Tour Series 2022

PRESS RELEASE

Words by Sweetspot, Images by Chris Maher.

TUESDAY 24 MAY 2022

PRO-NOCTIS AND WIV SUNGOD CROWNED SPORTSBREAKS.COM TOUR SERIES CHAMPIONS IN MANCHESTER

Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen and Wiv SunGod were crowned Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series champions in Manchester city centre on Tuesday night after three weeks of competition.

For Wiv SunGod it was a third series title, having claimed the honours in 2018 and 2019, while for the Pro-Noctis team of British circuit race champion Jo Tindley it was a first crown, having been narrowly denied in the final event in 2021.

Second place on the night behind Team Boompods ensured the inaugural title for Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen, a comfortable victory having finished in the top two positions at all seven rounds and held the lead from round one in Guisborough.

Speaking afterwards Bexy Dew said; “Morale has been really high throughout.  We worked really well together and have analysed and talked about each round afterwards and how we can improve as a team. I think that’s what’s made us stronger each round, and we finished on a high today.

“I’m not sure having the jerseys all series added to the pressure. I think it added to the enjoyment and the excitement of the whole thing.”

Wiv SunGod, who also have led the series since the opening event, sealed their title in style with Matt Bostock winning his second round of 2022 by 11.5 seconds at the head of a team 1-2-3.

Stockport-based Bostock broke away mid-race, countering after team-mate Ollie Wood’s solo move had been captured, helping seal the Freewheel.co.uk Sprints competition.

“It was the perfect way to finish, it doesn’t get much better than winning solo as well” said Bostock.  “I think as a team we just ripped it up, couldn’t have been any better. 

“The atmosphere was amazing, I wish I’d taken it in a bit more, but I was seeing double and my legs were screaming. It was a bit of a blur but the noise and the crowd was just mega.”

At the finish, behind Bostock, Wood and then Matt Gibson led in a 10-rider group, with Harry and Charlie Tanfield in fourth and fifth for Ribble Weldtite, who finished as runners up, four points back from Wiv SunGod, with Wales Racing Academy in third overall.

“The individual results don’t matter as much,” continued Bostock. “Because the team prize is the main thing. But it’s really good to get your hands in the air and I think we’ve won maybe four rounds out of the seven, so it couldn’t be much better.

“It speaks volumes that we’ve had three different winners, and we’ve basically shared them out so that says a lot about how strong of a team we’ve got.  It’s almost a shame we couldn’t give everyone a win, because I think everyone’s deserved one. I don’t think we’ve had one bad night.”

In the women’s race there was a second win of the series for 17-year-old Emma Jeffers (Jadan – Vive Le Velo), who sprinted home on Deansgate ahead of Sammie Stuart (Team LDN – Brother UK) and Lucy Harris (Team Boompods).

Stuart led through the final corner but on the 150-metre run to the line Jeffers came past to cross the line arms aloft and also take the fastest lap.

“This is the one I was aiming for, and I managed to pull it off,” said Jeffers.

“Pro-Noctis had three girls in the front, and then a Boompods girl attacked.  Then Sammie [Stuart] counter attacked coming into the second to last corner. I just held onto Sammie’s wheel and managed to get around her on that last straight and hold it.”

Having taken the overall Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series title with her Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen team, Tindley also added the Freewheel.co.uk Sprints competition, defending a jersey that she also took in 2021.

For full results please click here.

Round 3 Sunderland

PRESS RELEASE

Words by Sweetspot, Images by Chris Maher.

TUESDAY 10 MAY 2022

FIRST TIME WINS A PLENTY IN SUNDERLAND SPORTSBREAKS.COM TOUR SERIES

The Sunderland round of the Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series saw first time wins for Blake Quick (TRINITY Racing), Sammie Stuart (Team LDN – Brother UK), and Jadan – Vive Le Velo, while also the return of Ribble Weldtite to the winner’s podium in Mowbray Park.

Ribble Weldtite’s win saw the defending champions move into second in the Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series, four points off the lead, while for Jadan – Vive Le Velo it marked the team’s first win in seven years of competing in the team based series.

