After the great performance by the team in Durham last Thursday, Madison Genesis were really looking forward to round three of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series in Stoke-on-Trent.
Posted On: 22nd May, 2013
After the great performance by the team in Durham last Thursday, Madison Genesis were really looking forward to round three of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series in Stoke-on-Trent.
The circuit in Stoke was a lot more flowing and didn't have the same extreme road conditions of Durham but that didn't detract from the racing. Even the neutralized laps before the race start were completed at a blistering pace, so you can only imagine how fast the bunch was travelling once they were free to race properly. In fact it was so fast for the first quarter of the race, the selection was once again made from the back with group after group struggling to follow the relentless speed.
Liam Holohan, riding a brilliant race, covered most of the early attacks and his perseverance finally paid off as he formed part of a very select but dangerous group that managed to build a lead of nearly 20 seconds. The rest of the team policed all of the counter attacks in the chase group but a combination of race tactics in the front group and the sheer speed of the chasing riders spelled the end of the breakaway with just five laps of the race remaining.
Team UK Youth tried to control the front of the group for the remainder of the race but Dean Downing wasn't about to be left out of the first bunch sprint of the series so far. Moving up on the last lap, Dean managed to break into the lead out train and sprint to a fantastic second place on the night, backed up by a great fourth place by Andy and a superb 13th place for Liam (given the fact he'd been working hard in the break all day too), the team finished second on the night to UK Youth and moved closer to the top two teams in the classification.
"I was really pleased with the team tonight; they showed power, tactical awareness and worked well as together, but above all the determination was there in abundance and it was great to see. The result was a very strong second place that could have been even better had Liam not been baulked on the last corner. Now to the difficult Aberystwyth circuit where hopefully the team can make that next step." Team Manager - Roger Hammond
Click here for a full race report
Photos by Andy Jones
