Roe boosts own confidence with performance in opener
THE NEW mountain bike season is finally under way and James Roe put his suspected rustiness behind him to dominate from start to finish at La Vassalerie.
Despite persistent rain delaying the start of the Winter MTB Cross-Country Series by two weeks and leaving lingering effects on the soil, last Sunday’s long-awaited season opener welcomed a good mix of hardy regulars and a few newer faces trying to make an impression.
A ‘traditional Guernsey course’ weaving through rough fields and covered in thick mud – what better place for the 2017 NatWest Island Games champion to demonstrate his hold on the local off-road scene?
This was on a day when Nor Holden and Kylie Vaudin made good headway on the tough terrain to add a few touches of quality to the women’s field.
Despite Roe’s switch to the road for the most recent Island Games in Gibraltar, and a bit of a break afterwards, he retained his good cross-country form and had already assumed the lead at the end of the starting stretch.
Such was the technicality of the course that even Roe had to briefly dismount his bike on each passing of a muddy bend just before reaching the lap point.
But by the time he embarked on the second circuit, he had already established a solid 15-second lead on fellow Games rider Mike Serafin, with a number of strong prospects behind them chasing the final podium place.
Roe continued to build his lead throughout the race, eventually covering 12 laps in 1hr 7min. 40sec., with Serafin going the distance but finishing 3min. 26sec. down.
Andy Colver had done well to cut through the field after a slower start, taking the third spot just ahead of veteran Paul Brehaut and with a larger gap on teenager Jack Reed.
‘As it’s an Island Games year, you’re really just getting back into training and so it’s a nice confidence booster that I have not lost too much fitness,’ said the victorious Roe.
‘I think I could have raced it quicker if it were March or April time, but this time of the year, I am happy with the performance.’
Roe added after taking the win one day short of his 32nd birthday: ‘It’s a course that has been used since I started mountain-biking – getting on 20 years ago now.
‘It’s a traditional Guernsey cross-country course – just riding around fields and muddy patches. You have to be quite strong just to power through that kind of course.’
The women’s competition featured a different winner with the unfortunate side-lining of Games rider Maddie Wilson.
Multi-sporter and leading footballer Holden instead took the honours, covering eight laps in 1-10-15.
Claire Smit and the road-based Hannah Brehaut were the next two women in the main event.
However, arguably the most promising women’s performance had come in the junior-led support race.
Returning prospect Kylie Vaudin, now an under-16, completed six laps in 41-16 to beat all but U14 sand racing star Dan Clark in that shorter event.
