BROADSTONE'S Luke Gray clinched a thrilling victory at Chantry Park, Ipswich in the third round of the National Trophy Cyclo Cross Series.
The venue has recently been awarded the 2012 European Cyclo Cross Championships, a race Gray could well take part in if he continues to impress the selectors.
With team-mate and series leader Dan McLay missing from the start line after winning the Junior Madison title at Manchester Velodrome, the junior men’s field still looked very strong.
Gray led the race from the start and continued to set an early pace for the first two laps. Then it was the current junior national champion Tom Moses (Team Wallis/CCH) who took the lead for a lap before Perry Bowater (CC Giro) counter-attacked.
Perry maintained the lead for two laps but then it was subsequently Moses who took the lead. With Gray (Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Scott) biding his time in third position, the race came back together on the penultimate lap, with Gray riding past both of the leaders.
Gray then used his superior technical and climbing skills to make his move half way up a steep climb, keeping the momentum going all the way over the top, and was never in any real danger of being caught.
This result will be seen as a massive step in his comeback from a fractured pelvis sustained earlier in the year at a mountain bike race in Germany while riding for the national team.
“I’m just getting back to form now, I felt good at the start, judged my effort in the middle of the race then caught up at the end. I just went flat out up the hill and tried to make no mistakes from there,” said Gray.
Gray’s form even took Moses by surprise.
“I made my attack and I got a 10-second gap and thought I had the race won. In the last lap he put in a massive attack and I had nothing more to give and ended up in third,” said Moses.
Gray is currently spending half term at an ODP (Olympic Development Programme) selection camp which will determine who receives a place on the increasingly competitive national squad and could open the door to full-time National Lottery funding.
In the U14 race, team-mate Harvey Lowe escaped an early accident to take the win comfortably to retain his green leaders jersey.
In the Elite race, Germany’s Johannes Sickmuller (Stevens Racing Team) secured his second consecutive win in the series leaving it late against Paul Oldham (Hope Factory Racing) who had tracked his rival for all but the last lap.
Charlton Marshall’s Stuart Bowers (Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Scott) continued to improve finishing in 12th position, one minute and 12 seconds behind the winner.
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