Welsh Road Race Championships
 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 |
Sunday, May 23rd | thanks to Steve Thomas
Dale Appleby (Team Raleigh) was too strong for his breakaway companions after a long race to decide the Welsh Road Race championship and who gets to wear the champion's jersey for the next 12 months.
The title race began in hot weather with a break of eight riders going clear at the start of the second of five laps and included in the group were riders such as Gareth McGuiness, Ian Sutcliffe and Anthony Malarczyk.
They managed to etch out a lead of two minutes after some hard graft but that lead was brought back to 30 seconds by the end of lap three when Dale Appleby and Brendan Sullivan took advantage of the small gap and jumped across to the break.
With the distance and heat taking its toll on all the riders, and the pace lifting in the break after the arrival of Appleby and Sullivan, many of the original break were shelled with one and a half laps to go leaving Appleby, Sutcliffe, McGuiness, Malarczyk and Sullivan to ride away again.
With heads falling in the chase group, the break had gained a minute by the finish where Appleby was too strong in the sprint to clinch the title from McGuiness. Ben Simmons soloed in 40 seconds later with the bunch nearly catching him on the line.
Result
1. Dale Appleby - Team Raleigh
2. Gareth McGuiness - Energy Cycles
3. Brendan Sullivan - Cardiff Ajax
4. Ian Sutcliffe - Abergavenny RC
5. Anthony Malarczyk - AC/DC
6. Ben Simmons - Wiggle
7. Hugh Wilson - Team Qoroz
8. Tim Rose - Abergavenny RC
