Brehaut pipped

PAUL BREHAUT does not consider himself a realistic medal prospect in the Island Games road race, but he came within a bike's length of upsetting Jersey's big medal hope Chris Spence in the 100k inter-insular race on the sister isle's Watersplash course. His experience did for me,' said Guernsey's expert time-trialist, who said he was 'very chuffed' with his second place after a disappointing performance in the UK the previous weekend, when he was plagued by back problems.

'In the last three-quarters-of-a-mile he stayed on my wheel and then with about 200 yards to go, he came in on the sheltered inside to win by about three-quarters of a bike's length,' said Brehaut.

With fellow Games riders Aaron Bailey and Terry Wright giving the event a miss, Brehaut was never going to get much assistance, but to his credit never got the working-over predicted from the Jersey squad.

'They were firing off the front quite a lot and I had to work hard to keep them at bay,' said Brehaut.

'Basically, I sat on Spence. I knew they woul not leave him behind.'

The tactics paid off for the Guernseyman.

By the final two laps, Spence and Brehaut were clear, and after almost 60 miles racing, it came down to the sprint. Brehaut, who spent much of the previous Island Games, flat out on his injured back in his hotel room, said he felt his back but was pleased to keep going and challenge an elite rider who regularly competes against the best in Britain.

Spence also considers himself a strong contender for the Games road gold.

In Farnham, Surrey, Ann Bowditch took nearly two minutes off her 25-mile time-trial best in placing 17th at the national event.