Location: Meonstoke, Fareham
Event: 11 May 2013
After 116km of racing over the rolling Milburys course on a showery day, it was Rob Sharland (Kingston Wheelers) who was victorious from Rob Yeatman (Dream CC) by thirty two seconds.
The race is a one day two stage race with a prologue time trial in the morning followed by a nine lap road race in the afternoon.
The course for the time trial is a challenging one as it climbs nearly all the way over its 6km distance. Starting just outside the HQ it finishes on the top of Old Winchester Hill. Rob Yeatman set the quickest time over the short distance with Rob second just nine seconds back. Third was Jack Beezer (Edinburgh CC).
Once all the riders had completed the test it was time for a rest and to get ready for the road race.
The peloton climbed away from its Meonstoke base and up towards the course proper. As they came into view it began to rain and this set the tone for the day as wave after wave of showers came and went throughout.
Maybe because of the rain, there were a couple of minor crashes and several punctures on the opening laps for the two service vehicles to deal with.
The race was promoted and rode by the local Team Axiom club and the club came out in force to insure another successful event.
The first few laps saw several riders attempt to break clear and this caused several riders to be shelled out the back as the pace at the front increased. The showers were not helping and when attacks did get away they were soon brought back again.
The first proper attack saw Christopher Bedson (Dulwich Paragon CC) open a decent lead of twenty seconds. He was soon joined by Gray Turnock (Finsbury Park CC) and between them they opened the lead to forty seconds.
These two held this lead until lap six when they were joined by Andrew Bryson (Peter Hansford RT). These three worked well together at first but the trio of riders from Guernsey Velo were slowly reeling in the escapees.
At the bell the lead was down to a handful of seconds and this soon became one large bunch again. After a couple of miles and several riders trying to get away it all came down to the last mile or so when first Wayne Coombs (Winchcombe CC) and Phillip Touzeau (Guernsey Velo) pinged off the front. Rob saw this attack go and he made his move and got across the gap along with Joshua Gosselin (Guernsey Velo).
When it came to the last 200m, Rob had the legs on Wayne with the two Channel Islanders taking third and fourth. After all the racing it was back to the HQ for a warm down and await the results.
When Team Axiom formed in 2002 Roy Ludford was its oldest founding member. Affectionately known as ‘Grandad’ in the team, he would often be heard to say, "Of course in my day we had it tougher," or more often, "During The war.....".
An ever present at the pub on club nights, Roy is sadly missed by all in Team Axiom after his passing in 2007.
Provisional results:
Time Trail Teglease Down 6km/4miles:
1 Rob Yeatman Dream CC10mins 12 secs
2 Rob Sharland Kingston Wheelers CC @9secs
3 Jack Beezer Edinburgh RC @13secs
4 Cameron Campbell ACU @16secs
5 Christopher Zappala Pendragon @16secs
Road Race 110km/69 miles:
1 Rob Sharland Kingston Wheelers CC 2:57:18
2 Wayne Coombs Winchcombe CC @st
3 Phillip Touzeau Guernsey Velo @st
4 Joshua Gosselin Guernsey Velo @st
5 Luke Stace i-Team CC @11secs
Overall GC:
1 Rob Sharland Kingston Wheelers CC 3hrs 07mins 09secs
2 Rob Yeatman Dream CC @32secs
3 Wayne Coombs Winchcombe CC @36secs
4 Phillip Touzeau Guernsey Velo @40secs
5 Bevan Humphreys Urban- Cyclery.co.uk RT @48secs
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.
