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Report: Reading Track League

Event: 9th May 2011
Promoted by: Reading Track Cycling League
Venue: Palmer Park Sports Centre, Reading
Report and images: Guy Swarbrick
Event Details

It was another clear but windy night at Palmer Park Velodrome for the League Individual Pursuit competition. Not ideal conditions, but at least the forecast showers stayed away.

The evening opened with the VIA International 10 Lap Scratch for the Senior As. After a furious start the race settled down and was still together at the bell. It was Under 16 rider Dan Maslin of Prestige VC - making his first appearance of the season - who lead out the sprint with AW Cycles trio Stephen Bradbury, Rob King and William Macke hard on his heels and came on the home straight with a lead of two bike lengths. It was Bradbury who had the momentum, though, and he came through to take the win with Maslin holding on for second and Macke opening his Senior A points account in third place.

Above: Abbie Dentus of Palmer Park Velo comes round Sarra Boyd of Clee Cycles to take the Ladies Sprint Final.

In the Senior B event it was Mark Macleod who made the move in the closing stages, by Maslin's team mate Louis Magnani - also an Under 16 - led the charge to pull him back in and entered the home straight with Max Brown of Didcot Phoenix on his wheel and Rikki Pankhurst of AW Cycles looking to come round them both. There was nothing much to separate them on the line but Magnani just had the edge with Pankhurst sneaking second on the line.

Above: Dan Maslin of Prestige VC leads out the VIA International 10 Lap Scratch with race winner Stephen Bradbury of AW Cycles coming through fast on the blue line.

With the light fading fast, the Individual Pursuit heats were off next - with 19 riders signing on for 9 laps of pain in 5 heats. Sam Sturgeon of Team Terminator posted a creditable 5:32.68 in the opening heat, but couldn't match Newbury RC's Ian Greenstreet who posted a 5:22.63 - just 8 seconds off last year's winning time.

King edged ahead of Sturgeon with a 5:30.37 but it was team mate Nick English who leapt to the top of the time sheets with a 5:15.17 - just a second of Bryan Taylor's time from last year. Heat three was a close affair with early Senior A series leader Cam Swarbrick of AW Cycles fastest - slipping in to third overall behind Greenstreet with a 5:29.8 - just over a second faster than team mate Frazier Carr, who went fifth behind King.

Above: Louis Magnani of Prestige VC leads out the VIA International 10 Lap Scratch for Senior B riders with Max Brown of Didcot Phoneix on his wheel.

In the penultimate heat, Matt Gittings - pre-race joint favourite with English - set the pace although, in the early stages Martyn Harris of Banjo Cycles matched him for pace. That probably wasn't the best strategy and Harris started to fade in the closing stages with Bradbury overhauling him to set the second fastest time in the heat with a 5:33.40 but it was Gittings who finished first. It wasn't quite enough to catch English but the 5:19.8 was good enough to move ‘Omelette' into second place.

Above: Matt Gittings of AW Cycles celebrates a comfortable victory in the AW Cycles 20k Endurance race.

Sean Gorvy of GS Henley was fastest in the final heat but his 5:51.07 didn't challenge the leaders and confirmed English in 1st place with Gittings 2nd and Greenstreet 3rd.

To make sure that the riders' fast twitch muscles got as good a work out as their slow twitch fibres, they were straight back on the line for Sprint Heats - and back-to-back Finals.

Maslin took the first heat, with Macke sitting on his shoulder to take the other Final spot. Sturgeon took the second, holding off 2010 Senior B Sprint Champion George Withers - the duo wrapping up the two places in the Final with some ease. Swarbrick had to work harder to win heat three - coming in to the home straight in last place and coming round AW Cycles team mates Bradbury, Carr and Neil Cooper to qualify - with Bradbury taking the other place.

Above: Nick English of AW Cycles en route to victory in the Individual Pursuit.

The B heats weren't as closely contested, with Paul Davidoff of Team Terminator cruising to a comfortable victory - although there was almost nothing between Brown, Pankhurst and Stuart Stow of Hounslow & District Wheelers for 2nd place with Brown taking it on the line. The second heat saw AW Cycles' Trevor Bradbury qualify comfortably, with Jason Pitt of Palmer Park Velo coming inside Paul Cooper of Reading CC to join Bradbury in the Final.

