Dominant win for Tom Stockdale

Please take time out to back our "Keep Racing on the Roads" campaign to save Road racing by becoming a fan of our dedicated facebook page

Story posted May 7, 2010

Team qoroz's youngest rider, Tom Stockdale scored a dominant victory in the Chas Messenger Support race last Sunday. On a disgustingly wet and windy day, 65 riders set-off into the very hilly roads around Oakley near Oxford, to tackle a tough 60 mile route.

Right: Victory for young Tom. Image credit: Dave Hayward

Immediately after the start, Tom attacked hard in an attempt to split the whole bunch and whittle down his rivals in such horrible conditions. At only the 5 mile mark, he was alone off the front with a 45 second gap. Using his head well he realised that lasting the full race distance on his own was impossible, so he eased - up and was joined by a dozen riders.

After 30 miles, Tom again attacked hard and got away with Sam Redding and Crispin Doyle to join two riders from Cambridge Uni at the head of the race. A small bout of cramp delayed Tom, with the leading four now gaining ground ahead.

Tom was now in the chase group which was working well and when the leaders were within 30 seconds, he attacked hard once again, this time with Kieran Dineen and joined the 4 leaders. This leading group of six was full of attacking riding in the final 5 km, until Tom put-in an all or nothing move which paid-off.

With a winning margin of 30 seconds he was able to celebrate in style after this hard-fought and demanding race. A very real show of aggression and commitment from Team qoroz's junior. Once again a great deal of encouragement for the immediate future and Tom's continued development as a top-class rider.

In the feature Chas Messenger race, Hugh put in a very creditable performance on the extended and hillier route as used in the Premier Calendar race, finishing in the much reduced main bunch in 26th place. Luke continued his comeback  from a nasty broken wrist, lasting 110km in his tough first road race since his accident. This weekend see the team tackle the Lincoln GP Premier Calendar, which should be both fun and painful in equal measure. Follow the team and all its activities on www.qoroz.co.uk/team