However after the evening’s two races it was still Wiv SunGod and Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen in the series leaders’ yellow Freewheel.co.uk jerseys, albeit with the former giving up two points after local rider Thomas Mein crashed out following a touch of wheels mid-race.

Mein’s departure, after making contact with Harry Tanfield (Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling) on the start/finish line as both riders looked to make the same attack at the same moment, briefly threatened to upset Wiv SunGod but they held on to come third behind defending champions Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling and TRINITY Racing.

Having started the first two events short of riders due to injury and illness TRINITY Racing controlled the men’s race before an exemplary display of tactics saw American crit champion, and the weekend’s Lincoln GP winner, Luke Lamperti sitting up in the final sprint to allow Quick to take his first win in the Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series.

“It was a really good performance,” said the 22-year-old from Brisbane. “The boys were pretty unbelievable out there, three of them just controlled the race from the get go. Then we had Luke – he’s a bit of a tactical genius in the finish there – pulling us in perfectly to the finish and we both got our arms up so it was beautiful.

“Basically, the plan was to just out and control the race, and after we got Luke up at Lincoln a few days ago, and we came out today and DS Ian Stannard made the call that it was my turn so that was really nice.”

Joining Quick as a first-time Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series winner was Team LDN – Brother UK rider Sammie Stuart. A full-time training manager and on call firefighter for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, Stuart’s win came after an impressive ride in round one and weekend’s performance in the Lincoln GP.

Stuart bridged across to Frankie Hall (Loughborough Lightning) and Suzetta Guerini (Jadan -Vive Le Velo) after a crash between Hall and Charlotte Berry (Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus) at turn two removed both Berry and the luckless Beth Mciver (Alba Road Team) from an initial four rider group.

Stuart then worked well with breakaway companions Hall and Guerini to build an unassailable gap, with the latter the first to be distanced inside the final three laps. With a tour to go and sensing Hall lagging, Stuart struck out on her own for a comfortable solo win by five seconds.

Speaking afterwards Stuart said;

“It was a great race for me, with a climb in the circuit it suited me really well. The team is buzzing for me. It wasn’t just myself, there’s obviously people that hold up the peloton too on my behalf so a massive thanks to the team for being able to do that for me.

“I worked very hard to close the gap, once I got with those other riders it was just a case of working together till the end of the race. I think the gap started about 10 seconds and we went up to 50 seconds so that was brilliant work by us three.

“I knew that I had an advantage because I was talking, and I could hear them two heavily breathing so I just took that opportunity and just went.”

Taking the all-important team prize however was Jadan – Vive Le Velo, clinching their best ever Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series result.

Despite three riders being caught up in crashes Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen still took second place on the night to hold a nine-point lead over Team Boompods with four rounds remaining. Behind a trio of teams are within two points of second place in what now looks set to be a best of the rest competition in the women’s Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series, with defending champions CAMS – Basso failing to score in Sunderland and now sitting seventh overall.

In the Freewheel.co.uk Sprints competition Tindley (Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen) holds a 14-point lead over Stuart to keep the blue jersey in the women’s competition while Matt Bostock (Wiv SunGod) holds a 10-point lead in the men’s contest.

Fastest Laps on the night went to Stuart and Global 6 Cycling’s Miguel Fernandez.

Women’s team result

1) Jadan – Vive le Velo, 10pts

2) Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen, 9pts

3) Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus, 8pts

4) Datalynx – Parenesis Cycling, 7pts

5) Team Boompods, 6pts

Women’s individual result

1) Sammie Stuart, GBR, Team LDN – Brother UK, 1:11:11.773

2) Frankie Hall, GBR, Loughborough Lightning, + 5.133

3) Suzetta Guerini, GBR, Jadan – Vive Le Velo, + 14.591

4) Emma Jeffers, GBR, Jadan – Vive Le Velo, + 57.329

5) Amira Mellor, GBR, Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus, + 57.521

