Team News – Madison Genesis

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Busy weekend for Madison Genesis with races in Holland and Britain – Team Press Release

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Team News – Madison Genesis

Ronde Van Overijssel

Saturday saw Madison Genesis make the long journey to the Dutch town of Rijssen near the German border. Ahead of them was the 202 Kilometre 1.2 internationally recognised race.

However before we even got to the start things were to take a dramatic turn for the worse. On the Friday pre-race ride, an angry driver decided to take a risk and pass far too close on a shared bike path service road.

The car clipped Scott Davies and although he managed to stay upright, he didn’t stand a chance when the wide trailer the car was towing ploughed into the back of him throwing him into the path of Matt Holmes. Both riders crashed heavily with Matt having to be taken to hospital for further checks.

Matt Holmes wasn’t able to race on the Saturday due to his injuries so we unfortunately started with a depleted team. The flat Dutch races with no wind are very much a numbers game but despite the setback the team were aggressive from the start, with Tom Stewart featuring in the main break of the day.

Unfortunately there were a couple of teams that had missed the move and by the end of the 185 kilometre opening circuit the race was all back together again. It was looking like a bunch sprint until very near the finish when a group of five riders clipped away. Despite a determined chase the leaders managed to hold onto a slender 50 meter lead. Tom Stewart continued his good run of form to finish a highly respectable 15th.

Team Manager – Roger Hammond
“This was a very difficult couple of days for the riders. What should have been a post travel relaxing ride ended with two badly injured riders, a long stressful day on the bike and even more hanging around for the others. Despite this the guys rode really well, we missed Matt and the hard work he devotes to the team. Scott rode an incredible race but when you think he was very nearly killed less than 24 hours earlier, it makes his performance all the more impressive. Despite the setback the team rode really well and took their chances. Get well soon Matt.”

Wilton GP
Sunday morning saw the team back in the UK in the small town of Wilton, Salisbury for the second round of the Spring Cup series of road races. An opportunity for Alex Peters to show off the Spring Cup leaders jersey for the first time after having won the opening round at the Tour of the Reservoir.

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 After the crash to Peter Hawkins, the Madison-Genesis team flexed their muscles by going to the front and bringing the break back.

The team were really motivated for the race and when the pack split on the first of four larger circuits, Madison Genesis were really well represented with four riders in the 19 man breakaway – Ian Bibby, Alex Peters, Liam Holohan, Andy Tennant.

Tom Scully and (second placed in the series) Peter Hawkins also joined the leaders when a further 10 riders came across. With so many riders in the front there wasn’t too much unity in the group and by the last of the large laps the attack began in earnest. With the numerical advantage Madison Genesis were represented in every move and things were looking really good when Pete attacked on the first of the six finishing circuits with him being – on paper at least – the strongest rider in the five man group.

However disaster struck with just one-and-a-half laps to go (8 miles), Pete touched wheels and crashed heavily losing contact with the front group. In a fraction of a second the team had lost complete control of the race. In the second group on the road, the rest of the team didn’t waste any time in reducing the deficit and chased hard, catching the last of the breakaway group with just a couple of miles to go.

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Losing a lot of ‘bark’ as we’d say in Aussie, Peter Hawkins speaks about the moment he touched a wheel and the race changed for him and his team and the rest

Unfortunately there had been a lot of sprinters sat in the group and despite the hard chase until the closing stages of the race, Tom Scully still managed to salvage fourth place in the bunch sprint.

Team Manager – Roger Hammond – “The guys rode really well today. They did everything I asked of them and more, placing so many riders in that front group put us in such a strong position. However it just goes to show you can’t take anything for granted. In a split second the race was turned on its head for us. The response from the remaining riders was superb though, their strength and determination really showed through by closing that gap so quickly and keeping the team in with a chance to win the race. Let’s hope, with three crashes this weekend, we will have a little more luck next weekend at Lincoln!”

 

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