Joughin digs deep to take back-to-back victories
report by Ben Goddard, pictures by David Perry
Ben Joughin (Pro Vision Racing) timed his effort to perfection and clinched his second victory in as many weeks in the South Staffordshire & Shropshire Road Race League.
The 30-year-old, from Stoke-on-Trent, who sprinted to victory on the same course last week did the same on this occasion.
However, the handicap system made Joughin work for his victory and he only bridged across to the slower groups with a small chasing group of eight riders in the final stages of the race. The chasers averaged 28 miles per hour in windy conditions to take over a minute off the leading riders advantage in the closing miles.
Shrewsbury rider Chris Pook (Rhino Velo) challenged Joughin for his overall leader’s jersey but could only manage fourth in the dash for the line.
“It was hard work tonight as I was struggling a bit with a chest infection , said Joughin following the victory.
“I was on the back foot from the start and just sat in for the first couple of laps. There was an attack away from the scratch group with two laps to go which included eight riders.
“When it mattered I had the legs although I was struggling most of the night and I just pulled it out of the bag.
“One of my main rivals for overall Chris Pook made the split so I obviously couldn’t let him go up the road and had to chase. We then put the hammer down and made contact with the leading group with about one kilometre to go.
“It was pretty close on the line, when David Griffiths jumped I knew he was strong and I just managed to get around him on the line.
“I wanted to defend the yellow jersey tonight.”
Oswestry based rider David Griffiths (Mammoth Lifestyle) was just beaten into second while Ben Manfield (Morvelo Basso RT) finished third. The rest of the scratch group failed to catch the first groups away and had to settle for the minor placings.
Steph Clayton (Mammoth Lifestyle RT) was the fastest woman of the night finishing safely in the chasing bunch.
| Pos | No | Name | Club | Time | Cat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | Ben Joughin | Pro Vision Race Team | 01:06:47.61 | 2nd |
| 2 | 23 | David Griffiths | Mammoth Lifestyle Racing Team | 0.05 | 2nd |
| 3 | 95 | Ben Manfield-Yorke | Morvelo Basso RT | 0.15 | |
| 4 | 17 | Chris Pook | Rhino Velo Race Team | 0.362 | 2nd |
| 5 | 99 | William Fotheringham | Halesowen A & CC | 0.61 | |
| 6 | 14 | Danny Smith | Mammoth Lifestyle Racing Team | 0.627 | 2nd |
| 7 | 3 | Kirk Vickers | Rhino Velo Race Team | 0.762 | 1st |
| 8 | 28 | Jason Meyer | Stourbridge Velo | 1.043 | 3rd |
| 9 | 4 | Matthew Garthwaite | Rhino Velo Race Team | 1.176 | 1st |
| 10 | 77 | Chris Bragg | Stourbridge Velo | 1.193 | 4th |
| 11 | 50 | James Green | Stourbridge CC | 1.331 | 3rd |
| 12 | 80 | Jonathan Perry | Stourbridge CC | 1.772 | 4th |
| 13 | 89 | David Whitehouse | Walsall RCC | 1.877 | 4th |
| 14 | 53 | James Griffiths | Clee Cycles | 2.035 | 4th |