Fastest lap

Sammie Stuart, GBR, Team LDN – Brother UK, 1:46.528

Freewheel.co.uk sprints competition

Jo Tindley, GBR, Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen, 39pts

Women’s standings after round three

1) Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen, 29pts

2) Team Boompods, 20pts

3) Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus, 19pts

4) Jadan – Vive Le Velo, 18pts

5) Team LDN – Brother UK, 18pts

Men’s team result

1) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling, 10pts

2) TRINITY Racing, 9pts

3) Wiv SunGod, 8pts

4) Saint Piran, 7pts

5) Wales Racing Academy, 6pts

Men’s individual result

1) Blake Quick, AUS, TRINITY Racing, 1:09:37.441

2) Luke Lamperti, USA, TRINITY Racing, + 0.013

3) Finn Crockett, GBR, Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling, + 0.488

4) Leon Mazzone, GBR, Saint Piran, + 0.763

5) Matthew Bostock, GBR, Wiv SunGod, + 0.779

Fastest lap

Miguel Fernandez, ESP, Global 6 Cycling, 1:29.784

Freewheel.co.uk sprints competition

Matthew Bostock, GBR, Wiv SunGod, 36pts

Men’s standings after round three

1) Wiv SunGod, 28pts

2) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling, 24pts

3) Wales Racing Academy, 23pts

4) Saint Piran, 19pts

5) TRINITY Racing, 16pts

Round 1 Guisborough

PRESS RELEASE

MONDAY 2 MAY 2022

WIV SUNGOD AND PRO – NOCTIS DOMINATE OPENING ROUND IN GUISBOROUGH

Last year’s overall runners-up Wiv SunGod and Pro – Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen dominated the opening round of the Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series in Guisborough on Sunday.

After a disastrous start to the series here in 2021, the first men’s race of this year’s event couldn’t have gone any better for Wiv SunGod, as Thomas Mein and Matthew Bostock broke clear on lap one and almost lapped the entire field.

Mein, the reigning British cyclo-cross champion, took his first individual series win ahead of Bostock after the pair delivered an unforgettable victory salute. Impressively, only 0.001s separated the duo across the line, making it the closest-ever finish in series history.

Behind, Matthew Gibson placed fifth in the rain-affected race to seal the team win for Tim Elverson’s squad.

Wales Racing Academy impressed en route to finishing second on the day, ahead of TEKKERZ, TRINITY Racing and Saint Piran.

Although local rider Harry Tanfield led the peloton home in third respectively, defending men’s champions Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling only finished sixth in the team result.

“We went on the first lap and just kept on going,” said Mein. “It was pretty much game over for everyone else when we got away, so that’s a bit of a dream scenario. 

“Getting away with team-mates doesn’t happen often, so you’ve just got to make the most of those chances. 

“It couldn’t have gone any better to be honest, so now we’ve got to carry on doing that for the rest of the series.”

Pro – Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen also produced a fine start in Guisborough as British circuit race champion Jo Tindley and Lucy Ellmore finished second and third in the women’s race.

Tindley and eventual individual winner Sophie Lewis (CAMS – Basso) also broke away in the early laps, before Ellmore produced a fine effort to bridge across to the leaders.

Despite leading out the sprint, Tindley could only place second here for the second year running, as promising track talent Lewis pipped her to the line. Behind, Sammie Stuart (Team Brother UK – LDN) broke away from the peloton to finish fourth.

Corinne Side was Pro – Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen’s third-ranked finisher in 12th as Rick Lister’s team started strongly in the series once again.

“The first round is always the one that you never really know how it’s going to go,” said Tindley.  “You’ve done all this training but you don’t know how everyone else is going and so much could happen within one race. So, it’s really good to get the first one out of the way, we just work for the rest of them really. 

“It’s a new circuit for round two [in Guisborough], so I think we will be defending more than anything, and just seeing how it goes. We’ll try to keep an eye on things!”

CAMS – Basso finished second on the day to leave Guisborough with just a one-point deficit in the overall standings, with Team Boompods taking third.

“It’s given me a lot of confidence [going into the next few races],” said Lewis. “It’s nice that we’re in a good place for the rest of the series.

