Location: Slamannan, Falkirk
Event: 1 September 2013
Report: Snowdon Sports
Photos: Ian Henderson
Craig Wallace (Granite City RT) soloed to victory to help Granite City win the For the Shirt Trophy road race in Falkirk.
Fourteen of Scotland’s top club teams battled it out in Falkirk Bicycle Club’s annual team road race.
Granite City RT came out on top in what is Scotland’s only team based road race with 75 riders in teams of six set out on the challenging course contested over six laps with over 500 feet of climbing on each lap.
A strong westerly wind added to the challenge and resulted in riders retiring as early as the first lap.
The main bunch began to disintegrate on lap one with five riders heading off the front on the initial climb.
Three riders bridged the gap with Granite City, Moray Firth and GJS/Cruise Racing all having two riders in the break, by the half-way point the break had established a lead of over one minute on the swelled chasers.
A collision on the fastest part of the course forced a late diversion sparing the riders the final climb to Limerigg.
Wallace, aged 18, from Aberdeen attacked the lead group and establishing a narrow lead which he had increased by the finish to win by 54 seconds over a chasing group of seven riders.
With the climbs and the wind taking its toll the main bunch was reduced to 11 riders with small groups forming as they battled for the team points.
Granite City and Moray Firth benefitted from having two riders in the lead group with GJS/Cruise Racing, despite losing their second rider from the lead group making it a three way contest.
In the end Granite City came out on top with GJS/Cruise Racing eight points behind and Moray Firth taking third spot a further five points behind.
On a human note it was gratifying to see riders stopping and giving assistance to fellow riders who crashed out during the race.
Those who did should be commended for putting the welfare of others before their own result.
Results:
Team:
1 Granite City
2 GJS/Cruise Racing
3 Moray Firth
4 Dooleys Cycles
5 VC Edinburgh
6 Deeside Thistle
Individual:
1 Craig Wallace (Granite City RT)
2 Craig Adams (GJS/Cruise Racing)
3 Andrew Whitehall (Velo Ecosse)
4 Kenneth Riddle (Moray Firth CC)
5 Veli-Matti Raikkonen (Granite City RT)
6 Jamie Kennedy (Paisley Velo RT)
7 Brian Widdison (Moray Firth Cycling Club)
8 Stuart McCluskey (Dooleys Cycles)
9 John Gartland (GSJ/ Cruise Racing)
10 Gerry McGarrity (Dooleys Cycling)
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.
