Le Page holds off Reeves to claim sprint win

CHRIS LE PAGE summoned just a bit of extra strength from somewhere to hold off Andrew Reeves and take the sprint honours at the end of a drenching inter-insular road race yesterday morning. Le Page and Reeves had been away for the best part of five of the seven-lap reservoir circuit race.

They left a peloton of 10 other riders, which later split, to cross the line in 1hr 58min. 31sec.

The first chasing trio finished well over six minutes back, led in by the first Jersey rider, Andy Munns. Only three made the trip here, though there was still plenty of spice in the racing tactics and the conditions.

Allan Renyard earned himself a confidence-boosting third place in the five-lap race.

He, too, found the conditions testing, with the memory of his accident at the bottom of the Terres, in which he broke his right thigh, still fresh.

'It hadn't rained for a while and that lot falling made the roads very slippery. I was very wary at times, especially downhill through the corners, because when I crashed, I had been going in a straight line.

'But that was my first sprint win since I came back to bunch racing, so I was pretty pleased.'

Guernsey Velo Club president and lead-car driver David Harry praised his club's riders for their teamwork.

'They worked hard today; they were attacking from Les Vauxbelets on the first lap.

'The Jersey riders did not know the course or the hills very well, so our riders did what they could to disrupt them and break their rhythm.

'Tony Bleasdale was away for three-quarters of a lap on lap one, then Mike Dean went away for a lap before they pulled him back.

'The first mile or so of a break is always the hardest and is so important.

'When the riders are only 50 yards ahead, they're always looking over their shoulder, wondering whether to sit up and be pulled back. When two got out ahead together, they were able to work on extending the lead.'

Bleasdale came a cropper on Le Mont Saint. Before the start of the race, the riders were warned that two cars had been parked right on the left-hand bend leading off Le Mont Saint into Rue a l'Or, forcing them to take a wide racing line.

Although not the cause of his crash, the cars there could have made the outcome much worse.

His bike slid at the top corner and with no way of stopping, Bleasdale could only brace for impact.

'Once I went down, I just watched the tarmac slide by and thought ?This is going to hurt?.'

Fortunately, he was not badly injured, though he retired at the end of that lap.