Sunday the 25th was the Swindon Road Club Cotswold Road Race had a full field of 60 riders from an original entry of over 140. The 2/3/4 category race also incorporated a round of the Cotswold Cycle Racing League (this was the 6th of 7 rounds).
The race left Brinkworth House in cool and overcast conditions with a slight drizzle falling. Thankfully the drizzle fizzled and the roads dried out making for generally good racing conditions. The peloton stayed together until the second time up Callow Hill when the race split and a group of seven riders gained a gap of around 40 seconds, a second group of about nine riders followed, then the remains of the peloton some 30 seconds further behind.
By the final lap the 2 front groups had merged and at the bell they had a 60 second advantage over the chasing peloton. Over the final lap the peloton reeled in the large front group and a single peloton approached Callow Hill for the final time and a leg-busting sprint up this short but testing climb.
Dan Marks emerged from the group and gained about a three bike length advantage by the time he crossed the finish line. Tim Turrini-Rochford and Michael Serafin contested a sprint for 2nd place with Tim narrowly clinching it. Lee Davis was clear in 4th position with the remaining riders crossing the line in a steady stream.
For SRAMcc who entered 5 riders, only 2 were chosen for the final 60, Liam Walsh and Joe Henstridge, Liam fell ill before the race so SRAMcc was represented by Joe, who rode strong within the pack, helping to bring back the break on the final lap and managed to finish 27th out of 60 riders. A solid performance ready for the upcoming Tour of Tidworth 3 day event.
Report taken from Swindon RC Website (Click for full report)
