For the first time in a long time, Centreville fielded what could almost be considered a road racing team for the East Lancs Road Club road race on the 21st May. Louis Szymanski, Ben Whitehead, and Steve Whittington lined up at the start of the race which was held on the larger Bashall Eaves circuit of 11 miles to be covered 5 times.
Race tactics had been texted the night before, and it seemed that with a six man squad, Team Chronomaster which has some incredibly strong riders would be likely trying to get a rider or two up the road, and would be the team to watch closely. We decided there was one rider in particular, the ‘key man’ to keep an eye on, and if one or more of us ended up in a break with that rider, it would potentially be the winning move. On the second lap on the long undulating back roads of the circuit, Louis Szymanski began to stir things up at the front of the race, stringing the 60 man field out into a long line to tire some legs out, and then when the pace dropped and the peleton bunched up, Louis made a strong attack off the front, which was chased down.
Shortly afterwards a break went that looked a threatening move that could be a race winner. The break stayed away for two full laps, and with Louis doing most of the work on the front of the bunch to pull the break back, they were eventually caught with a lap and a half to go. The bunch would have been forgiven for thinking Louis would have been tired out, but no, he launched an incredibly strong attack and despite a hard chase from behind, managed to stay away for half a lap.
For the final lap, the remaining 40 or so riders jostled for position and geared up for a bunch sprint. Despite the undulating terrain the race was played out at almost 24mph average speed. It was a fast tailwind into the finish and the sprint was taken by Tom Lowe (Independent), with renowned sprinter Giles Pidcock (Chevin Cycles) in second place. Ben placed 21st, and Louis 27th.
Photography from Ellen Isherwood.
Come and ride or race with Centreville: contact us
