We waited nervously all day in the hope that the torrential rain would disappear before the start of the fifth round of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series.
Posted On: 29th May, 2013
We waited nervously all day in the hope that the torrential rain would disappear before the start of the fifth round of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series. The promenade based circuit in Torquay would have been very tricky as the competitors in the earlier events on the day had found out.
In the dry though, the longer-than-usual and flowing circuit provided the perfect setting for an extremely fast race. The problem for Madison Genesis was there wasn't too much opportunity to break away as it was difficult to get “out of sight and out of mind”. In the end the bunch stayed more or less intact for the first time this series, but the resulting bunch sprint was more than spectacular…
Once again a strong lead out by UK Youth lined the group out for the last lap, we had decided to let them ride and try to get involved as late as possible. That’s exactly what happened with both Dean Downing and Alex Peters moving up late on the last lap. Dean muscled his way into the UK Youth lead-out train and from there it was a drag race to the line with Olympic Champion Ed Clancy. The result was so close it was 30 minutes before the decision was made!
Unfortunately, the finish line photo shows Dean missing out on the win by the smallest of margins and taking second place. Alex finished a very impressive seventh and our third rider Jack Pullar rounded off another solid team performance with a top 20 despite crashing with six laps to go. After tonight’s team third place, we now move up to second in the overall standings.
"It's so great to see how well the team is riding together - eventhough it’s a couple of months into our debut season! Nice to see Jack step in at the last minute and produce a great result for the team" Team Manager – Roger Hammond
"We rode great tonight as a team - always around each other. I had to hit out early in the sprint out of the last tight corner and getting beaten by millimetres is tough, but at least I know my form is good and we as a team are now up to second overall" Team Rider – Dean Downing
Click here for a full race report
Photos from Mat Pennell, Larry Hickmott and tourseries.co.uk
