Lincolnshire Champion Mark Cotton (Bycka Sport Racing) rode away to another victory by almost 2 minutes in the latest Lincolnshire Cyclo Cross event at a wet and windy Winterton Showground.
Cotton (pictured) started fast leading almost immediately and opened a small gap on the opening lap with only Jon Wells (VC Lincoln) reacting quick enough to go with him. Wells stayed in contention close on Cotton’s wheel through the first lap and a half but dropped off the pace and back to Tom Stewart (Doncaster Wheelers) (pictured below) who had sprinted clear from the group behind.
Lawrence Frost (Ashfield RC) then joined them and after chasing hard for more than a lap the tri were now a quartet as Gareth Hewitt (RST Racing Team) also got across as Cotton kept the pressure on at the head of the race.
The windy conditions would make it difficult for any one of these 4 riders to get away and claim 2nd on their own and with 3 of the 10 laps remaining the rain swept in making the grassy corners more and more slippery. Stewart was looking composed in the group and was bunny hopping the double plank where the others were running. This was made harder by this obstacles being on the lip of a mound.
Stewart was able to gap his rivals over this part of the course but he could not make this advantage tell and was pegged back each time.
With Cotton about two minutes in front and heading for his 10th victory of the season the battle for second place looked like going all the way to the line. Frost got to the front of the group and led into the headwind in a determined effort to get to the planks ahead of Stewart who was second in line.
On a corner before the planks riders slipped in the muddy conditions and it was Wells who found himself on the floor with gaps beginning to open. Frost sprinted up to the finish straight to hold off Stewart, Hewitt and Wells who were separated by only a few seconds.
Peter Cocker (Witham Wheelers) took top Junior in 7th and Jordan Gell (VC Lincoln) was 2nd Junior in 13th. Adam Ellis (Spalding CC) was the top Vetean in 9th, just 15 seconds in front of Pete Fielding-Smith (Ricahrdsons RT), a previous Senior winner on this course, who was 2nd vet.
Steve Potter (Lindsey Roads) was top over 50 in 18th and Louise Day (Gabby Day Cyclesport RT) was the first Lady in 23rd.
Spalding CC clubmates Jake Peel and Sam Bentley (pictured above) took the top two places in the youth race in a close sprint finish while Max Williamson (Lincsquad) was again the top under 14 rider.
As usual Matt Ellis and Jake Norton (both Spalding CC) took first and second places in the Under 12s with Kerrigan Robb (Witham Wheelers) the only other rider not lapped.
Results:
Seniors:
1 Mark Cotton (Bycka Sport Racing)
2 Lawrence Frost (Ashfield RC) @ 1:57
3 Tom Stewart (Doncaster Wheelers) @ 1:58
4 Gareth Hewitt (RST Racing Team) @ 2:00
5 Jon Wells (VC Lincoln) @ 2:01
6 Robert Howden (Beeston CC) @ 3:54
7 Peter Cocker (Witham Wheelers) @ 4:08
8 Richard Hamblin (Sleaford Wheelers) @ 4:41
9 Adam Ellis (Spalding CC) @ 4:54
10 Pete Fielding-Smith (Richardsons RT) @ 5:09
Juniors: Peter Cocker. Veterans: Adam Ellis. Women: Louise Day (Gabby Day Cyclesport RT).
Youth:
1 Jake Peel (Spalding CC) 30:48
2 Sam Bentley (Spalding CC) same time
3 Campbell Pollock (Bourne Wheelers) : 4:44
4 Max Williamson (Lincsquad) @ 5:19
5 James Armstrong (VC Lincoln) @ 5:48
6 Reece Moradakhan (Spalding CC) @ 6:48
Under-14s: Max Williamson. Girls: Louise Beedham.
Under-12s:
1 Matthew Ellis (Spalding CC) 11:25
2 Jake Norton (Spalding CC) @ 20sec
3 Kerrigan Robb (Witham Wheelers) @ 50sec
British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.