“It was a really good race and I’m really pleased with how it went. I knew that last year about five riders went clear pretty early on, so I knew I had to be up there right from the start. I did feel a bit out numbered but I did what I needed to do.”

Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series 2022 schedule

• Round one | Guisborough | Monday 2 May
• Round two | Galashiels | Wednesday 4 May
• Round three | Sunderland | Tuesday 10 May
• Round four | Stranraer | Thursday 12 May
• Round five | Clacton-on-Sea | Thursday 19 May
• Round six | Barking | Saturday 21 May
• Grand Final | Manchester | Tuesday 24 May

Round 2 Galashiels

PRESS RELEASE

WEDNESDAY 4 MAY 2022

SPORTSBREAKS.COM TOUR SERIES LEADERS TIGHTEN GRIP IN GALASHIELS

Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series leaders Wiv SunGod and Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen extended their overall advantage following the Galashiels event on Wednesday (4 May) evening.

Both teams took the all-important team victory on the night in round two as the series visited the Scottish Borders for the first time.

This was a historic night in the 13-year history of the Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series as the women’s race followed the men’s race for the first time.

Sunshine and two super quick races greeted Britain’s best men’s and women’s teams to the centre of Galashiels, with Scottish men’s rugby union head coach Gregor Townsend flagging both races away.

In the opening men’s race it was Wiv SunGod rider Jim Brown who took his first individual win in the Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series.  Brown and teammate Matthew Bostock had been at the forefront from the start, driving the pace around the short circuit to stretch the peloton, and drag a select group of riders clear as a crash split the peloton behind.

The evening then turned into a duel between Wiv SunGod and defending champions Ribble Weldtite with the pair of teams taking four of the top five spots.  Dividing them was 17-year-old Noah Hobbs of Tekkerz, in fourth, who also took the fastest lap.

“I’m buzzing! Taking the one-two in both rounds is really good and we’d like to continue that if we can,” said Brown (Wiv SunGod).

“We’ve got a good team, you know. We’ve got five really strong riders, so we can just get to the front and make it hard for everyone else. 

“In the first five minutes we started putting the hammer down and the race split into a group of about 15. After that there were a lot of moves going, but I managed to slip away in the final and take the win.”

Wiv SunGod now hold a three point lead over the Wales Racing Academy at the top of the standings, whereas in the women’s series Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen have a six point margin over Torelli – Cayman Islands – Scimitar and Team Boompods.

Taking the women’s individual win was Megan Barker (CAMS – Basso), who has won three of the last four races held.  Barker however was isolated in the front group dominated by Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen, but did enough to head Emma Jeffers (Jadan – Vive Le Velo) and Jo Tindley (Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen) in the final sprint.

“It was pretty tough for me personally,” said Barker afterwards. “I think we had quite a difficult night as a team, so I ended up quite isolated in that front group with the full Pro – Noctis team attacking me like five times every lap!

“We just had to go for the individual win tonight so I just had to really stick at it, follow the wheels, not touch the wind as much as I could. I kind of was looking at the finish line every lap and figuring where I wanted to step out into the wind [and start my sprint].”

Speaking after defending both the Freewheel.co.uk Sprints jersey and with her Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen team mates the yellow Freewheel.co.uk leaders’ jerseys, Jo Tindley said;

“It was really interesting actually [to see the men racing first]. They do race differently to us and they are going to be faster but it was interesting to see just how they attacked. They literally strung out on the first lap and how it all formed for through the bunch. So we got a good impression of how it would be for us.

“We were aware that the other teams were going to go out hitting it hard after [round one in Guisborough], so we just waited to see how it played out. It just stayed fast; it was a fast night, it was full on.”

