Madison Genesis Leading the Tour Series

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The leading team coming into the fifth round of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series is Madison Genesis showing their strength in depth

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Madison Genesis Leading the Tour Series

Nearing the halfway mark of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series, Madison Genesis are leading One Pro Cycling by just three points with Pedal Heaven in third and Raleigh-GAC fourth.

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Tonight, the Madison Genesis team tackle the toughest race in the series, Durham and its cobbled climb but back in Motherwell on Tuesday night, they showed yet again their strength in depth by having their whole team at the sharp end of the race. It was by no means an easy course but the team under the guidance of Roger Hammond yet again came out on top.

Wearing the leaders jerseys after the victory in Aberystwyth last week, Madison Genesis were ready for an aggressive race in Motherwell. On the opening lap, the attacks started in earnest but a very strong tail wind up the long drag ensured the leaders were not given their freedom too early on.

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Finally, after 15 minutes of racing and a barrage of attacks, the elastic finally broke with three riders prising themselves off the front. Mike Northey was joined by Kristian House and Chris Opie to form a strong trio up front. They worked well together and despite a concerted chase behind from the teams that had missed the move, they built up a healthy lead of over 40 seconds by the time they entered the last 15 minutes of racing.

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The stresses of the chase were starting to show behind with several groups of riders being dropped from the bunch and most importantly for Madison Genesis, they were the only team to place all five riders in either the break or the main group, assuring a victory barring accidents.

The team navigated the finale safely to back up Mike’s fine third place up front to win the team event and increase the team lead to three points in the series. Roger Hammond, Team Manager said of the race “It was a long way to drive up here but it was extremely worthwhile; a fantastic venue producing some exciting and fast racing.”

“The guys rode really well with Mike showing the way up front, it’s been pleasing to see different riders from the team getting out front and racing so well. A key part of the team is Tom Scully who said after the race “It was another fast race in Motherwell. The circuit was a lot more flowy and we had Mike at the front getting stuck in for us and putting the pressure on”.

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“We were controlling things back in the bunch where it’s a bit of a numbers game. We were happy for Mike to do the job out front and there were two moves late on in the piece that we tried to go with.”

“It was a pretty normal round of the Tour Series; rubbing and touching shoulders here and there. There was a bit more confidence in the bunch with it being dry. Riders hooking it into the corners and few more risks being taken down the inside and a few surprises mid corner.”

Tom explained how the race turned into a headwind at the top of the hill and that slowed things down a bit where it was a bit easier sitting in the wheels. With the team race becoming more of a battle between Madison and One Pro Cycling, I asked Tom how that affects the strategy in the race – do they just race it and let the team game take care of itself with so many strong riders in the squad?

“Each of the riders in the team here at Madison Genesis have something they bring to the race and we race well as a unit and have confidence in each other’s ability so we just get out there and do what we have to in order to have a good race. With a team like that, it is so much easier to race it.”

“We are consistent, we can rely on each other and we have fun. We enjoy the banter on and off the bike so it’s a good environment to be part of”.

Stewart_Scully

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