Location: Hetton Lyons, near Sunderland
Event: 12 May 2012
Report: Matt France
Adam Robertson (Blumilk.com) took the honours at the second round of the Sunderland Clarion Criterium Series staged at Hetton Lyons Country Park near Sunderland on Saturday.
Robertson narrowly beat last week’s winner James King (MountivationDevelopmentAcademy) after a five man breakaway escaped late into the 2/3/4 race, sponsored by TTR Barnes Chartered Accountants.
A large field of 42 riders from across the North East and beyond took to the start line at a sunny Hetton Lyons. The race set off at a strong pace, despite this a number of riders tried to escape from the bunch.
It looked like no breaks would stay away, as break after break was reeled in by the bunch. The first prime was won by James Anderson (Blackhawk Bikes) after escaping briefly from the clutches of the bunch.
The second prime was won by Andrew Wooler (Aire Valley Racing Team), soon after four riders broke away, soon joined by a fifth. Despite some evident tension in the group as the laps counted down and they took the bell, the escapees managed to stay away from the bunch, with Robertson taking the victory. The podium was rounded out by King and Alex Hopper (Velo 29 Cycling Team). The bunch quickly followed with a sprint for the remaining places.
In the earlier 4th cat/go-race event, it was David Charman (Blackhawk Bikes) who clinched the victory from Carl Donaldson (Breeze Bikes) with Tony Dickinson (Sunderland Clarion) close behind in third.
The race was a faster pace affair than the previous week, and the damp track made the racing more eventful with a crash breaking up the pack mid way through the thirty minutes. The prime sprint was taken by Donaldson, who put in a strong performance.
As numbers dwindled the pace meant that the race was heading for another sprint finish despite the best efforts of a number of riders to try and string things out.
Results:
2/3/4 Race:
1 Adam Robertson (Blumilk.com)
2 James King (Mountivation Development Academy)
3 Alex Hopper (Velo 29 Cycling Team)
4 Rick King (VC Briganti - Cycleways RT)
5 William Brown (Blackhawk Bikes)
6 Jack Sadler (Mountivation Development Academy)
7 Taylor Cardus (Velo 29 Cycling Team)
8 Rob Wheeler (Blackhawk Bikes)
9 Tom Timothy (Velo29-OTR-Vankru)
10 Carl Donaldson (Breeze Bikes)
4th Cat/Go Race:
1 David Charman (Blackhawk Bikes)
2 Carl Donaldson (Breeze Bikes)
3 Anthony Dickinson (Sunderland Clarion)
4 Matty Cooper (Achieve CC)
5 Steve Orchard (Columba)
6 Keith Sibbald
7 Rory McCrystal (Gosforth RC)
8 Harry Craig (Border City Wheelers CC)
9 Charles Monchâtre (Sunderland Clarion)
10 Eric Henderson (Houghton Le Spring CC)
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.