Women's Results & Standing after Round 2

Women’s team result

Women’s individual result

Fastest lap

Freewheel.co.uk sprints competition

Women’s standings after round two

Men's Results & Standing after Round 2

Men’s team result

Men’s individual result

Fastest lap

Freewheel.co.uk sprints competition

Men’s standings after round two

Round 4 Galshiels

PRESS RELEASE

THURSDAY 12 MAY 2022

LUKE LAMPERTI AND EMMA JEFFERS THE WINNERS IN SCOTLAND 

A dramatic night of racing in Stranraer saw the first American race winner in Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series history, as Luke Lamperti (TRINITY Racing) swept to victory, while Emma Jeffers (Jadan – Vive Le Velo) became the second youngest winner in the 12-year history of the women’s series.

TRINITY Racing made it two individual wins in a week as USA national crit champion Lamperti followed in the wheel tracks of Sunderland winner Blake Quick, while defending champions Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling took their second team win of the week to narrow their deficit to three points behind Wiv SunGod.

“It feels good [to make some history]” said the 19-year-old Californian who followed up his second place on debut with the win “There was always that rivalry between US and UK crits, so to come here as an American and [for the team] to take two individual wins and my first Tour Series, yeah it feels good.”

After a spell racing in Europe, TRINITY returned to racing in the UK by winning the prestigious Lincoln Grand Prix road race on Sunday (with Lamperti) and then this week’s Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series events with Quick and Lamperti.

He added; “The team is super happy.  It’s always nice for them to come back to home soil team and really perform, that’s what we’re here for.   The UK scene has super cool events, really nice crits, well organised.  It’s awesome to see what the UK crit scene is about with super fun races.”

Another controlled men’s race was run off at an average speed of 47kph, with TRINITY Racing again targeting the individual win so committing riders to controlling the peloton while Ribble Weldtite and Wiv SunGod both eyed the team win and Freewheel.co.uk leaders’ jerseys.

“The key was you had to be first round the last corner, and hit it with speed and sprint from there,” said Lamperti, who won his US title in Knoxville, Tennessee last June.

“The team was perfect, start to finish, we controlled the whole race, and that was the plan. The other three guys have rode absolutely perfect in both rounds, I think that shows on the TV if you watch how they rode the whole time, rode the front all the way until the last lap, so set us up absolutely perfect.”

The Stranraer team win moves Ribble Weldtite to three points shy of series leaders Wiv SunGod, with the Wales Racing Academy in third place, five points back.  Ribble’s Harry Tanfield moved to within four points of Matt Bostock (Wiv SunGod) in the Freewheel.co.uk Sprints jersey.

At 19 and having raced in last September’s Tour of Britain, Lamperti is a positive old hand compared to 17-year-old Emma Jeffers who became the first junior rider to win a round of the Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series since Tom Pidcock in 2017.  Following on from their first team victory in Sunderland, Jeffers’ win was also Jadan – Vive Le Velo’s first individual win.

Jeffers headed home British circuit race champion Jo Tindley, Kate Richardson (Alba Development Team), and Sunderland race winner Sammie Stuart (Team LDN – Brother UK).

The four went clear after an early crash on the back straight outside the Castle of St John split the peloton and were never seen again by their chasers in the hour-long race.

Jeffers came off Tindley’s wheel out of final corner to comfortably head her home on the finish line alongside Loch Ryan.

“I can’t believe it,” said Jeffers speaking afterwards.  “I always look up to Jo, and all the racers, so to beat her is amazing.  I was hoping it was coming down to a sprint finish. I knew Sammie was maybe going to go longer, she is quite powerful in the longer sprint, so I saw her go and just tried to hang onto her wheel.”

In her first season of racing in the Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series Jeffers had already taken a top three in the Galashiels round.  “I love this kind of racing. Fast, technical, sprinty races, that’s what I love. I knew coming into these races, that I would enjoy it, and to get the results is even better,” said Jeffers.

An impressive performance by Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus, including a fastest lap for former series champion Rebecca Durrell, has moved them up to second in the standings, albeit 12 points in arrears on the leaders, while Jadan – Vive Le Velo sit one point further back.

For full results please click here.

Round 5 Clacton-on-Sea

PRESS RELEASE

THURSDAY 19 MAY 2022

WINS FOR MATT BOSTOCK AND SAMMIE STUART IN CLACTON

Matt Bostock (Wiv SunGod) and Sammie Stuart (Team LDN – Brother UK) were the individual winners as the Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series hit the Essex Sunshine Coast in Clacton-on-Sea.

