Osborn claims his first road race victory

JON OSBORN took his first ever road race win with victory in the Velo Club's handicapped event held over seven laps of the Coudre circuit. Riding in a group that set off in between the first on the road and the scratch group, Osborn made the most of the advantage given to him by the handicappers.

Within the first two laps it was clear that his group, which also contained Matt Osborn, Tim Holmes and Ann Bowditch among others, would soon catch the first batch of riders, which included Josh Owen, Allan Renyard, Gary Wallbridge and Tracey Dowinton.

Meanwhile, the scratch group comprising Rob Smart, Tony Bleasdale and Stuart Le Tissier were set the unenviable task of closing a five-minute gap to the Osborn group and an eight-and-a-quarter-minute gap on the Renyard group of riders.

The first couple of laps saw Smart, Bleasdale and Le Tissier make very little ground on those who started before them and realised they were going to have to step up the pace if they were going to see the front of the race.

By the end of lap four, the first two groups on the road had merged into one while the scratch riders had pegged back their deficit to an almost manageable four minutes. With two laps to go, it was down to two-and-a-half.

It was on the last ascent of Le Coudre that Smart and Bleasdale put the hammer down in an attempt to catch the lead group, which had thinned out and now contained only Jon Osborn, Bowditch and Holmes.

That acceleration was bad news for Le Tissier who was distanced from his companions on the climb as Smart and Bleasdale realised the only thing to do was to bury themselves until the finish.

Onto the coast road for the final approach to the finish and with the lead riders in sight, Smart decided to take matters into his own hands and started the sprint early, hoping that a final charge would see the race tip into his favour.

It so nearly worked, but Jon Osborn timed his finish to perfection just holding off Smart for the win with Bleasdale a bike length behind.

The leading five riders were credited with the same time.

Le Tissier was best of the rest, followed by the winner's brother, Matt. Owen, Renyard and Dowinton rounded off the top 10.

The support race consisted of a two-lap time trial of the same circuit as tackled by the senior riders.

James McLaughlan again proved his strength against the watch to hold off Nathan Baudains by 15 seconds. James Cameron took third spot ahead of Callum Hill-Smith.