe Fox (MG-Maxifuel Pro Cycling) took his first cross win of the season in the West Midlands round two in Shrewsbury.
Fox, aged 19 and from Solihull, finished third in the first round last week and with the top two not starting he was the man to take charge of the senior race.
Round two of the West Midlands League could not have been any different from last week’s fast but rough circuit this week provided much more of a bike handling test.
On an overcast afternoon riders started on the purpose built road circuit before doing a short start loop and then heading back down to the bottom end of the circuit past the pit area and into a long wooded section.
The wooded section proved a very technical section with a build up of mud and tree roots causing problems for many senior riders.
After the wooded section the riders headed back though the start before taking in a series of off camber climbs and descents and a short planked run up section.
The forecast torrential rain never materialised until about half an hour after the final event.
Fox who is under-23, took victory by 18 seconds ahead of Gavin Hardwicke, from Derby and in third place was another under-23 Bruce Dalton, from Bakewell.
In seventh place and taking the prize for top Veteran (40-50) was Phil Blacker, from Bromsgrove just snatching victory from Stephen Knight (Team Jewson).
The juniors, veterans and ladies race was won by Danny Fox from Solihull, who stormed out of the blocks to take a 47-second victory from Anthony Neave (Stourbridge CC) in second.
The veterans started after the juniors and it was a close fought affair with the leading four changing positions throughout the race.
First home was Michael Davies (Team Pedal Power) and first lady home was junior rider Sarah Lomas.
In the youth event Ewan Grivell-Mellor (Mid Shropshire Whls) took his second victory in the series in as many weeks although he did find some early pressure from Louis Killworth (Welland Valley CC).
The finish of the day came in the under-14 section of the youth event where Lewis Askey beat Lichfield City CC team mate Toby Barnes on the line in a dramatic finish.
In the under-12 category Edward Woodward (Coventry RC) took victory and in the under-10s Ben Askey was victorious.
Results:
Senior/Veterans 40-50
1 Joe Fox (MG-Maxifuel Pro Cycling)
2 Gavin Hardwicke (Fossa Racing)
3 Bruce Dalton (The Kinesis Morvelo Project)
4 Thomas Payton (Isla Bikes)
5 Philip Hinch (Brotherton Cycles)
6 Andrew Tamplin (Base2Race Cycles)
7 Phil Blacker (Team Jewson)
8 Stephen Knight (Team Jewson)
9 Colin Miller (Coventry RC)
10 Oliver Cox (unattached)
Junior/Veteran/Women
1 Danny Fox (RST RT)
2 Anthony Neave (Stourbridge CC)
3 James Garratt (Welland Valley CC)
4 Michael Davies (Team Pedal Power)
5 Gary Hipwell (Rugby Velo)
6 Kevin Payton (Stourbirdge CC)
Youth
1 Ewan Grivell-Mellor (Mid Shropshire Whls)
2 Louis Killworth (Welland Valley CC)
3 Jake Stewart (Solihull CC)
Under-12
1 Edward Woodward (Coventry RC)
2 Luke Simmonds (Stratford CC)
3 Daniel Barnes (Lichfield City CC)
Under-10
1 Ben Askey (Lichfield City CC)
2 Christian Stevens (Solihull CC)
3 Alex Barker (Halesowen A&CC)
Please credit www.britishcycling.org.uk and link back if you use any of our race results.
British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.