RiderTalk – Pearl Izumi Tour Series – Stoke

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New team on the block NFTO take the lead in the Pearl Izumi Tour Series – Stoke – “two plus two = one” says Adam Blythe

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RiderTalk – Pearl Izumi Tour Series – Stoke

After two races on Tuesday night, a team Time Trial and hour long crit, new team on the block, NFTO Pro Cycling, came away with the Pearl Izumi leader’s jerseys. Despite losing British champion (Criterium) Russell Downing and Sam Harrison in crashes at the Lincoln GP, the team had the strength in depth to prove they have the talent to win the series.

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VeloUK spoke to them after the race …

Jon Mould – The Welsh rider did it the hard way to which he replied “just a little! It split into a group of four with Marcin, Alex Peters & Felix and then I just rolled away on the back straight on my own. That was it then, I was off… I was really happy with the win at Colchester (2013) because it was the first one but tonight was definitely special. I could savour those last five laps as I knew I had it. I had a really bad patch half an hour in but I came back round and just kept on it.”

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Adam Blythe talking about his first Tour Series said – “It was different, very different. We were in the bus this morning speaking about it and it was like if we’re not first, we’re last. We went into the team time trial and had a super disappointing ride with second. So we said to Mouldy, shake and bake, got to do it tonight and he went for it and got it. Dean got in the break as well and behind it was a parade. It was a lot different to what any of us expected tonight. We did the best we could and two plus two (two second placings) equals 1 in our case!”

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Adam Blythe was the team’s third counting rider after winning the bunch kick.

Dean Downing One of the most winningest riders in the Series (only Ed Clancy has more) “We’ve all done the hard work in the winter. All along John didn’t know what to expect as it’s so different to road racing. It was a tough night because the tactics out there were extreme going hard and then slow while Mouldy was out front having a laugh at us.”

“We went into it to have some fun and win the race outright because we didn’t know how we’d go team wise but we cracked it and lead overall so happy days.” On his own form, he said “not bad for an old boy! I have trained hard for this. I had an easy last month with the new baby but I’m very happy and even happier we have the overall lead.”

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Dean Downing got into the break and helped the team to finish second in the event and end the night as series leaders.

Dean admitted he wasn’t due to ride at Stoke but added they have a strong enough team to rotate riders. “It has been the plan all along to rotate riders and give rider’s a chance. Sadly Rus crashed at Lincoln and broke his collarbone and we were all really gutted that Rus and Sam (Harrison) who were due to ride tonight couldn’t.”

“We all stepped up and went out there and had fun, and Mouldy got his hands in the air which is great. I would imagine John the boss is super happy because crossing the line with your hands in the air is a beautiful picture and feels great. Then I did a sneaky move and took the sprint and so did Blythey”.

Sam Williams An up and coming rider to look out for, Sam explained “I really enjoyed tonight and it was a bit of a step up. Last year, I was racing with NFTO and we guested and we started at the back so it was a big different so it was nice to be up there. I had a job with the team to keep the boys safe, keep them up there and I think I did that. I tried to get in some moves and am really happy for the team. The guys are great. Dean, Rus and Jimmy have taken me under their wing a bit and shown me the ropes and I’m really grateful.”

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Sam Williams leads the team up the finish straight in the team time trial which they lost by hundredths of a second.

Joshua Hunt: “I had a crash last year and it took quite a while to get back to a racing level. Even in the November camp I was suffering a lot but each week I have got better and better. I wasn’t supposed to race tonight or Lincoln. But I knew I was strong enough and I filled in and did my job. The sole target today was for one of us to get our hands in the air because we’ve had quite a lot of second places this year so that was the main objective. ”

NFTO Pro Cycling will take the leader’s jerseys into Barrow on Thursday night as they aim to keep the lead and turn the second places into victories…

 

 

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