report by Ben Goddard, pictures by David Perry
Charles Walker (Catford CC Equipe/Banks) charged clear to take victory in a wet round eight of the South Staffordshire & Shropshire Road Race League
The 19-year-old, from Stourbridge timed his effort to perfection catching two breakaway leaders with a hundred metres remaining and powering to victory.
It was Kirk Vickers, from Wem, who had launched an early bid for home joined by Josh Yates (Mammoth Lifestyle).
The pairing nearly made it to the finish only to be caught by a charging Walker metres before the finish line.
However, Vickers held on for second and moved up to third overall above Rhino Velo team-mate Chris Pook.
“It was grim tonight but the scratch handicap group worked quite well and we caught the other groups quite quickly,” said Vickers.
“I saw an opportunity to go solo and I saw Josh (Yates) was about to jump across so I waited for him and we pulled out a gap.
“Coming into the last junction we were still pushing it but were about to be caught so we were forced to open the sprint early.
“The second place moved me up to the top three overall, I have been consistently in the top four this series and it’s all about consistency.
“I think the yellow jersey is already out of reach but you never know what might happen with the round at Sundourne approaching which is my home circuit, so I will hopefully do well there.
“Outside the league I have been riding some pretty big races this season but suffered a crash in the Shrewsbury Grand Prix which knocked me back a bit and Im just getting back into form from that.”
Despite wet and cold conditions 54 riders took to the start in Penkridge to complete five laps of a rolling circuit which included a main road climb making a total distance of 33 miles.
The first group away in the handicap format had an eight minutes advantage over the last group to start but due to the conditions and the speed of the chasers the race was together on the penultimate lap.
Overall leader Ben Joughin (Pro Vision Racing) sprinted home in sixth position to retain his overall leader but saw his advantage shrink slightly as second place and leading veteran Matthew Morris (Wolverhampton Whls) finished a place ahead of him.
Fastest junior Alfie Mortimer (Mid Shropshire Whls) showed his consistency with a 10th place finish.
Steph Clayton (Mammoth Lifestyle) was again fastest woman finishing in 33rd .
| Pos | No | Name | Club | Time | Cat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 96 | Charles Walker | Catford CC Equipe/Banks | 01:13:50.09 | |
| 2 | 3 | Kirk Vickers | Rhino Velo Race Team | 0.596 | 1st |
| 3 | 2 | Josh Yates | Mammoth Lifestyle Racing Team | 2.6 | 2nd |
| 4 | 4 | Matthew Garthwaite | Rhino Velo Race Team | 3.24 | 1st |
| 5 | 5 | Matthew Morris | Wolverhampton Whls | 3.396 | 2nd |
| 6 | 20 | Ben Joughin | Pro Vision Race Team | 3.977 | 2nd |
| 7 | 99 | Will Manfield-Yorke | Wolverhampton Whls | 4.701 | |
| 8 | 15 | Nick Morris | Clee Cycles | 5.753 | 4th |
| 9 | 12 | Will Corden | Mammoth Lifestyle Racing Team | 5.886 | 1st |
| 10 | 37 | Alfie Mortimer | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | 6.138 | 3rd |
| 11 | 27 | Graham South | Rhino Velo Race Team | 6.971 | 3rd |
| 12 | 97 | Ben Wadey | Clee Cycles | 7.914 | |
| 13 | 31 | Neil Hayward | Stourbridge CC | 8.047 | 3rd |
| 14 | 93 | Sam Beeston | Pro Vision Race Team | 9.035 | |
| 15 | 85 | Simon Haycock | Stourbridge CC | 11.873 | 4th |
| 16 | 11 | Ben Lloyd | Pro Vision Race Team | 11.958 | 3rd |
| 17 | 56 | Christopher Taylor | Wolverhampton Whls | 12.352 | 3rd |
| 18 | 80 | Jonathan Perry | Stourbridge CC | 12.366 | 4th |
| 19 | 14 | Danny Smith | Mammoth Lifestyle Racing Team | 12.45 | 2nd |
| 20 | 28 | Jason Meyer | Stourbridge Velo | 13.614 | 3rd |
| 21 | 100 | Matt Bonehill | Mammoth Lifestyle Racing Team | 21.271 | |
| 22 | 1 | Alexander Simmons | Pro Vision Race Team | 35.624 | 2nd |
| 23 | 16 | Oliver Kyte | Rhino Velo Race Team | 38.771 | 3rd |
| 24 | 58 | Garry Bolton | Wolverhampton Whls | 59.881 | 3rd |
| 25 | 90 | Neil Ruston | Stourbridge CC | 02:23.18 | 4th |
| 26 | 102 | David Smith | Mammoth Lifestyle Racing Team | 02:25.83 | |
| 27 | 70 | Darren Winterburn | DMW – BRIDGTOWN | 02:26.54 | 4th |
| 28 | 74 | Laurence Cooley | Beacon Roads CC | 02:29.14 | 4th |
| 29 | 72 | Thomas Colley | Newport CC | 02:30.37 | 4th |
| 30 | 83 | Darren Cadwallader | Stourbridge CC | 02:30.56 | 4th |
| 31 | 94 | Simon Smewyn | SSC | 02:33.03 | |
| 32 | 77 | Chris Bragg | Stourbridge Velo | 03:26.12 | 4th |
| 33 | 43 | Steph Clayton | Mammoth Lifestyle Racing Team | 03:26.20 | 1st |
| 34 | 59 | Andrew Tomlinson | Wolverhampton RCC | 03:26.23 | 3rd |
| 35 | 45 | Rob Childs | Stourbridge Velo | 03:26.31 | 3rd |
| 36 | 95 | Mark Reeves | Stourbridge Velo | 03:26.75 | |
| 37 | 69 | Alec Bond | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | 03:28.11 | 4th |
| 38 | 63 | Charlie Fisher | Newport Shropshire CC | 10:28.10 | 3rd |
| 39 | 76 | Annie Stanford | Paramount CRT | 13:20.70 | 4th |
| 40 | 79 | Jonathan Myers | Wolverhampton RCC | 13:20.70 | 4th |
| 41 | 64 | Rebecca Simmons | Clee Cycles | 13:51.38 | 3rd |
| 42 | 98 | Melissa Baker | Karbona RT | 1 Lap | |
| DNF | 103 | Matt Williams | Run & Ride | DNF | |
| DNF | 36 | Matthew Redworth | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | DNF | 3rd |
| DNF | 75 | Ben Holland | DMW – BRIDGTOWN | DNF | 4th |
| DNF | 24 | Ian Thomas | Clee Cycles | DNF | 3rd |
| DNF | 25 | Brett Lowndes | Pro Vision Cycle Clothing | DNF | 3rd |
| DNF | 34 | Stephen Edwards | Wolverhampton Whls | DNF | 3rd |
| DNF | 49 | James Brisco | Wolverhampton Whls | DNF | 3rd |
| DNF | 88 | Philip Richardson | Wolverhampton Whls | DNF | 4th |
| DNF | 40 | Ben Crone | Halesowen A & CC | DNF | 3rd |
| DNF | 51 | Scott Palmer | Stourbridge CC | DNF | 3rd |
| DNS | 21 | Stuart Glover | Rhino Velo Race Team | DNS | 2nd |