Round 5 of the SERRL series, Photos, Report & Results from Dave Hayward.
Report and photos by Dave Haywood – www.davehaywardphotos.com
It was a Pink morning for Kent as the WyndyMilla-MaxiFuel Team arrived in force for Sunday’s South East Road Race League (SERRL) with the support of Delaune CC at Brenchley. Not many races in Kent are blessed with a down hill start but as soon as the neutralized flag disappeared into the car, the hammer went down and anyone who wasn’t on their game was going to have a tough time on the course that lay ahead. At the end of the second lap in the 112 kilometre race, seven riders managed to open up a gap of 40 seconds and when finally the pace settled down, they were averaging 48kph (30 miles an hour) despite having another 11 laps to complete including another 11 more times up Knowle Lane Hill where the finish was located.
Seeing the potential move of the breakaway, Tom Copland (Sigma Sport Specialized) emerged from a pack of chasers to bridge the gap to the leaders who were Scott Merrilees (WyndyMilla), Alex Higham (Wyndymilla), Andy Betts (La Fuga-Sigma Sport), Chris McNamara (Team Corley Cycles), Nick Abraham, and Luke Wallis (La Fuga-Sigma Sport) Anthony Moye (CC Luton).
Once Copland had joined the seven leaders, they started to distance them selves from a dwindling bunch where the heads had dropped. Alex Higham (Wyndymilla) not content with so many riders in the group, had a dig on lap 6 to go soften his rivals up and it took nearly a lap for the group to bring back Alex. By lap 10, the lead group was down to five, with occasional attacks by Tom, Alex, and Andy leaving Chris to do most of the chasing just to stay in contention.
With three laps to go, the fireworks started again as three of the now four riders were jumping one another. On the last lap, there was a brief cease fire as each of the four could see that their rivals were matching their attacks with their own. It didn’t last though and it wasn’t long before Andy Betts had a final go on the lower road before the last ascent of Knowle Lane Hill.
Gaining a few bike lengths, Alex Higham responded to Bett’s move by bridging across and clawing himself up to the wheel of Betts. Behind them however, a moments hesitation for Tom and Chris meant the gap was too big for them to close at the bottom of the climb. Chris had paid the price of all the earlier chasing while Tom’s earlier efforts to bridge to the break also were starting to show.
As the hill, steepened Alex Higham drew along side Andy Betts, looked at him then carried on to his first South East Road Race League win of the season. Afterwards,
Betts said “That was a tough race. I’m pleased. I had to race myself fit this year due to a lack of winter miles and Alex was once again very strongâ€. Chris McNamara meanwhile said “I seemed to be on the back foot today and had to go with everything. WyndyMill and Sigima Sport were well represented in the earlier part of the raceâ€.
There are more photos from Dave Hayward underneath the result.
Result
1   Alex Higham. WyndyMilla.
2   Andy Betts. La Fuga-Sigma Sport
3Â Â Â Tom Copeland. Sigma Sport Specialized
4   Chris McNamara. Team Corley Cervelo
5Â Â Â Nick Abraham. Private.
6Â Â Â John Wager. Felt Colbornes RT
7   Matthew Pilkington. Progressive CCDSq:
8   Daniel Duguid. Sigma Sport Specialized
9Â Â Â Shaun Duffield. Active Cycles
10Â Â Â Pete Wager. Felt Colbornes RT
11   David Seagar. Kingsnorth International.
12   Drew Holmes. Progressive CCDSq:
13   Wayne van Ry. Dulwich Paragon.
14   Frazer Wildman. Datateam Allstars
15   Paul Sewell. Bigfoot CC.
16   Chris Dick. London Phoenix CC
17   Andrew Dolan. Team Toachim.
18   Graham Hills. In Gear Quick Fit RT
19Â Â Â Anthony Moye. CC Luton.
20Â Â Â Philip Murrell
Series Website: http://www.serrl.co.uk/
MORE PHOTOS FROM DAVE HAYWARD
