Zoe Backstedt and Finlay Pickering were the big winners as the British Cycling Youth Circuit Series continued into the well-renowned Isle of Man Junior Tour.
The pair both prevailed in their Youth A categories while Awen Roberts and Raphael John Tabiner also had reason to celebrate with victories in the Youth B equivalent races.
That saw stage two come to a close with Sunday seeing the winners crowned as the exciting three-stage race comes to its conclusion.
Early attack pays off for Backstedt
Backstedt (Storey Racing) dominated stage two from start to finish with an impressive solo ride which saw her win the stage and take her overall lead beyond four minutes.
She attacked right at the start of the 28.8km stage which featured four laps of the hilly Ellerslie circuit. The race began on the foot of the hardest climb on the course, a 1km ascent to the finish line.
By the half way mark Backstedt’s lead was over two minutes.
Behind the race leader the peloton split and a chase group formed that was comprised by most of the riders who had formed the top ten in Friday’s prologue.
Flora Perkins (LVCL) was second on stage two, and Imani Pereira-James third - they finished four minutes and two seconds off the winner.
The last stage is 34km race featuring five laps of the Billown circuit near Castletown.
After stage two Backstedt said she was pleased with her performance, and had set out with the aim of making a solo break, and trying to catch as many of the Youth A Boys riders who had started ahead of the girls’ race.
It's yet another impressive performance from the Backstedt family!
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) May 4, 2019
Perfect tactics and a perfect result saw @Backstedt_Zoe happy after Saturday's second stage of the Isle of Man Youth Tour #YouthCircuitSeries pic.twitter.com/TIky9kTUbQ
Finlay Picks off the bunch to take control
Finlay Pickering (Vive le Velo) won stage two, a 36km race with five laps of the hilly Ellerslie circuit, after starting the stage in third place, seven seconds behind prologue winner Josh Charlton (MTS Cycle Sport).
As the peloton reached the top of the 1km climb to the finish line with two laps to go, it started to look as though the yellow jersey was going to change hands as Charlton began to lose contact with the main bunch.
Pickering bided his time and waited until he had just over a lap to go before he made his move. He had an advantage of around ten seconds at the bell with a group of around 20 chasers, and the yellow jersey further back.
Pickering won the stage with a 62-second advantage advantage over a group of eight riders that was led home by Max Poole (Bike Box Alan) and Benjamin Bright (Backstedt Cycling) who were second and third respectively.
Pickering leads the standings by more than a minute from Poole with a 40.8km race featuring six laps to follow on Sunday.
Significant wins for Roberts and Tabiner
In the Youth B girls race, Awen Roberts (Y Merched Cymraeg) won stage two finishing three seconds ahead of Ella Jamieson (Clifton CC) and 63 seconds clear of Catrin Ferguson (CSP Sportcity) who were second and third respectively.
Amy Pullen (Propello) who had won the prologue by a single second was fourth on stage two, 1min 16secs behind the winner.
Roberts now leads the GC standings with an eight second lead over Jamieson and 1min 15secs over Ferguson.
Raphael John Tabiner (North Cheshire Clarion) won stage two of the Youth B boys competition, finishing two seconds ahead of prologue winner Jed Smithson (WORX Factory Racing), Owen Prenelle (VCL), and Finlay Hawker who were second, third and fourth respectively.
Smithson now leads the GC standings with a five second lead over Tabiner and nine seconds over Prenelle, with a 34km final stage to come.
Results
Youth A Girls General Classification
Youth A Boys General Classification
Youth B Girls General Classification
Youth B Boys General Classification
Gallery
