| Clay on top in Yorkshire Jonny Clay recorded his third win of the season in the BCFís Premier Calendar and returned to the head of the series standings with a well-controlled ride in the East Riding of Yorkshire Classic. Based in the East Yorkshire town of Beverley, famous for its beautiful Minster, the East Riding of Yorkshire Classic is a two day, three stage event. In the absence of some of the seriesí leading contenders, riding either for their country (Chris Newton) or in the Irish Milk Ras (John Tanner & Mark Lovatt), the pressure was on Clay to make the most of the opportunity to score series points. He didnít disappoint, dominating Saturdayís action, winning both the short time trial and the 70 mile road stage. In the time trial, he was pushed all the way by Chris Walker and the in-form Rod Ellingworth, who were just 0.7seconds and 1 second down respectively. In the road stage, Clay led in a break of five riders, again including Ellingworth, finishing three and a half minutes up on the rest of the field. This left him with the relatively straightforward job of marking his four closest challengers through the final road stage on Sunday and ensuring that no other break got away by more than a couple of minutes. Sundayís 90 mile road stage was dominated by Julian Ramsbottom, who spent virtually the whole day away in the company of first Steve Stoneman and then Danny Axford. However, after losing several minutes on Saturdayís road stage, Ramsbottom presented no threat to the leaders and Clay was content to remain in the main bunch as Ramsbottom outsprinted Axford to win the stage. With Rod Ellingworth and the other first-day leaders also in the main bunch, Clayís tactical awareness and all-round skills ensured that there were no last minute surprises to rob him of victory. Clayís third victory of the season means that he and Chris Newton have won seven of the eleven events staged to date and they appear to be turning the series into a two-horse-race. However, both Clay and Newton will be hoping to be short-listed for places in the Olympic Team Pursuit squad at the end of the month. If this happens, they could both find their Premier Calendar commitments compromised, leaving the way open for a late season charge by one of a pack of five other riders with over a hundred points to their credit. The next event of the series is the Tour of the Kingdom stage race, 314km of top quality racing based in Dunfermline on May 27th ó 28th. For more details, call organiser Dennis Speight on 01337 857 556. East Riding of Yorkshire Classic Results Day 1 Stage 1: 3.3 Miles Time Trial 1. Jon Clay (SBDL) 6 min 53.1s 2. Chris Walker (ON the Edge) @ 0.7s 3. Rod Ellingworth (Team McEll) @ 1.0s 4. Julian Ramsbottom (Peter Read) @ 5s 5. Paul Watson (Knaresbourough RT) @ 7s 6. Kevin Dawson (Peter Read) @ 8s Stage 2: 71.4 miles 1. Jon Clay 2 hrs 51 mins 2. Rod Ellingworth @ st 3. Kevin Dawson @ st 4. Martin Ford @ st 5. Mathew Larner (Litchfield) @ st 6. Antony Malarczyk (Real Cost Car Imports) @ 3.30 mins 7. William Mitchinson @ st 8. Ian Hallawell (Middridge RT) @ st 9. Chris Burrows @ st 10 Julian Grommet (Terry Wright Cycles) @ st Day 2 Stage 3: 91.4 miles 1. Julian Ramsbottom (Peter Read Racing) 3 hrs 47 mins 2. Danny Axford (Real Cost Cars Imports) @ st 3. Antony Malarczyk (Real Cost Cars Imports) @ 21 secs 4. William Mitchinson @ st 5. Paul Watson (Litchfield) @ st 6. Steve Higgins (Robert Grinsell Travel) @ st 7. Ian Holmes (VC York) @ st 8. Andrew Corbett (JS Wilson Cycles) @ st 9. Dave Coulson (Universty) @ st 10. Julian Grommet (Terry Wright Cycles) @ st Final Overall After Three Stages (provisional). 1. Jon Clay (SLBM) 6 hours 45 minutes 47seconds 2. Rod Ellingworth (Team McEll) @ 0.7s 3. Kevin Dawson (Peter Read Racing) @ 23s 4. Martin Ford (Arctic 2000) @ 51s 5. Mathew Larner (Litchfield) @ 1.13 6. Antony Malarczyk (Real Cost Cars Imports) @ 4.08 7. William Mitchinson @ 4.18 8. Ian Hellawell @ 4.33 9. Danny Axford (Real Cost Cars Imports) @ 5.32 10. Paul Watson @ 5.53 11. Julian Gromett @ 6.15 12. Sam Gardner @ 6.27 13. Andy Hintchcliff @ 6.29 14. Julian Ramsbottom @ 7.40 15. Mathew Sewell @ 7.42 16. Dave Coulson @ 9.03 17. Jim Henderson @ 9.14 18. Steve Higgins @ 9.20 19. Brendan Currey @ 9.20 20. Glen Turnburll @ 9.22 King of the Hills 1. Julian Ramsbottom (Peter Read Racing) 2. Steve Stoneman (Real Cost Cars) 3. Kevin Dawson (Peter Read Racing) Sprints Competition 1. Julian Ramsbottom (Peter Read Racing) 2. Jon Clay (SLBM) 3. Rod Ellingworth (Team McEll) Under 23 Award: Paul Watson 1st Non-Elite Rider Award: Rod Ellingworth Team Award: Real Cost Cars Premier Calendar Overall Standings after 10 events of 19 (provisional). 1 Jon Clay (SLBM) 212 2 Chris Newton (Middridge CRT) 204 3 John Tanner (Provision Planet X) 148 4 Julian Winn (WCU-Private Member) 129 5 Mark Lovatt (Provision Planet X) 124 6 Huw Pritchard (Linda McCartney-WCU) 123 7 Rod Ellingworth (Team McEll) 119 8 Andy Lyons (BCF Private Member) 94 9 Wayne Randle (Provision Planet X) 86 9 Kevin Dawson (Pete Reade Racing) 86 11 Martin Ford (Arctic 2000) 70 12 Gordon McCauley (Equilibrium Oleum RT) 69 13 Antony Malarczyk (www.Real Cost Imports) 62 14 Paul Manning (BCF Private Member) 55 15 Steve Stoneman (www.Real Cost Imports) 53 |
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