Report: Purbeck Two Day (second day)

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Scott Gurnett sees red as Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves RT fall short on final day of the Purbeck Two Day

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Eamonn Deane writes (click here for the pictures)

Scott Gurnett (unatt) won the Purbeck Two day after taking second place on stage two. Seventeen year old Gurnett, in his first season, lay in 14th place overnight and fancied a top ten finish.

It was Gurnett’s move, across the finish line with 5 laps to go, that set up his win. Taking a 5 second time bonus on the line the Devon youngster pushed on and was soon joined by Mike Ward (Ride 24/7), Sam Gardner( Cannondale),Tony Kiss () & Chris Spence (Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves RT). Working well together they quickly established a lead of 40 seconds, race leader.

Colton Jarisch (Felt-Colborne-Hargroves RT) missed the move and the race started to slip away from the “Red Jersey”. Teammate Spence did not contribute to the pace setting but the gap grew out to over a minute with three five mile laps remaining. Spence though was picking up the time bonuses on the line. The bunch, driven by Guernsey Velo reduced the gap at the bell but they never got close on the short five mile loop around Furzebrook.

It was the fresher legs of Spence that took the stage, attacking hard on the steepest part of the climb; he gained time but not quite enough for the overall. It was a bitter-sweet race for the Colbornes team. Robert Ward misjudged a corner on the first lap and ended up in a field. Ward also had problems with his gears that effectively took him out of the race and the service of Jarisch.

John Heaton Armstrong dropped back to help Ward and the pair began to chase only for Heaton –Armstrong to puncture. Both failed to finish. It was just one of those days. “That’s bike racing! Jarisch would ruefully say later.

Rider Reaction…

Scott Gurnett: “Yes very good! I have not won since February, a couple of Springtime Pursuits. I was not expecting it. I am very pleased but I think my dad is more excited about it than I am. I am normally good after a hard day and I like hills. I live on Exmoor, within two minutes I am climbing. I can’t go anywhere without climbing hills. My dad always says I do too much work, he is probably right! This is my first year racing, I want to go as far as I can.”

Chris Spence: “The break just kind of rolled off, they put heads down and we were gone. I just policed it to be honest. I felt quite bad but that’s what you have to do. Two of our guys had crashed, Colton is in the leaders jersey, I did not know where I was with guys in the move on GC. I didn’t want to take it away, win the primes, win the stage but still not win the overall! The break was working really well, Scott was very strong, riding very well. Its team work I had to sit on the back I couldn’t drive it, I would have looked an idiot.”

Mike Ward: “We got away at the prime, we descended pretty fast but we were all a bit wimpy round the corners because of the early crash. I was trying to conserve energy. Chris was sat on the back which was fair enough. Everyone did their fair share. It would be nicer to have a bit more fitness. I have tailed off towards the end of the season, drinking beer & eating cakes do me no good.”

Sam Gardner: “I got across to the break pretty quick, the first lap was hard, everyone worked. Chris was not doing very much for obvious reasons. The primes ruined the impetus of the break but that’s racing. When Chris went at the bottom of the climb I did not have much left.”

Tony Kiss: “Chris was sat on the back, I had a few words with him to get him to work but understand why he didn’t. He rode well and deserved to win. The descent was a bit scary and was slippy on the first few laps but when it dried out, it was ok. I knew the Felt guys would be out to control it so I attacked when I could. My legs were tired after two days in the break.”

STAGE 2 PROVISIONAL
1. Chris Spence
2. Scott Gurnett
3. Tony Kiss
4. Mike Ward
5. Sam Gardner
6. Eduardo Martinez LLaren
7. Mike Mottram
8. Danny Axford
9. Hugh Knudsen
10. Lewis Keightley
11. Matt Osborn
12. George Fowler
13. Iain Palmer
14. James Horton
15. Jordan Frampton

OVERALL PROVISIONAL
1. Scott Gurnett
2. Chris Spence @3secs
3. Tony Kiss @9secs
4. Mike Ward @23secs
5. Eduardo M L @27secs
6. Sam Gardner @31 secs
7. Mike Mottram @48secs
8. Hugh Knudsen @54secs
9. Colton Jarisch @54secs
10. Dan Axford @1m02s
11. Matt Osborn @1m 05s
12. George Fowler @1m06s
13. Lewis Keightley@1m06s
14. Iain Palmer @1m 12s
15. J Frampton @ 1m12s
16. Joe Barry @1m12s

TOP 3 THIRD CATS
1. Eduardo ML
2. Sam Gardner
3. George Fowler

TOP 3 FOURTH CATS
1. Lewis Keightley
2. Jordan Frampton
3. James Horton

 

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