Feature – Madison Genesis Lead the Tour Series

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Madison Genesis fend off the challenge from Pedal Heaven to win the Team prize at the Redditch Pearl Izumi Tour Series

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Feature – Madison Genesis Lead the Tour Series

Report, results & photos from the Mens Race at Redditch

Round Two of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series was fought out on a circuit well used by the Tour Series and saw a change in the overall lead in the series as Madison Genesis fought tooth and nail to get five riders at the front which they did to win the night. They had to hold off a determined challenge from Pedal Heaven which they did and with One Pro Cycling having a bad night with a rider losing a lap and others crashing, it was Madison Genesis who now lead the series.

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From the start the attacks were relentless but a strong head wind on the approach to the climb favoured the large bunch, giving the breakaway attempts little chance of gaining any headway. Instead the damage was being caused at the back of the group and the severe accelerations due to the chicane eventually started taking their toll. After just 30 minutes of racing, groups of riders were being dropped each lap.

With 15 minutes of racing left, Madison Genesis and a strong Pedal Heaven squad were the only teams that had the crucial number of five riders in the front group. Both teams pushed on at the front knowing that they would be either first or second on the night. As the race entered the last five laps Madison Genesis tried to make the all-important attack and create a time gap at the front that would secure the race win, however with just three laps to go Tom Scully suffered a mechanical and had to swap onto his spare bike – a disaster in this series as there are no laps out for mechanical mishaps.

Whilst the race was in full force at the front, Tom made a herculean effort to not only re-join the bunch within a lap, but also to get to the front and help with the attacks. With just a lap and a half left, Mike Northey made the perfect acceleration and went clear with a small group, crucially without anyone from Pedal Heaven. Once again however there was a cruel twist of fate; a crash in the final corner just 200 metres to go delayed several riders including Matt Cronshaw and with the time from all five riders to count, the final result was in doubt for a few minutes!

Finally the result was confirmed and Madison Genesis took both the win on the night and the team lead overall in the series. Mike Northey finished an impressive third place and Tom Stewart retains his leader’s jersey for the Chain Reaction Cycles Points competition.

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Roger Hammond, Team Manager: “That was an exciting night of racing! We seemed to be both taking control and losing control of the race equally frequently! The guys rode extremely well though, looking after each other and in the chaotic environment of the race they were very aware of the problems going on around them. To deal with two major problems in the last three laps was very impressive.”

“They rode well tonight as they did on the Isle of Wight. We’re always worried about the rules of five riders counting because you have one bad night and you’re in trouble. On the Isle of Wight, we showed we’re pretty strong but Mark just wasn’t on a good night so to see it all come together tonight (Redditch) is nice.”

As mentioned, the bike change for Tom Scully was a key plus for the team. “That was pretty impressive” added Roger. “He’s done two impressive things in the series, last week, what he did to win was incredible and then again at Redditch, he did the same kind of attack but it was at the back of the race so no-one will have noticed it.”

“To get back on in a lap when they were still racing at the front was pretty impressive which shows you how much the guys are fighting for it (the team).”

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Tom Stewart leads the points tied with Morgan Kneisky of Raleigh GAC

“Last year, with three riders to count, you could race to race and if you were good enough, you won. JLT Condor were the strongest team last year and they raced to win and they won the series as well. Now, with five counting, you have to race differently. You can’t race to win (individually) anymore and that is the dilemma. Racing to win or racing to defend the overall.”

Roger will have some work to do swapping riders around for the coming rounds as he has a team in the Irish RAS right now and will also be doing a race in Norway. Roger says his team will have the whole squad to choose from for the last four rounds. Last year, Tom Stewart came back from a stage race in Norway and won two races solo so those stage races may well help them in their quest to win the team award in the later rounds.

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Tobyn Horton of Madison Genesis having a dig up with the climb at Redditch

Tom Scully after the race told VeloUK “It was a strange race with the new format of five riders counting. We had Matt there who was running on one lung so it was good that we were all able to push on and get there in the end. There was a little bit of a tussle on the second last corner at the bottom of the hill. I got tangled up with Steele (Von Hoff, NFTO) and it was a scramble for the finish after that.”

“Its good to win the team tonight. It’s what the series is about and with this new format, its crucial you have all five guys on the night performing and its hard work. There’s 50 guys out there all trying to do the same thing and something is going to go wrong for some one. In some ways, the racing is conservative and we’re not getting stuck in like we would normally.”

“I had a couple of digs though during the race. I know I have good condition so it’s riding my own race within the team’s race within the bike race, one corner at time as there is a long way to go yet.”

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Tom Scully signals he needs a change and 20 seconds later he was on a new bike chasing

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