Photos! Pearl Izumi Tour Series – Ryde

The 2015 Pearl Izumi Tour Series has begun and One Pro Cycling have kicked it off with a double victory in their first series whilst Tom Scully of Madison Genesis won the circuit race

Round 1 – Report, photos and results here

So, round 1 of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series is done and wiped down with a wet cloth and what a round it was. The people of the Isle of Wight did the event proud by turning out in their thousands and I think I heard the crowd was the biggest for an event in Ryde. It was MASSIVE!

It was quite probably the second toughest circuit of the series behind Durham and therein lies the first lesson – teams need to really think about their rider selection with all five riders now counting for the team award.

Editor’s Selection – Tour Series Round 1 Photos
(click an image and then use left and right cursor keys or click the left and right arrows to change the photos)

IE, on circuits where there is a climb (Redditch, Durham etc), there are going to be splits and teams, like One Pro Cycling did, will need to do their best to have riders capable of making that front selection.

But it isn’t all about rider selection. Luck this year will play a major part. A puncture, dropped chain, crash, etc will hurt teams badly now that all five riders count for that coveted award. It doesn’t take much for a rider to lose touch with a group when a race is on the limit like these Tour Series crits are. It would only take a rider in front to drop the wheel and those behind may well be burned if already in the red.

Round one showed us that One Pro Cycling have the strength in depth but that doesn’t mean that they will dominate as believe me, the race faces on the riders in the distinctive Pearl Izumi race leaders jerseys showed they were hurting too.

Madison Genesis had four of their five in the lead selection and NFTO had three with another suffering bad luck so the recipe is still there for a tight battle. Other teams may come to realise that their team title chase is over and instead go for the individual wins.

Which means there is so much excitement to come in the series and it all happens again next Tuesday in Redditch.

Enjoy the pictures!

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