Report – British Juniors In Belgium

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Paul Burgoine reports on a group of British Juniors who travelled to Belgium with John Barclay for some racing

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Report – British Juniors In Belgium

Geluveld
Under the guidance of John Barclay, fourteen junior riders from Britain travelled to Belgium to compete in two junior races at Geluveld and Waarschoot.

The weather was more like Majorca than Flanders but despite the fine weather, there was a strong wind blowing over the exposed seven kilometre circuit. The organisation of these races is impeccable.

All riders hold a card that is scanned into the system and the start sheet is available before the race start and the results online almost immediately once the race finishes. All roads are closed and marshalled by police and helpers in a very efficient manner as well. In fact, it was not a lot different than a continental pro race.

It wasn’t long into the 93k race when Jack Mattock (Giant Cycling Club) initialised a three man break including Lewis Bulley (Velocity Globalbike) and Aaron Verwilst (VZW Tielste). The break got a maximum gap of around two and a half minutes and never really looked like being brought back. “A good day for John Barclay” the race commentator announced but on the bell lap, the gap was down to 47 seconds and the chase group were traveling noticeably quicker than the break who had been out in the wind for a good nine laps or so.

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As the lead group came to the line, the three man break had been caught to the surprise of most, and it was the Belgium Verwilst who took the sprint with Etienne Georgi (Giant Cycling Club) in second and Charlie Quarterman (Zappi RT) in third. There were six British riders in the top ten including Louis Modell (Catford CC Eqipe/Banks) in sixth on his return to racing after a serious accident. This was a high quality race with an average speed of 39kph.

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Waarschoot
On yet another glorious day in Belgium and on the way to Waarschoot, a visit to the ‘Tour of Flanders’ museum for the lads, then on to the serious business of racing.

There was yet another top class field assembled for this 91k race and the first few laps were fast but the peloton stayed together. When the racing really got started, the speed went even higher with the average speed being 43.56kph.

Eventually the race split and a break formed including the impressive Louis Modell (Catford CC Equipe/Banks) and Tom Yiangou (Neon Velo) and four Belgium riders. The group rode well together while behind the peloton was being depleted by various crashes including George Jary (VCL) and James McKay (Finchley RT) who ended up in a ditch full of nettles.

The chase in the bunch was not well organised and by the final few laps the bunch was all over the place, leaving the six man break to fight out the final. The race was won by Thibau Verhofstadt (Isorex) with Modell in fourth and Yiangou fifth. There was also another promising ride from Wirral rider Max Spedding (VCUK PH-Mas) in sixteenth after being in the break in Guleveld the previous day and unluckily getting a puncture.

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