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Tour Series 2010: Stoke-on-Trent · 18/06/10

A case of ‘Do I not like orange’ sends Rapha Condor Sharp ‘Back to Black’ in the Tour Series.

Ian Bibby took his second win of the 2010 Tour Series, leading his Motorpoint team back to the top of the Tour Series standings.

Motorpoint now hold a three point lead with just two rounds to go, as erstwhile leaders Rapha Condor Sharp had a night to forget, finishing the night in fourth position to relinquish their brief hold on the orange Halfords leader’s jerseys, and allowing Endura Racing to draw level with them in the standings.

The first serious move of the night saw three Endura riders in the lead, a numerical advantage the other teams wouldn’t allow to stand and it all came back together.

A crash just before the first hot-spot sprint brought a few casualties, most notably Rob Hayles who although not obviously injured was forced to visit the pits to change his damaged bike. He rejoined the race but having been brought down on the other side of the circuit he stood little chance of making up his lost laps and packed a few minutes later.

35 minutes in and a group of six established itself including an ever active Graham Briggs, Bauer, Richardson, Clarke and Elliott. They were quickly joined by others, until once again the bunch was one big long line.

Into the last 20 minutes and it was all together, one rider who hadn’t troubled the front all night, but who hadn’t looked even vaguely out of breath was Ed Clancy, causing speculation that Motorpoint would be pushing for a bunch gallop on their home circuit.

However, almost as soon as that theory was voiced the duo of Dave Clarke and Ian Bibby attacked, staying clear for a few laps until a concerted chase seemed certain to doom their escape. Just as it looked like the junction would be made, Thwaites of Endura jumped across. With Endura having provided much of the impetus for the chase the bunch sat up and as they entered the last five laps it was now certain that one of this lead trio would take the individual win.

The Rapha Condor Sharp boys looked to be really feeling it tonight with an exasperated Chris Newton at one point shouting ‘where are they?’ wondering where his team mates had disappeared to on a night where, despite repeated individual efforts from Briggs, Newton and House, the team never really looked like troubling the teams they’d humbled over recent rounds.

With the individual win now out of reach the bunch settled down to sorting out the minor placings, (a phrase that couldn’t be more inaccurate in a competition where the placing of each of your first three riders decides the overall result). As the bunch passed the pits with two to go, Motorpoint placed riders at the front in the form of Tennant and Clancy while Pendragon, having one of their best nights moved Lloyd and Barker up. Rapha Condor Sharp meanwhile seemed to be in disarray as they struggled to infiltrate the chase.

Into the finish and Bibby took the individual honours for Motorpoint, setting up a team victory that puts them back atop the individual standings whilst Endura took second on the night and in the team competition, leveling with Rapha Condor Sharp and leaving both now three points behind Motorpoint.

With third place on the night, Pendragon forced Rapha Condor Sharp back into fourth place. A great result for the west country boys inflicting further misery for Rapha Condor Sharp who will be back to black when the series resumes in Chester next week.

Speaking after the event John Herety made no excuses for the team’s under performance on the night:

“Basically tonight we got a kicking, there’s no point trying to put a gloss on things, the communication was bad out on the road amongst the boys, they were always on the back foot. Kristian and Chris rode well individually but this is all about the team and any weak links are bound to be exposed which is exactly what happened tonight.”

The series resumes in Chester on Monday night, but not before this weekends Smithfield Nocturne where the team will be hoping to make a much better show in front of their home crowd in London.

Round Eight Results

Team
1) Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta
2) Endura Racing
3) Pendragon Le Col Colnago
4) Rapha – Condor – Sharp
5) CyclePremier.com – Metaltek
6) Sigma Sport – Specialized
7) Team Raleigh
8) Team Corley Cycles
9) Kuota – road.cc
10) Team Ireland

Individual
1) Ian Bibby Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta
2) Scott Thwaites Endura Racing
3) Dave Clarke Pendragon Le Col Colnago
4) Jonny McEvoy Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta
5) Yanto Barker Pendragon Le Col Colnago

The Halfords Tour Series Standings (after eight rounds)
1) Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta 70pts
2) Rapha – Condor – Sharp 67pts
3) Endura Racing 67pts
4) Sigma Sport – Specialized 50pts
5) Pendragon Le Col Colnago 47pts
6) Team Raleigh 42pts
7) CyclePremier.com – Metaltek 41pts
8) Team Corley Cycles 29pts
9) Kuota – road.cc 18pts
10) Team Ireland 8pts

Boardman Bikes Sprints Competition Results
1) Graham Briggs Rapha – Condor – Sharp 12pts
2) Liam Holohan Team Raleigh 6pts
3) Dave Clarke Pendragon Le Col Colnago 5pts

Boardman Bikes Sprints Competition Standings (after eight rounds)
1) Graham Briggs Rapha – Condor – Sharp 55pts
2) Liam Holohan Team Raleigh 41pts
3) Kristian House Rapha – Condor – Sharp 32pts

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