If anyone thought the conditions for stage one of the Tour Of The Reservoir were difficult, they were in for a real shock for stage two!
Posted On: 29th April, 2013
If anyone thought the conditions for stage one of the Tour Of The Reservoir were difficult, they were in for a real shock for stage two! The wind was howling across the open moorlands that once again provided the backdrop to the majority of the route used for the stage.
With the cumulative fatigue from the very difficult stage the day before there was nervous anticipation at the start. The Madison Genesis boys, having learned their lesson from the previous stage were ready and raring to go. As has been the case so far this year, the pace was intense from the start with groups of riders being distanced from the first kilometers of the stage.
The relentless wind and undulating course and numerous crashes continued to take their toll and by half distance the peloton had been reduced to around 50 riders. With all the Madison Genesis riders in the group it was looking good, but our luck was about to change. First Jack Pullar fell ill then both Seb and Dom were caught in crashes, dramatically reducing our numbers in the front. The remainder of the team were not about to give up though…
First Alex Peters, in his first ever premier calendar race, attacked and rode alone in front of the race for 20 miles, forcing the UK Youth team to chase hard. When he was caught with just two laps of the 12 mile loop to the finish, Ian Bibby took on the role of team helper and forced an incredible pace on the penultimate climb, once again thinning the peloton but more importantly reducing the number of UK Youth riders in the front group and thus setting up a perfect showdown on the last lap.
Evan Oliphant Raleigh attacked first and noticing UK Youth were struggling to catch him, Liam counter attacked and went in pursuit of the lone leader. For six miles Liam chased but just didn't get across and was eventually caught just 300 meters to go. Andy was ever vigilant in the front group and sprinted to and eventual seventh place on the stage and fifth place on the general classification.
“Today was a much better day for the team, the lads were very attentive all day in the very difficult conditions. There were some very good individual performances today but the main thing was they worked well as a team. They were very much the protagonists of the race which was pleasing to see and if they continue to perform like this then the big results are just round the corner. Next stop Lincoln!” Team Manager – Roger Hammond
Click here for a full race report
