Jack shares this latest news from the Wightlink-LCM team. Ed
On Saturday 17th September, Wightlink-LCM Systems Cycle Race Team riders Russell Thomson and Dave Cooper took part in the penultimate fourth category race at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth.
The race started hard with a furious pace, which wasn’t helped by the windy conditions.
Mid-race two riders jumped the bunch forcing Cooper to chase hard, the pack became strung out and as Cooper intercepted them, he attacked himself, gapping the bunch significantly.
Thomson slowed to try and stall the chase, but Copper was soon caught. With two laps remaining Thomson jumped onto Cooper’s wheel to launch in the final sprint.
Cooper turned up the heat riding as the pair came round the outside of the bunch and dropped Thomson off on the last corner to take the win. Due to Cooper’s pace in the final lap he rolled over the line in third place, after giving his teammate such a strong leadout.
Thomson has now gained enough points to move up to third category, while Cooper only needs another four points to make the same progression.
Newest and youngest rider
Later in the third category race, one of the team’s newest and youngest riders Austin Head lined up in the relatively small field of 15.
It was fast from the off and after the flurry of attacks finished, Head launched off the front of the bunch, and the other riders were unable to catch him as he took a lap on the field by himself.
Once Head had caught the field, three others tried to take a lap and were successful in doing so.
Not wanting to leave it down to the bunch sprint, Head attacked again with one other and took another lap after a big effort, all but securing him the win. As the final sprint approached, the Wightlink-LCM rider jumped from the wheels to take the bunch kick as well.
Two races, two wins and a third place for the team on a very successful day of racing.
Image: Jimmy Harris under CC BY 2.0
