All Photos Coutesy of NE Sports Photograpy
The 39th Jock Wadley Memorial Road Race took place on Sunday at the Abberton Reservoir Circuit. 76 riders departed from Layer de la Haye Village Hall at 11 am for 12 laps of the course (81 miles) on a day when the weather Gods were kind and the extreme cold had relented.
The pace on this first lap was very high reaching 40 mph at times and 7 riders formed a breakaway gaining one minute quickly. By the second lap, the lead had increased to 1 minute 40 seconds and the intense pace had a knock-on effect on the remainder of the race. As the laps passed the number of separate groups chasing increased so that there were insufficient lead cars to escort each one.
The west-south-west wind assisted all the riders up the climb to Layer village, but
conversely, this wind increased in strength and made the race hard across the western side of the course.
Last year’s winner Yanto Barker of the Le Col team figured prominently in the early stages
but said afterwards he blew up and faded towards the back. The Saint Piran team seemed to be driving the breakaway group with Jack Rootkin-Gray (No.53) the main man who had won the Perfs Pedal Road Race in Hampshire the previous weekend.
During the final laps Alexander Richardson (No.52) also of the Saint Piran Team changed places with Rootkin-Gray and eased away from the leaders with Rowan Baker (No.27) of the London Dynamo team.
The two riders came over the finish line near Layer Church just one second apart with Richardson taking it in just over 3 hours of very fast racing. The first group of chasers came in 2 minutes later with others scattered over the next 10 minutes.
This race has run since 1982 and with little doubt was the fastest since using the Reservoir Circuit. Our club is very grateful for the use of Layer Village Hall (for the first time) and parking at the Primary School. The co-operation of the residents is appreciated.
My 23 years as race organiser may be coming to an end……….maybe?
Malcolm Hargreaves
Race Organiser and Club Vice Chairman.
RACE RESULT
1. Alexander Richardson, Saint Piran Cycling
2. Rowan Baker, London Dynamo
3. Timothy Torrie, Trainsharp Elite
4. Joshua Avery, Ride Revolution Coaching
5. Matthew Houlberg, Embark Spirit BSS
6. Ross Fawcett, Orwell Velo
7. Chris McNamara, Sigma Sports – Cannondale RT
8. David Hird, ROKiT-SRCT
9. Thomas Heal, StolenGoat Race Team
10. Joseph Smith, Private Member
11. Harold Evans, Onyx Racing Team
12. Jack Rootkin-Gray, Sint Piran Cycling
13. Clay Davies, Ride Revolution Coaching
14. Alex Peters, Richardsons Trek
15. Zeb Kyffin, Sint Piran Cycling
16. Samual Clark, TrainSharp Elite
17. Jacob Vaughan, Tekkerz
18. Marcus Burnett, Brunei Continental Cycling Team
19. James Jenkins,Richardsons Trek DAS
20. Jack Rebours, TrainSharpe Elite
21. Matt Bailey, Ride Revolution Coaching
22. Callum Slade, StolenGoat Race Team
23. Jody Paxman, Hutchinson-Brother UK
24. George Kimber, Embark Spirit BSS
25. Samuel Asker, Richardsons Trek DAS
26. Irfan Zemen
27. Lucas Jowett, Saint Piran
28. Oliver Hurdle, StolenGoat Race Team
29. Edmund Slater, GFTL
30. Andrew Kerr, INFLITE TYPE ONE
31. Ian Vagg, Project 51
32. Matt Witts, Kalas Motip Race Team
33. Harry Ives, TrainSharp Development Team
34. Jude Chamberlain, Embark Spirit BSS
35. Nathan Hardy, Team PB Performance
36. John Pallot, Casp Racing
37. Alexander Cross, Velo Schils – Interbike RT
38. Simon McNamara, Sigma Sports – Cannondale RT
39. Tom Merry, Wheelbase Cab Tech Castelli
40. Yanto Barker, Le Col
41. Gary Freeman, Orwell Velo
42. Mark Richards, Dap Cycling Club
43. Isaac Wright, Project 51
44. Will Auty, Private Member
45. Tim Allen, Hutchinson-Brother UK
46. Finn Dunton, Project 51
47. Benjamin May, Hutchinson-Brother UK
48. Harley Matthews, Dap Cycling Club
49. Mark Kendernay, GFTL
50. Mark Lightfoot, Tofauti Everyone Active
51. Dominic Schils, Velo Schils – Interbike RT
52. Ryan Klein
53. Arron Freeman, Richardsons Trek
54. Cameron Hurst, Velo Schils – Interbike RT
55. Archie Hilder, London Dynamo
56. Ben Chapman, London Dynamo
57. Matthew Brown, Elitecycling Development Team
58. Dexter Mansel-Thomas, Tofauti Everyone Active