Report: South Staffordshire & Shropshire Road Race League

Charles Walker charged clear to take victory in a wet round eight of the South Staffordshire & Shropshire Road Race League.

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Charles Walker charged clear to take victory in a wet round eight of the South Staffordshire & Shropshire Road Race League.

Pictures: David Perry Words: Ben Goddard

Charles Walker (Catford CC Equipe/Banks) charged clear to take victory in a wet round eight of the South Staffordshire & Shropshire Road Race League. The 19-year-old, from Stourbridge timed his effort to perfection catching two breakaway leaders with a hundred metres remaining and powering to victory.

It was Kirk Vickers, from Wem, who had launched an early bid for home joined by Josh Yates (Mammoth Lifestyle). The pairing nearly made it to the finish only to be caught by a charging Walker metres before the finish line. However, Vickers held on for second and moved up to third overall above Rhino Velo team-mate Chris Pook.

“It was grim tonight but the scratch handicap group worked quite well and we caught the other groups quite quickly,” said Vickers. “I saw an opportunity to go solo and I saw Josh (Yates) was about to jump across so I waited for him and we pulled out a gap. Coming into the last junction we were still pushing it but were about to be caught so we were forced to open the sprint early.

“The second place moved me up to the top three overall, I have been consistently in the top four this series and it’s all about consistency. I think the yellow jersey is already out of reach but you never know what might happen with the round at Sundourne approaching which is my home circuit, so I will hopefully do well there.”

“Outside the league I have been riding some pretty big races this season but suffered a crash in the Shrewsbury Grand Prix which knocked me back a bit and I’m just getting back into form from that.”

Ian Thomas, from Church Stretton, leads one of the chasing groups early in the race

Despite wet and cold conditions 54 riders took to the start in Penkridge to complete five laps of a rolling circuit which included a main road climb making a total distance of 33 miles. The first group away in the handicap format had an eight minutes advantage over the last group to start but due to the conditions and the speed of the chasers the race was together on the penultimate lap.

Overall leader Ben Joughin (Pro Vision Racing) sprinted home in sixth position to retain his overall leader but saw his advantage shrink slightly as second place and leading veteran Matthew Morris (Wolverhampton Whls) finished a place ahead of him. Fastest junior Alfie Mortimer (Mid Shropshire Whls) showed his consistency with a 10th place finish.

Steph Clayton (Mammoth Lifestyle) was again fastest woman finishing in 33rd.

Rebecca Simmons  battles the conditions

Results
1 Charles Walker (Catford CC Equipe/Banks)
2 Kirk Vickers (Rhino Velo RT)
3 Josh Yates (Mammoth Lifestyle RT)
4 Matthew Garthwaite (Rhino Velo RT)
5 Matthew Morris (Wolverhampton Whls)
6 Ben Joughin (Pro Vision Racing)
7 Will Manfield-York (Wolverhampton Whls)
8 Nick Morris (Clee Cycles)
9 Will Corden (Mammoth Lifestyle RT)
10 Alfie Mortimer (Mid Shropshire Whls)

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