St Ives CC Press Report

15th Feb 2010

St Ives Cycling Club's time trial team managed to bring home the team prize at the first event of the new season, the appropriately named 'Ely Hardriders'.

The 25 mile circuit around the villages of Little Downham to the west of Ely may not have much in the way of hills but has a fearsome reputation for strong winds and poor road surfaces. The conditions were relatively kind last Sunday although a light shower ensured all the team returned to the head quarters liberally sprayed in mud.

The fastest three riders for each club contribute to the team prize and on this occasion the honours fell to Lee Desborough, Paul Davis and Stephen Mavin. With rivalry between team mates just as intense as with other club's riders, Desborough was pleased to have come out on top by such a slender margin, although the season has not begun in earnest and both Desborough and Davis know there will be many other occasions for them to do battle once more.

Triathlete turned cyclist, Steve Mavin, enjoyed a trouble free ride and pushed Phil Peacock off the podium to secure his 3rd place in the team result.

Stuart Hocknell was there as moral support to his son Hugo but despite having not ridden a time trial for many years he was unlucky to miss his Veterans standard time, narrowly missing out after puncturing on the circuit.

At the slightly less serious end of the field, Jevon Hynds, who last year had the honour of last position, improved greatly in this year's event, prompting him to say at the finish "I might have to start to do some training"

The event was won overall by Dan Staite riding for team 'Cycles Dauphin' in a time of 57 minutes 14 seconds, ahead of seeded favourite Sam Barker from 'Planet X bikes'

Results:

Lee Desborough 1:01:15

Paul Davis 1:01:31

Stephen Mavin 1:05:47

Phil Peacock 1:06:18

Jonathon Best 1:09:48

John Batchelor 1:12:54

Stuart Hocknell 1:25:02

Jevon Hynds  1:25:18