Team News – Pedal Heaven Step Up at Chorley

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Tim Elverson believes Pedal Heaven’s performance in the Chorley Grand Prix proved they will be competitive at UCI Continental level

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Team News – Pedal Heaven Step Up at Chorley

Related Link: Report from the Chorley Grand Prix

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Great result for Dexter Gardias who was third in the Chorley GP

Pedal Heaven’s directeur sportif, Tim Elverson, believes Pedal Heaven’s performance in the Chorley Grand Prix proved they will be competitive at UCI Continental level. So much so, he’s now challenged his troops to deliver results on a consistent basis at the top table of domestic cycling.

Dexter Gardias finished third in the opening round of the Motorpoint Spring Cup on Saturday, James Gullen was ninth, Jack Pullar was 16th and Jake Womersley placed 17th as Pedal Heaven scooped second spot in the team standings.

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Riders in the lead break with a lap to go play follow the leader with Dexter Gardias

Add to that Ian Wilkinson’s victory in the Sprint competition, after he got himself in the opening breakaway, and it proved to be a successful day out for the team.

But Elverson recognises the next test is to become a major contender for success every time they hit the road in big races. The team’s directeur sportif said: “It went well. We obviously went there aiming to show people we were stepping up and we were going to be competitive at this next level”.

“And I think we definitely did that. We were in every move with at least one rider, most times with multiple riders. Everyone did a really, really good job. Obviously you want to win it but a podium was certainly what we were capable of. That was pretty much the target”.

“And then we won the sprints with Wilko. So there were five places on the podium at the end of the race and we got two of those. We cannot be disappointed with that”.

 

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“It is the start we hoped to have and the start we were capable of. We always want to win but we are really happy. We need to build from here and make this a consistent thing but ultimately we had a really good day out.”

“The team lost Mitchell Webber to a crash after just 3km, with British mountain bike champion Grant Ferguson also hampered by the incident. They also had four riders, including dangermen James Gullen and Jack Pullar, in a select group which eased clear of the peloton with 50 miles to go, only for a lack of support from other teams to scupper their chances of making it stick”.

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Sprints winner, Ian Wilkinson.

Elverson added: “Had that been the last lap, our four would have worked but they weren’t going to tow a group around for 50 miles. Grant was involved in the crash with Mitch and he seemed all right but getting back in maybe took a bit more out of him than he realised”.

“The wheels came off, as it were, when he was in the break with Dex. Had he managed to stay in that front group, other riders would have had to ride in the second group and the likes of Gullen and Pullar might have ridden across the gap before the final”.

“But we can’t complain, it was a really good day and bodes well for the Isle of Man. The lads are climbing well and there is a big climb in that race.”

The Manx International on the Isle of Man is the second round of the National Series on Sunday, April 10.

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