Team News: Alex Paton Second at Totnes

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Alex Paton of Pedal Heaven Racing Team believes an unexpected interruption may have saved his Totnes-Vire challenge on Sunday

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Team News: Alex Paton Second at Totnes

Team Press Release

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Above: Alex all smiles at the presentation afterwards with winner Matt Holmes of Madison Genesis and his teammate Gruff Lewis.

Alex Paton believes an unexpected interruption may have saved his Totnes-Vire challenge on Sunday. The 25-year-old, from Dover, finished a superb second behind winner Matt Holmes on general classification in the two-day race in Devon.

Having grabbed fifth on the opening road stage, won by team-mate Dexter Gardias, Paton then posted a 7min 27sec effort on a 5km time trial to place seventh on stage two. But after sitting in third spot on GC overnight, freezing temperatures were threatening to scupper his chances of stepping on to the podium as the peloton battled grim conditions on Sunday’s gruelling third stage.

However, a traffic accident on the circuit – which saw crates of chickens spill from a trailer and block the road just before the penultimate climb of Appledore Hill – gave him an unlikely lifeline.

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Alex laying the foundations for an assault on the GC in the time trial on Saturday.

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Alex with teammate Will Fox during stage 3

Talking to velouk.net after the race, Paton said: “It was a tough day out on the bike. I really suffered in the cold. The race was stopped halfway round the second-to-last lap, which almost saved me a little bit. It gave me a chance to put an extra layer on, which might have saved the day really. Coming into the last lap there was a real big change of pace as the initial small breakaway was caught”.

“Matt Holmes and I managed to jump across and lose Adria (Moreno) with that, which was the key move on the GC. Unfortunately, though, there was no opportunity for me to gain any time back on Matt. So it was a case of not losing any time, getting to the finish and maintaining second place. But I’m happy with that result.”

Paton finished ninth on the third and final stage with Gardias crossing the line in sixth spot. Raleigh’s Albert Torres sprinted to victory but his team-mate Adria Moreno, who led the race overnight, was unable to go with the decisive move. That allowed Paton and Holmes to leapfrog him in the overall standings, with the Madison Genesis man taking victory by just four seconds.

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Alex cleaning his Edco wheels before the start of the final stage

Gardias, who starred in the Chorley Grand Prix the previous weekend, continued his good form with a stage win and fifth place on GC at 18 seconds. Max Stedman was 11th and Mitchell Webber, who had battled bravely in Sunday’s breakaway, was 15th. Harrison Jones was 18th and Will Fox completed the Pedal Heaven charge in 26th.

Their efforts were enough to take the team prize, while Webber swept up the primes on the final stage.

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