Russell shares this latest cycling report for Wightlink Wight Mountain Cycle Race Team. Ed
E12 Race
Matt Allsopp and Kev Chant headed to Goodwood on Tuesday for the E12 race. Both riders went into a first lap break that unfortunately would not be successful.
Two laps later Allsopp would bridge to another breakaway attempt with another rider, Chant joining them one lap later. A group of riders formed and worked well together to stay away from the main bunch. Chant finishing in fourth and Allsopp in sixth.
3rd Cat Race
James Veal and Jerry Cooper travelled over to Goodwood to race in the 3rd Cat. A large field started at a brisk pace, a few early breaks were quickly brought back with both Wightlink Wight Mountain riders sharing the workload.
James tried to get away with two others riders but the peloton were not keen on letting them get too far ahead and after a lap the race was back together. Jerry had a big effort and had the whole field strung out but into the headwind section things slowed up.
Two riders broke free with just over two laps remaining, the bunch hesitated with no one willing to put in an effort to close them down and they quickly distanced them selves from the group. On the last lap James decided to try and break free from the bunch and he set about chasing the leaders down.
He managed to catch one of the riders and was catching the sole leader but the finish line came up to soon. James finished in 3rd place after getting overtaken on the line by a sprinter from the peloton. Jerry after all his efforts finished in the bunch.
Portsmouth North End Road Race
Five of the Wightlink-Wight Mountain team travelled to the Portsmouth north end road race, with 60 miles on the Owslebury circuit with 80 riders. 13 riders from the bunch got dropped in the first lap, the race was not forgiving with two of the riders dropping off the leading group after four laps.
The pace increased two laps to go chasing down a break with the riders strung out single file Allsopp managed to take 15th place with James veal finishing just behind in the main bunch.
Portsmouth Omega Circuits at Mountbatten Centre
Racing at Portsmouth’s evening circuits last Wednesday were Russell Thomson and Kev Foster in the 3rd category race.
A cold and wet day saw a depleted field of 22 riders start the 30 minutes plus three laps race, shortened by ten minutes due to the poor weather conditions.Within ten minutes of racing, three riders pulled a small gap on the main field, with none of the group wanting to chase, Thomson put in a huge effort to bridge the gap.
Looking like a decisive move Foster disrupted the chase to tactically aid his teammate, but eventually the four were back into the pack.
With three laps to go, the pace increased as the riders jostled for position.
Preparing for the bunch sprint, both the Wightlink riders fought their way through the field crossing the finishing line with Thomson just missing the points in 11th place with Foster close behind.
Image: © Eamonn Deane
