Good(wood) day for Redhill!

Redhill CC Cat 4 racers really put in a good show on Sunday at the second Goodwood race of the season.

With eight riders in the Cat 4 race and one lady in the womens race we were out there in force! Tim Sales also made a return to racing by taking part in the Cat 3 race a bit later on, not to mention his sons George and Will competing in the youth races!

Jonathan's Cat 4 Race Report:

It was cold but sunny as the Cat 4 racers lined up at Goodwood on Sunday morning. The 20mph north easterlies were going to make the going very tough as we all soon found out.

The men were off first, followed a minute or so later by the ladies.

Tony, Stuart, Rob, Chris, Nathan, Simon, Matt and I all started well with Tony and I having a little foray off the front on lap 2 only to get sucked back in by the start of lap 3.

Lisa, the sole lady Redhill representative also made a solid start in her race. I didn’t witness much of it but she looked to be going well.

Not much changed in the men’s race until lap 5 when I was forced onto the grass by some very dodgy cornering from a private entrant which cost me my speed, and into the very strong headwind, meant I had lost momentum and a gap formed between me and the pack which I attempted to close for another lap but was unable to bridge it as I ran out of steam.

Back with the ladies and a group of three managed to form a breakaway. Lisa chased hard and on her own into the strong headwind showed great determination.

Again with the men, and on the very next lap, a nasty crash occurred but luckily none of the Redhill chaps were involved. The crash caused a split in the peloton and luckily 3 Redhill riders, Nathan, Tony and Rob were on the right side of it. The winner would ultimately come from this group whilst the rest of the guys chased on with others in the second group.

A couple of laps later and with the speed increasing the front runners started to get strung out but some strong riding kept things looking good for Redhill.

As the leaders came through the chicane for the sprint for the line the 3 Redhill lads were still up there. A great ride meant Rob took 3rd, Nathan 6th and Tony 7th. What a result. 3 top ten finishers out of a field of 92 riders!

As the ladies came to finish Lisa finished with an impressive 6th place. Full results are available on the Surrey League website at http://www.surreyleague.co.uk/results/results2010/apr2010/apr11-4.htm

Well done to all, a great effort, especially for Matt Dunk who came 25th in his first road race too!

Tim Sales' youth races report:

Perhaps inspired by the terrific showing by our 4th cat racers today with the 3 top ten finishes George did deliver as promised a win in his race. George rode an aggressive race trying several times to get his attacks to stick, finally one did on the final lap and George crossed the line punching the air in a Cancellara style.

Will had a tougher race pitting his wits against a British Cycling Talent Team rider who broke away. Will managed to catch the rider who then stayed firmly glued to his wheel until the finish when he just jumped off and rode past Will who got 3rd place. Results available at http://www.surreyleague.co.uk/results/results2010/apr2010/apr11-y.htm

Note that the photo is from the 28th March event and will be updated with one from the 11th as soon as it is available!

Event / Article Type
Surrey League Goodwood road races
The lineup