The Ladies Sprint competition was a straight final with Under 14 Abbie Dentus showing that she's inherited some of her father's raw speed, coming round Sarra Boyd of Clee Cycles KCNC off the last turn and holding her off on the run in.

Above: Sam Sturgeon of Team Terminator heads the Senior A Sprint Final before being passed first by Cam Swarbrick of AW Cycles - pictured second - and race winner Stephen Bradbury - third here.

In the Senior A Final Sturgeon jumped on the back straight with Swarbrick taking his wheel with Withers and Maslin outside them and Bradbury a little way back. Swarbrick came round Sturgeon on the home straight, with Bradbury emulating his team mates come-from-the-back tactics from the heats, picking his way through Withers and Maslin and squeezing past Swarbrick to take the win.

Davidoff lead out the B Final, but Brown and Bradbury didn't make the mistake of letting him get the kind of lead he'd had in the heats and Brown came past off the final bend with Bradbury slipping into second on the home straight.

With no fewer than 10 AW Cycles riders on the start line, the chances were that one of them would take the win the AW Cycles 20k Endurance race - and they certainly dominated the race with every break either featuring AW riders or closed down by them. Unlike recent, weeks, though, the race was all together at the end with Greenstreet breaking the patter and leading out at the bell.

It was the AW train that picked things up on the closing lap, though, with Gittings easing away to take an easy win. Bradbury Junior took the bunch sprint from Harry Strudley, who completed the AW 1-2-3. Brown wasn't too far behind - taking the B honours from Pankhurst and Bradbury Senior. Rohan Battison of Tm For Viored won the Ladies classification from Boyd and Max Stedman of Palmer Park Velo headed home team mate Josh Ansell in the Sonim 20k Endurance series for Under 14 and Under 16 riders.

9 Lap Indvidual Pursuit

1 Nick ENGLISH AW Cycles 5:15.17
2 Matt GITTINGS AW Cycles 5:19.8
3 Ian GREENSTREET Newbury RC 5:22.63
4 Cam SWARBRICK AW Cycles 5:29.8
5 Rob KING AW Cycles 5:30.37
6 Frazier CARR AW Cycles 5:30.92
7 Sam STURGEON Team Terminator 5:32.68
8 Stephen BRADBURY AW Cycles 5:33.40
9 William MACKE AW Cycles 5:35.92
10 Martyn HARRIS Banjo Cycles 5:36.15
11 Donal LINEHAN Newbury RC 5:39.7
12 Dan MASLIN Prestige VC 5:49.73
13 Sean GORVY GS Henley 5:51.07
14 Grant GRANT BC Private Member 5:51.93
15 Gavin SPIERS AW Cycles 5:52.53
16 Steve BALE Reading CC 5:55
17 Max BROWN Didcot Phoenix 6:01.1
18 Joseph CROLLA Palmer Park Velo 6:04.52
19 Ian BLACK Norwood Paragon 6:15.58

Senior A

VIA International 10 Lap Scratch

1 Stephen BRADBURY AW Cycles
2 Dan MASLIN Prestige VC
3 William MACKE AW Cycles

1 Lap Sprint

1 Stephen BRADBURY AW Cycles
2 Cam SWARBRICK AW Cycles
3 Sam STURGEON Team Terminator

AW Cycles 20k Endurance

1 Matt GITTINGS AW Cycles
2 Stephen BRADBURY AW Cycles
3 Harry STRUDLEY AW Cycles

Senior B

VIA International 10 Lap Scratch

1 Louis MAGNANI Prestige VC
2 Rikki PANKHURST AW Cycles
3 Max BROWN Didcot Phoenix

Sprint Final

1 Max BROWN Didcot Phoenix
2 Trevor BRADBURY AW Cycles
3 Jason PITT Palmer Park Velo

AW Cycles 20k Endurance

1 Max BROWN Didcot Phoenix
2 Rikki PANKHURST AW Cycles
3 Trevor BRADBURY AW Cycles

Ladies

Sprint Final

1 Abbie DENTUS Palmer Park Velo
2 Sarra BOYD Clee Cycles KCNC
3 Rohan BATTISON Tm For Viored

AW Cycles 20k Endurance

1 Rohan BATTISON Tm For Viored
2 Sarra BOYD Clee Cycles KCNC

Sonim Under 14-Under 16 20K Endurance

1 Max STEDMAN Palmer Park Velo
2 Josh ANSELL Palmer Park Velo

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.