Les Ingman RR 2008

A field of just under 60 riders tackled the Les Ingman Memorial Race on the tough Bletchingley circuit. The Norwood Paragon promotion attracted a strong field, undeterred by the hills or the threat of rain for the afternoon. The race split early on with a group of about 15 riders breaking clear on the first lap up the long climb. Five other riders, including two London Dynamo’s and two Norwood Paragons bridged across to the leaders leaving the trailing bunch to chase for the remainder of the race.

With seven laps to go, the front break settled into a good rhythm punctuated by various attacks. Chris McNamara (Wildside) was part of a strong move of 6 riders which broke clear for a few miles, but this was reeled back in. Likewise Medway Velo’s Gareth McCullough made a spirited move together with Marcus Brueton (Norwood Paragon) although this was also in vain. The evergreen Steve Gowar put in a solo bid for freedom on the 4th lap and stayed clear for almost an entire lap, however he was caught as the hills took their toll.

It was McNamara who instigated the key move on the main climb during the 5th lap. In a blistering attack he rode clear of the break with only McCullough, Chris Moores (Norwood Paragon) and Steve Hone (Twickenham CC) for company. This quartet proceeded to work well together, although their lead remained at only 20 seconds for quite a while. Various riders attempted to jump across with London Dynamo’s Paul Delahunty proving the only successful candidate whilst Hone dropped back to the chasers unable to match the pace being set by the leaders.

True to form the weather played its part and soaked the riders, causing many of the fragmented bunch to pull out and whittling down further the chasers behind the front break. Entering the final lap, McNamara’s group was comfortably clear and the pace was slowing on the hills for the chasers. Dulwich Dynamo’s Kevin Knox made a plucky move and rode away from the 2nd group on the climb up to Outwood Common following a crash on the previous lap. Meanwhile the leaders rode the hill one last time to Bletchingley before descending to turn and off the circuit to the flat finish. Delahunty (London Dynamo) made an early move in the sprint and took an impressive victory comfortably ahead of Medway VC’s McCullough with McNamara and Moores settling for 3rd and 4th respectively.

Knox’s gamble paid off as the chasers got to within 10 seconds of him, then foolishly sat up as tactics came into play ahead of the final sprint. Knox took 5th place whilst Medway Velo’s Ivan Jordan lead in the chasers half a wheel ahead of Norwood Paragon’s Marcus Brueton and Andy Davis (Fit-For). Justin Lomas (Norwood Paragon) lead in the next group to take 19th place whilst TSN’s Adam Cotterill lead in the last main group on the road bringing to a close a challenging day’s racing.

Les Ingman Memorial RR 130km 27th April 2008
1 Paul Delahunty London Dynamo 3h 15m 00s
2 Gareth McCullough Medway Velo st
3 Chris McNamara Wildside RT st
4 Chris Moores Norwood Paragon CC st
5 Kevin Knox Dulwich Paragon CC  @ 1m 34s
6 Ivan Jordan Medway Velo @2m 03s
7 Marcus Brueton Norwood Paragon CC  st
8 Andy Davis Fit-For st
9 Ian Paine London Dynamo  st
10 David Creeggan VC Meudon  st
11 Steve Skuse Wildside RT st
12 Mike Hawkins Norwood Paragon CC st
13 Steven Saunders Kingston Wheelers CC  st
14 Dave Miller API Bikes  st
15 Mark Sussex Wildside RT st
16 Liam Terry Southdown Velo st
17 Richard Simmonds London Dynamo  st
18 Steve Gowar Sigma Sport RT  st
19 Justin Lomas Norwood Paragon CC  15m 00s
20 Mark Daly Wildside RT  st
21 Chris Ansell Team Corridori  st
22 Dan Staite Python RT st 
23 Andy Betts Twickenham CC st
24 Andy Eagles Dulwich Paragon CC  st
25 Adam Cotterill TrisportNews.com  @17m 00s
26 Chaz Hollosi Gemini BC st 
27 Jason Salter Bayeux Landscapes st 
28 Gordon Brockie Glade CC st 
29 Steve Home Twickenham CC  st
30 Jaco Ehlers Wildside RT st 
31 James Beaumont Kingston Wheelers CC  st
32 Jason Humphries Norwood Paragon CC st
33 Dan Clark Brighton Mitre st
34 Geoff Lulham Evans RT st
35 Steve Comben In Gear Quickvit RT @19m 00s
36 Anthony Chandlen Norwood Paragon CC st
37 Jon Masters Redhill CC st

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