| 15 | 59 | Andrew Tomlinson | Wolverhampton RCC | 2.101 | 3rd |
| 16 | 68 | James Gibney | West Midlands Police CC | 2.333 | 4th |
| 17 | 83 | Darren Cadwallader | Stourbridge CC | 2.51 | 4th |
| 18 | 58 | Garry Bolton | Wolverhampton Whls | 4.248 | 3rd |
| 19 | 74 | Laurence Cooley | Beacon Roads CC | 4.964 | 4th |
| 20 | 70 | Darren Winterburn | DMW – BRIDGTOWN | 5.456 | 4th |
| 21 | 97 | Mark Reeves | Stourbridge Velo | 6.184 | |
| 22 | 87 | Peter Taylor | Stourbridge Velo | 6.447 | 4th |
| 23 | 90 | Neil Ruston | Stourbridge CC | 7.056 | 4th |
| 24 | 7 | Anthony Neave | Stourbridge CC | 43.707 | 3rd |
| 25 | 52 | Chris Lloyd | Stourbridge CC | 43.884 | 3rd |
| 26 | 6 | Phillip Glaze | Stourbridge CC | 44.246 | 3rd |
| 27 | 51 | Scott Palmer | Stourbridge CC | 44.514 | 3rd |
| 28 | 15 | Nick Morris | Clee Cycles | 44.704 | 4th |
| 29 | 2 | Josh Yates | Mammoth Lifestyle Racing Team | 44.711 | 2nd |
| 30 | 21 | Stuart Glover | Rhino Velo Race Team | 44.736 | 2nd |
| 31 | 1 | Alexander Simmons | Pro Vision Race Team | 44.835 | 2nd |
| 32 | 101 | Sam Beeston | Pro Vision Race Team | 44.942 | |
| 33 | 60 | Ian Foster | DMW – BRIDGTOWN | 45.51 | 4th |
| 34 | 43 | Steph Clayton | Mammoth Lifestyle Racing Team | 45.664 | 1st |
| 35 | 39 | Timothy Fullwood | Paramount CRT | 45.741 | 3rd |
| 36 | 47 | Tom Pook | Rhino Velo Race Team | 45.742 | 4th |
| 37 | 25 | Brett Lowndes | Pro Vision Cycle Clothing | 45.942 | 3rd |
| 38 | 27 | Graham South | Rhino Velo Race Team | 46.555 | 3rd |
| 39 | 49 | James Brisco | Wolverhampton Whls | 47.461 | 3rd |
| 40 | 16 | Oliver Kyte | Rhino Velo Race Team | 49.45 | 3rd |
| 41 | 10 | Joe Charley | Stourbridge CC | 49.461 | 3rd |
| 42 | 100 | Ben Pinches | Wolverhampton Whls | 51.373 | |
| 43 | 31 | Neil Hayward | Stourbridge CC | 01:08.18 | 3rd |
| 44 | 98 | Samuel Blackbourn | Paramount CRT | 04:04.91 | |
| 45 | 93 | Melissa Brand | Team Ford Ecoboost | 04:04.93 | |
| 46 | 96 | Will Manfield-Yorke | Wolverhampton Whls | 04:05.16 | |
| 47 | 62 | Ian Lister | Wolverhampton Whls | 04:05.53 | 3rd |
| 48 | 76 | Annie Stanford | Paramount CRT | 04:05.68 | 4th |
| 49 | 40 | Ben Crone | Halesowen A & CC | 04:05.83 | 3rd |
| 50 | 85 | Simon Haycock | Stourbridge CC | 04:06.71 | 4th |
| 51 | 79 | Jonathan Myers | Wolverhampton RCC | 16:08.44 | 4th |
| DNF | 63 | Charlie Fisher | Newport Shropshire CC | DNF | 3rd |
| DNF | 75 | Ben Holland | DMW – BRIDGTOWN | DNF | 4th |
| DNF | 9 | Joseph Hobbs | Halesowen A & CC | DNF | 2nd |
| DNF | 26 | Stuart Ream | Pro Vision Race Team | DNF | 3rd |
| DNF | 34 | Stephen Edwards | Wolverhampton Whls | DNF | 3rd |
| DNF | 92 | Andy Jones | Wolverhampton Whls | DNF | 3rd |
| DNF | 67 | Leah Dixon | Wolverhampton Whls | DNF | 4th |
| DNF | 94 | Tim Challinor | Pro Vision Race Team | DNF | |
| DNF | 19 | Simon Bradeley | Pro Vision Race Team | DNF | 3rd |
| DNF | 88 | Philip Richardson | Wolverhampton Whls | DNF | 4th |
| DNF | 44 | Craig Whittle | DMW – BRIDGTOWN | DNF | 3rd |