Smart powers to Herm win

WITH one last Island Games MTB team spot still to be filled, there was an extra dimension on the result of the first event of the Velo Club's summer series. The Herm race is one of the few local ones where the senior categories enjoy the thrill of a mass start, but with nearly 60 riders on the start line the officials decided to grid them for safety reasons.

First off were the expert group and Rob Smart led the way, powering up all the climbs and picking his way neatly through the technical sections.

He soon built up a comfortable margin over Tobyn Horton in second place.

The next group to go was the advanced category and two of the leading riders, Matt Osborn and Josh Owen, suffered mechanical problems very early on.

Owen retired and although Osborn managed to repair the damage he finished well off the pace. The lead riders were Ann Bowditch, Steve James and Shaun Mosely who all pulled clear of the rest of the group.

Mosely was the first to tire and finished third, while James hung on to the wheel of Bowditch until her superior fitness and strength gave her the edge to win easily.

The new course took its toll on a number of riders in the sports and under-16 categories.

Six failed to finish, the most notable being Nathan Baudains the winner of the winter series. His rival, Gary Robert, was a convincing winner of the under-16s and Dan Owen was the equally impressive winner of the sport group.

By contrast, all 13 riders in the under-14 category finished their two-lap race with James Cameron taking first followed by James Mapley and Philip Setters.

The juniors in the under-12, under-10 and under-8 categories had their own course up the spine road and along the top of the Frying Pan field. In a close finish Craig Robert just beat Alex Falla in the oldest race, but in the under-10s Michael Mann won by a convincing margin over Emile Turpin.