Carling leaves rest of the field trailing

JIMMY CARLING proved too strong for Chris Le Page as he eased away to take the NRG Sark International Challenge. Some 42 mountain bike riders tested their stamina on a four-and-a-half-mile circuit encompassing many different terrains.

The event co-sponsored by Stocks island Hotel and Hel's Kitchen started in fields above the hotel. Almost immediately the riders were faced with a six-foot drop into a lower field before descending through the valley and down the tree-rooted path towards Dixcart.

After a long drag back out of Dixcart they followed the cliff path towards the Coupee, crossed the main road and faced a series of short, twisting turns and another drop off before rejoining the road.

Following another twisty descent and a flight of steps they climbed back to the main road and headed out towards Beauregard before making another foray on to the cliffs where a number of riders found how nasty gorse can be when you fall into it.

The riders had been split into three groups, elite, sport and under-14, and they were to complete four, three and two laps respectively.

The course designers expected a lap to take between 25 and 30min. for the leading riders and therefore the recorders were taken completely by surprise as elite riders Chris Le Page, Jimmy Carling, Andy Colver and James Roe came through the checkpoint in only 21.40. They were followed by sport rider Jack Sunderland, who had already gained a half-minute on the rest of the elite riders.

At the end of the second lap, Le Page and Carling had shaken off Roe and Colver and barring punctures or mechanical failure the race was between these two.

They were still together at lap three but on the final circuit Carling got away to win the challenge in 1-24.27 with Le Page 2.19 behind.

Le Page admitted that he could just not hold on to Carling through the twisty sections of the course. Colver and Roe crossed the line together.

Sunderland, having completed his three laps in 1-04.24, had to wait over six minutes to see who was second in the sport category. This was Dan Thwaite, who was followed home by Steve James and leading sport veteran Pierre Paul.

Sark residents Mick Ramos and Tom Lalor acquitted themselves well by completing the course and signified their intentions to compete in the next downhill race which is at Petit Bot next week.

Two laps of the course was a real test for the under 14s as the distance would be at least twice as long as they normally race and in most cases they coped with the time and terrain very well.

Phil Setters showed that he was a winter series strong contender by winning in 59.20, followed by Kieren Duquemin in 1-04.54 and Alex Wilson in 1-08.12.

After lunch at Stocks, the winners were presented with trophies by event coordinator Alex Magell and the course designers received gifts from Hel's Kitchen.