The men’s race started early afternoon in light but persistent rain. The men had 8 laps of a challenging 15km circuit.
After a long neutralised zone, to give riders sight of a tight bridge 6km in, the flag was dropped. The pace was high and riders were spat from the back from the very first lap. The rain continued and conditions became attritional.
A break of was established, inevitably containing serial agitator David Lines of Wheelbase CabTech Castelli who was joined by Cameron Adams and Craig Paterson of Spokes Racing Team, Alan Dean of Edinburgh Road Club and the unattached Jamie Philpot. By lap three they had 1:45 on the main bunch.
Several unsuccessful attempts at bridging were attempted but the lead group were working well together, holding off the bunch. Eventually, Dean was dropped and the lead bunch was down to 4 with 2 laps remaining, the gap holding steady at around a minute and a half.
Conditions didn’t improve and many riders abandoned due to the cold and eventually only 18 riders finished the course.
In the run-in it was down to a straight out fight between Craig Paterson and David Lines, with Lines unable to respond to the final attack leaving Paterson to claim the win by over a minute.
Craig Paterson wins. Image: Ian Henderson
Places 3 to 6 were decided by a straight up fight between four riders with local boy Rory Webster, who now rides for Dooleys, snatching the final podium place.
Craig Paterson (Spokes Racing Team) won the Straiton Struggle road race (Nat B) on Saturday 22 April, the opening round of the 2023 Scottish Alba Road Race Series and the first National B road race in Scotland in 2023.
Featured image: Ian Henderson
Report
The men’s race started early afternoon in light but persistent rain. The men had 8 laps of a challenging 15km circuit.
After a long neutralised zone, to give riders sight of a tight bridge 6km in, the flag was dropped. The pace was high and riders were spat from the back from the very first lap. The rain continued and conditions became attritional.
A break of was established, inevitably containing serial agitator David Lines of Wheelbase CabTech Castelli who was joined by Cameron Adams and Craig Paterson of Spokes Racing Team, Alan Dean of Edinburgh Road Club and the unattached Jamie Philpot. By lap three they had 1:45 on the main bunch.
Several unsuccessful attempts at bridging were attempted but the lead group were working well together, holding off the bunch. Eventually, Dean was dropped and the lead bunch was down to 4 with 2 laps remaining, the gap holding steady at around a minute and a half.
Conditions didn’t improve and many riders abandoned due to the cold and eventually only 18 riders finished the course.
In the run-in it was down to a straight out fight between Craig Paterson and David Lines, with Lines unable to respond to the final attack leaving Paterson to claim the win by over a minute.
Places 3 to 6 were decided by a straight up fight between four riders with local boy Rory Webster, who now rides for Dooleys, snatching the final podium place.
Amelia Tyler (Alba Development Road Team) won the morning’s Regional A race – the opening round of the Scottish Scotia Road Race Series.
Huge thanks to Tony Garnett for drafting the race report.
Results
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