While hosts Jersey sealed the team prize with their overall depth in the road races on the westerly Watersplash course, Guernsey Velo Club president Gary Wallbridge admitted that had never been the target for his cohort.
‘We went to win the two individuals – the ladies and the men,’ he said.
‘And that’s it – job done.’
Hosted in mild conditions, both the men’s and women’s races encompassed multiple laps of a circuit heading along Five Mile Road before a long climb of Jubilee Hill, inland cycle to St Ouen, then drop back onto the west coast. They would finish with one last charge up Jubilee Hill.
In the 8.5-lap men’s race of about 90km, several experienced cyclists had put in big shifts with the objective of ensuring that one of their younger competitors, and strong climbers, would be in the mix for the uphill sprint.
This started to pay off when Le Cheminant got away with the two top Jersey riders before half way.
The team’s pre-race plan later came to full realisation when the Guernsey 2023 triathlete and Faroe Islands 2027 cycling hopeful used his climbing excellence to sprint in about 2sec. ahead of Ollie Cadin, with Jack Rebours pedalling in a slightly more distant third.
Jersey threat Sam Nisbet had been unable to get up to them, settling for fourth, while Charlie Tourtel finished fifth overall and took the junior honours.
Brad Vaudin crossed the line seventh, while the other Guernsey finishers came in a string from ninth onwards, namely the two Adams – Thoumine and Torode – together with Jack Reed, Seth Davey and Dylan Koyupinar.
Alex Van Katwyk and Tobyn Horton had both dropped out in the first half after working hard as domestiques for the eventual winner. The 20-strong field featured an even split of riders from both islands.
The women’s race had unfolded separately, with seven competitors battling over approximately 59km split across 5.5 laps.
Packham ended up in a decisive duel with Guernsey 2023 road race medallist Florence Thomas.
The race split early on and Packham brought it down to a head-to-head with a break at the top of Jubilee Hill on lap two, before ultimately edging the win on the sprint.
In fifth overall, her sole Velo Club colleague in the race, Andrea Nightingale, came away with her own recognition as the top grand veteran (60+) rider. She had only dropped from rivals Clare Treharne and Lydia Barratt relatively late.
But for the team event, comprised of the top five men and two women per island, the Caesareans had the upper hand.
The successful inter-insular had helped address the disappointment of Guernsey’s time-trial counterpart in June bringing over no Jersey competitors.
‘It was a great event,’ Wallbridge added.
‘We came away very, very happy.
‘It was a good circuit and the uphill finish changed the dynamic.’
