Touzeau does his Games chances no harm at all

IT WAS Phil Touzeau (pictured) who struck the first blow in the Island Games selection battle after impressively winning the first time trial of the season yesterday.

Despite being regarded as nothing more than a gentle curtain-raiser and with riders including Josh Gosselin still using it as a training exercise, Touzeau's time of 32min. 15sec. for the 13-mile course would have been great cause for optimism.

He beat fellow Games hopeful Matt Osborn into second place, albeit only by 17sec., while Paul Wallbridge, Tony Bleasdale and Alex Wilson made up the top five.

The race, which included two laps of a course encompassing the roads around Fauxquets Valley, Talbot Valley and the Reservoir, was in bitterly cold temperatures, but that failed to dampen Touzeau's satisfaction.

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