James McKay (Cycling Sheffield) won the 49th edition of the Totnes Vire stage race (6-7 May) by seconds thanks to last gasp breakaway on the final stage.
A testing 8.8 mile road bike time trial opened the race on Saturday morning (6 May). Jordan Giles from Primera-TeamJobs was the only man to go under 20 minutes on the rolling course through Devon’s Ruby Country. Pre-race favourite and last year’s winner, Oli Hurdle from StolenGoat RT, was 2nd, with James McKay from Cycling Sheffield continuing his run of impressive form to take 3rd.
Stage 2
The promised rain largely held off in the morning and by the stage 2 in the afternoon on the Jacobstowe circuit, the riders were treated to a beautiful spring afternoon with blazing sunshine – a most unexpected bonus. A group of two rider – Felix Whetter, a first-year under-23 from the promoting Mid Devon CC and Charlie Beake from Team Tor 2000 Kalas – got clear on lap 3 and were soon joined by Beake’s teammate Oscar Hutchings and Thomas Heal from StolenGoat RT.
Over the next laps riders tried to get across the gap which by lap 6 had gone up to 90 seconds. Beake suffered a mechanical issue and with the hot sun tiring them, the three escapees were finally brought back on the final lap by a small group who had clipped off the front of the bunch. This group of ten contested the sprint into the finishing drag into Hatherleigh with Ross Fawcett from Orwell Velo taking an impressive victory and the 15 bonus seconds. Daniel McDermott from Moonglu RT took 2nd and 10 seconds with McKay taking the final crucial 5 second bonus.
The final criterium stage on Sunday commemorated Mid Devon CC club legend Colin Lewis, who died last year at Paigntons Velopark. Going into the stage Hurdle from StolenGoat was 3 seconds ahead of McKay with McDermott a further 3 seconds back.
After around 20 minutes, a group of four, including Stage 2 winner Ross Fawcett (one minute back on GC) formed a breakaway and quickly had a minute’s gap back to the main field. StolenGoat RT worked tirelessly to try and bring the break back but struggled to make much impact for a long time as the group of four worked well together.
The escape’s lead was enough to make Fawcett the virtual GC leader for a time. With 5 laps to go, Fawcett and his breakway companions – Nick Makin, a first-year junior from Mid Devon CC, Steve Jones from Team Tor 2000 Kalas and James Bevan from TrainSharp Elite – still had a 45 second lead and were guaranteed to contest the win.
Behind, McKay finally broke away with Cameron McLaren from Kalas Motip RT in an attempt to gap the yellow jersey and by the finish the pair had brought back the escapees to just 14 seconds. Bevan from TrainSharp took the win from Mid Devon’s Makin. Fawcett, who fought valiantly for the overall win, came in 3rd.
McKay held off the bunch by an an all important 4 seconds to take the overall classification by just two seconds ahead of Hurdle, with McDermott 3rd. The best-placed junior was Henry Howells from Mid Devon CC with a breakthrough ride for 16th on GC.
Huge thanks to Mike Gratton at Mid Devon CC for drafting the race report.
Hurdle, McKay and McDermott on the podium. Image: Mike Gratton
James McKay (Cycling Sheffield) won the 49th edition of the Totnes Vire stage race (6-7 May) by seconds thanks to last gasp breakaway on the final stage.
Featured image: Chris Godfrey
Report
Stage 1
A testing 8.8 mile road bike time trial opened the race on Saturday morning (6 May). Jordan Giles from Primera-TeamJobs was the only man to go under 20 minutes on the rolling course through Devon’s Ruby Country. Pre-race favourite and last year’s winner, Oli Hurdle from StolenGoat RT, was 2nd, with James McKay from Cycling Sheffield continuing his run of impressive form to take 3rd.
Stage 2
The promised rain largely held off in the morning and by the stage 2 in the afternoon on the Jacobstowe circuit, the riders were treated to a beautiful spring afternoon with blazing sunshine – a most unexpected bonus. A group of two rider – Felix Whetter, a first-year under-23 from the promoting Mid Devon CC and Charlie Beake from Team Tor 2000 Kalas – got clear on lap 3 and were soon joined by Beake’s teammate Oscar Hutchings and Thomas Heal from StolenGoat RT.
Over the next laps riders tried to get across the gap which by lap 6 had gone up to 90 seconds. Beake suffered a mechanical issue and with the hot sun tiring them, the three escapees were finally brought back on the final lap by a small group who had clipped off the front of the bunch. This group of ten contested the sprint into the finishing drag into Hatherleigh with Ross Fawcett from Orwell Velo taking an impressive victory and the 15 bonus seconds. Daniel McDermott from Moonglu RT took 2nd and 10 seconds with McKay taking the final crucial 5 second bonus.
Stage 3
The final criterium stage on Sunday commemorated Mid Devon CC club legend Colin Lewis, who died last year at Paigntons Velopark. Going into the stage Hurdle from StolenGoat was 3 seconds ahead of McKay with McDermott a further 3 seconds back.
After around 20 minutes, a group of four, including Stage 2 winner Ross Fawcett (one minute back on GC) formed a breakaway and quickly had a minute’s gap back to the main field. StolenGoat RT worked tirelessly to try and bring the break back but struggled to make much impact for a long time as the group of four worked well together.
The escape’s lead was enough to make Fawcett the virtual GC leader for a time. With 5 laps to go, Fawcett and his breakway companions – Nick Makin, a first-year junior from Mid Devon CC, Steve Jones from Team Tor 2000 Kalas and James Bevan from TrainSharp Elite – still had a 45 second lead and were guaranteed to contest the win.
Behind, McKay finally broke away with Cameron McLaren from Kalas Motip RT in an attempt to gap the yellow jersey and by the finish the pair had brought back the escapees to just 14 seconds. Bevan from TrainSharp took the win from Mid Devon’s Makin. Fawcett, who fought valiantly for the overall win, came in 3rd.
McKay held off the bunch by an an all important 4 seconds to take the overall classification by just two seconds ahead of Hurdle, with McDermott 3rd. The best-placed junior was Henry Howells from Mid Devon CC with a breakthrough ride for 16th on GC.
Huge thanks to Mike Gratton at Mid Devon CC for drafting the race report.
Results
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
General classification
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