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Hounslow & District Wheelers
Peter Young Memorial Road** Race 28th March 2010 – Report.**
Alex Higham (Wyndymilla-Maxifuel) crossed the finish line alone to win the 85 mile Peter Young Memorial Road Race. His time was a rapid 3hours 19 minutes 40 seconds.
He had chosen the right break to go with, and then the right moment to leave it and go on his own. The break, originally containing twelve riders left the main field with only about twenty miles covered, and although there had been earlier attempts, this was the one that worked. The courage of these riders must be admired since they had to hold off a big bunch for over sixty miles.
On the finishing circuit with two laps to go Ben Luckwell (Wilier/Bigmaggys) attacked but failed to get completely clear, and in a classic but well judged move Higham counterattacked just as Luckwell was recaught. Luckwell, not surprisingly, was unable to respond and the rest of the group dithered for a moment allowing a gap to open. The Wyndymilla man was off, apparently managing the last seven miles on his own without difficulty.
Alex commented afterwards that he was a bit concerned by having no team mates with him, unlike most of the others, but that he had felt strong all day. And from the roadside ‘strong’ was just how he looked. Ben Luckwell was a little disappointed with his second place, believing he would probably have won the sprint if the break had stayed together. However, he couldn’t really complain about his weekend – he had won a criterium on the Saturday!
Last year’s winner, Gary Dodd (Sigma Sport) said he had tried to organise a chase but he found it difficult to get the bunch to work together, although eventually they managed to start reducing their deficit and at one point on the sixth lap the gap was down to a bare minute. This was the closest they ever got to the flying breakaway.
This race has never had a team prize, but if there had been one, Team Zappi’s would have deserved to win it. Although strictly speaking the Wilier/Bigmaggys team achieved slightly higher placings, what impresses about the Zappi team is that they are young second and third cats. taking on established elite riders. There must be some wisdom in Italian cycling practice.
Result:
Then the bunch at 2 minutes 6 seconds, led by 12.Josh Gosslin (Guernsey CC), 13. Duncan Putnam(Team Nemesis), 14. Ian Rees (Wilier), 15. Jack Kirk, (Zappi’s) 16. Gary Dodd (Sigma Sport) and the rest all same time