Location: Govilon, Abergavenny
Event: November 25 2012
Report: Snowdon Sports
JUNIOR Adam King (Cardiff JIF) returned from World Cup duty in Koksijde the day before to show the rest of the field a metaphorically clean pair of wheels at the ninth round of the Welsh League, the Cross Over The Canal event at Govilon, near Abergavenny.
The farmland course, designed by the evergreen Graham Edwards, rode well despite the overnight rain and 17-year-old King – who finished second of the British riders in Belgium in 26th place - looked comfortable throughout, expertly negotiating the slippery turns and climbs to finish a good minute ahead of the previous week's winner, Jonathan Pugh (CycleTec).
Behind the leading pair, Ian Jeremiah (Cardiff JIF) won a three-way battle with Andrew Baum (Cwmcarn Paragon RC) and Mark James (Team Jewson) to take third place as best veteran.
“I was a bit tired after Saturday so I thought I would just go out hard for a couple of laps and try to hold it which I managed to do,” said King, from Whitchurch. “It probably did look comfortable, but I wouldn’t like to describe it that way!
“It was pretty hard in Belgium. It was foggy, raining and five degrees when we got up, and the rain made the sand wet and difficult to ride on.
“But the crowd was still huge and the whole experience of racing there for the first time was pretty amazing.
“My form is coming on pretty well, there is a National Trophy next weekend and hopefully I can get up there again and keep improving.”
Melanie Alexander (Cardiff JIF) made a rare appearance and was a comfortable winner of the women's race.
There was another thrilling finale to the youth race courtesy of under-16 Hefin Evans (Towy Riders) and under-14 newcomer Tomos Nesham (Newport Velo) which tipped the way of the former when Nesham slipped out on a muddy climb as they neared the finish. Under-14 Jessica Roberts (Towy Riders) showed the boys a thing or two to finish first girl in fourth place.
Results:
Senior:
1 Adam King (Cardiff JIF)
2 Jonathan Pugh (CycleTec)
3 Ian Jeremiah (Cardiff JIF)
4 Andrew Baum (Cwmcarn Paragon RC)
5 Mark James (Team Jewson/MI Racing)
6 Luke Cornish (Cwmcarn Paragon RC)
7 James Nixon (CycleTec)
8 Andrew Parry (Urban Cyclery)
9 Lee Davies (mtb-marathon.co.uk)
10 Mark Spratt (Cardiff JIF)
Veteran:
Ian Jeremiah
Junior:
Adam King
Woman:
Melanie Alexander (Cardiff JIF)
Youth:
1 Hefin Evans (Towy Riders)
2 Tomos Nesham (Newport Velo)
3 Harry Sowden (Clayton Cars)
4 Jessica Roberts (Towy Riders)
5 Alister Williams (Abergavenny RC)
Under-16 Girl:
Ffion James (Abergavenny RC)
Under-14 Boy:
Tomos Nesham
Under-14 Girl:
Jessica Roberts
Under-12 Boy:
Oliver Beere (Maindy Flyers)
Under-12 Girl:
Eluned King (Towy Riders)
Under-10 Boy:
Joshua Tarling (West Wales Cycle Racing)
Under-10 Girl:
Rosie Finucane (Towy Riders)
Under-8 Boy:
Garan Jones (Towy Riders)
Under-8 Girl:
Awen Roberts (Towy Riders)
Please credit www.britishcycling.org.uk and link back if you use any of our race results.
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.