Round five of the series saw the familiar sight of leaders Wiv SunGod back on top of the podium in the men’s team classification, countered by a first time victory for Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus in the women’s series, in the evening’s second event.

That race saw Stuart storm clear after two laps, setting the fastest lap of the race on tour number three, riding away from the peloton and gesturing to the crowd to cheer on as she built a 20-second lead within six laps.  Wearing the blue Freewheel.co.uk Sprints jersey (on behalf of classification leader Jo Tindley), Stuart swept all the intermediate prizes along the way.

Guisborough winner Sophie Lewis (CAMS – Basso) – back in the series for the first time after a spell on Great Britain track duty in Canada – began the counter move, leading the chase group of around a dozen riders along with Ellen McDermott (Team Boompods) and the Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen team, but couldn’t get the lead back into single figures.

Having trimmed the advantage to the low teens, Stuart’s fires were stoked in the closing stages increasing her lead to more than 30 seconds in a metronomic display of riding that broke the will of those behind.

“It feels unbelievable,” said Stuart who combines racing with duties as a firefighter in Lancashire. “I didn’t expect to win at Sunderland, I didn’t expect to win here. Two slightly different race – one break away with the group and then solo from quite early on tonight which I didn’t think I’d hold to be honest. I’m still in a bit of shock.

“Because it’s a technical course, just tried to go out and split the group up, a few riders went before me and then it was my turn to go, I turned back and no one had come with me. The gap then just grew, then it shortened, then it grew, then it shortened.

“I didn’t think, even with five laps to go, I had it in the bag, I kept sprinting all the way through. I looked up at 17 minutes on the clock and thought what have I done!? It was a tough session tonight, but I kept pushing till the end.”

The performance saw Stuart move to within five points of Freewheel.co.uk Sprints leader Tindley (Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen).

Tindley’s team hold a 10-point advantage over Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus, with Team Boompods a further seven points in arrears, meaning that barring disaster the title looks set to be heading to Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen for the first time in Manchester on Tuesday (21 May).

Wiv SunGod increased their lead to five points with two rounds – Barking and Manchester – remaining, thanks to the win on the night, and TRINITY Racing placing second ahead of defending champions Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling.

Their dominance meant a clean sweep of the podium with Bostock adding the evening’s Fastest Lap to an extended lead in the Freewheel.co.uk Sprints jersey having won every sprint on the night in Clacton.

Bostock crossed the line on Marine Parade a second clear of TRINITY’s Max Walker, with Wiv SunGod teammates Matt Gibson and Jacob Scott in third and fourth for a team win made comfortable in the closing stages by a last lap crash that split the front group.

Walker’s team-mate Sam Culverwell had looked the most likely to provide an upset – and a hat-trick of individual wins for his TRINITY team – but after being joined off the front by Charlie Tanfield (Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling) the pair were caught with three to go, first by Bostock and then the race of the chasers.

“The race was a bit cagey tonight”, said Isle of Man native Bostock afterwards. “It was quite hard to split and it was quite hard to attack so it was sort of neutralised. My main focus was to make sure I got the sprints tonight, because I’d lost a few points in the last few rounds and I wanted to get my sprint points back. Then after the last sprint I just thought that I’d just ride for the individual. I think we had the team wrapped up at that point so switched my focus to just being in the right position, brought the two back that were off the front with two laps to go. Thankfully Max Walker came round me, gave me a bit of a lead out and then I knew from the sprints how to take the last corner, and got it right. 

Commenting on his team’s performance and clean sweep of honours he said; “We deserved it from how we rode, and how we’ve tried to ride in the past few rounds. It’s not really gone right, but we’ve always been brave, always taken the race on, and it was nice tonight when it all pays off.”

Wiv SunGod head to Saturday’s London round with a five-point lead over Ribble Weldtite, who are their only realistic rivals with the Wales Racing Academy in third now 13 points off the pace and in a tight battle for third, with TRINITY and Saint Piran each a point a piece further back.

