The results continue to come the way of the Essex based PCH UK Racing Team with the third place finish of Matt Cowan in Sunday’s Hainault RC Spring RR enough to put the team at the top of the season long Eastern Road Race League.
Held around Saffron Walden, the nearly 100km long race saw a full field have to ride hard over tough conditions with each of the just over 5 laps of the circuit finishing at the top of a nearly 1 mile long climb and drag to the finish.
The early skirmishes saw PCH UK’s Dan Scott and Mark Howard active in the opening attacks but, generally speaking the race stayed together until around 2 ½ laps to go when Cowan put in a hard dig at the business end of the race.
He opened a gap of around 30 seconds before he was eventually pulled back by one and then another rider who then formed a trio that quickly worked together. Once they opened a gap of 1 ½ minutes these three knew they were riding for the race win.
Working together to maintain that lead until around 5kms to go there were then one or two efforts to break up the three but as they took the final 90° turn onto the finishing climb the leaders were still together.
“It was then that I realised I’m now too old to try sprinting†laughed Cowan when later recalling the end of the race. “The other twoâ€, race winner Jonathan Shuster and second placed man Neil Chapman, “went past me and I simply had nothing else to give. But third place was great and boosted the team’s season long points total for the team competition of the ERRLâ€.
