Report by Paul Butler, Sydenham Road Race Secretary.
On a beautifully sunny March afternoon of racing, we had 4 riders racing this Saturday at the Hillingdon circuit and everybody put in a very respectable performance.
First off was 15 year old Jack Gregorie in the Youth A race (10 miles).
In his first few attempts last year, Jack wasn’t quite able to finish his races with the front group but thanks to some hard work on the bike (mainly in the snow!) this winter, he finished comfortably in the middle of the pack and he should be very proud of himself.
In the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Cats race (33 miles), we were represented by Rob Thatcher, Pete Mahoney and Paul Butler. All 3 riders put in attacks during the race with Pete gaining the biggest gaps, going well with his obvious early season fitness. The pack kept coming quickly back together, as it often does at Hillingdon and Paul and Rob were well positioned with 3 laps to go. Ex-Tour rider Magnus Backstedt kindly brough his team to our race though, Team Uk Youth, who ramped it up to an impossibly high speed, splitting the bunch on the final lap. Paul and Rob had the speed to finish in the front half and Pete’s monster attacks early on meant he finished comfortably in the second bunch, a few seconds back.
A solid start for the team.