For full results please click here.

Round 6 Barking

PRESS RELEASE

SATURDAY 21 MAY 2022

OLLIE PECKOVER AND ELLEN MCDERMOTT WIN IN BARKING

Ollie Peckover edged Rory Townsend (Wiv SunGod) six thousands of a second in a thrilling finish in Barking, to lead his Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling team to the win and close the gap at the top of the Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series with one round to go.

Defending champions Ribble Weldtite now sit three points behind Wiv SunGod heading to Manchester for the 2022 Grand Final on Tuesday (24 May).

Meanwhile in the women’s series there were first wins for Ellen McDermott (Team Boompods) and Torelli – Cayman Islands – Scimitar, while Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes p/b Heidi Kjeldsen all but sealed the title with second place on the night to hold a fourteen point over Team Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus.

Speaking after winning the opening men’s race, 24-year-old Peckover from Nottingham said; “Last lap, coming out the bottom turn, nobody wanted to take it up, so in the end I ended up rolling through. I went and took the inside line, and Rory was gaining on me quite quick, but it was literally on the lunge.

“I had absolutely no idea I’d won until a good five minutes afterwards. Then it came over the radio that I’d just got it. So at that point it was a massive relief, to finally actually breathe.

“They are some of the biggest races you get in the UK, with a lot of publicity around these events and with it going all around the country, it does attract quite a lot of attention. I started the year, not quite knowing where the legs were at, but then in the last few weeks, riding a few rounds of the series, your legs do start to come into a bit of form. It’s really nice to actually get the win tonight, because obviously that shows that there’s hopefully better things to come for the second half of the season.”

Peckover was one of four riders to go clear in the final stages and while the quartet initially worked well together, come the final lap cooperation broke down with the Ribble Weldtite rider first to pick up the pace on the back straight.

Max Walker (TRINITY Racing) came through to lead out the sprint through the sweeping final two corners, with Peckover and Townsend accelerating past him for the long run to the line.  The pair were neck and neck all the way to the line with Peckover’s lunge edging him across the finish line first, by such a small margin (0.006) that neither rider initially knew who had taken the win.

Behind Walker took third with Wales Racing Academy’s Joe Beckingsale in fourth place.  Bostock (Wiv SunGod) led in the bunch in fifth, but with Harry Tanfield and Cameron Jeffers in sixth and seventh, the team win went to Ribble Weldtite, ahead of Wiv SunGod and the Wales Racing Academy.

Walker took the Fastest Lap on the night while Bostock holds a 18-point lead over Harry Tanfield in the Freewheel.co.uk Sprints competition with just 20 points left on the table in Manchester.

An aggressive performance from Team Boompods throughout the showpiece women’s event, including a long, lone attack by Monica Greenwood, set the tone but ultimately no rider could hold an advantage on the fast Barking circuit that lapped Abbey Gardens.

That set up a thirty plus group of riders to contest the finish, with McDermott going all the way around the outside on the final bend to lead the sprint to the line.  A length back McDermott was Stranraer winner Emma Jeffers (Jadan – Vive Le Velo), with Alba Development Team rider Kate Richardson in third.

McDermott – whose prize was the Mary Wollstonecraft Cup, honouring the pioneering feminist who once lived in the borough – said; “I’m absolutely buzzing. I think the team played a pivotal role in the whole win, we were so aggressive the whole race, we were firing riders off the front, left right and centre. I got a bit of a free ride towards to end, because Monica just put in this massive attack and stayed away.  I was just floating around in mid-pack thinking nice, if this comes back together I better sprint here, because the team have worked so hard and got it.

“For the last two laps the pace was quite high and it was really about holding the position. With the men’s race [first] I just knew how to win it, coming around that outside you were able to carry so much speed because it was really fast in the finish. I think holding speed around that bend you basically had it in the bag, I think that’s how the mens race was won as well, so I was like ‘if they can do it, so can I’”.

For full results please click here.