Monte Guerrini (Le Col RT) took his second National B road race win of the year with a commanding solo win at the Derek Lusher Memorial road race on Sunday 1 June.
Report
On a blustery early-summer afternoon in rural Suffolk, the Derek Lusher Memorial unfolded like a slow-burn thriller. The exposed B-roads around Somersham turned the race into a battle against the wind long before anyone started sparring with each other.
Second time through the gusting headwind drag a coalition of the strong was forged: Daniel Bigham, ever the metronome in HUUB WattShop colours, drilled the move with Monte Guerrini (Le Col RT) tucked in, along with Rowan Baker (Raptor Factory Racing), Callum Laborde (Private Member), Steven Parsonage (DAS Richardsons), Joe Adlam-Cook (Ride Revolution), Colin Ward (Primo RT) and Ross Fawcett (Stolen Goat RT).
Within two laps the gap was north of three minutes; Adlam-Cook and Ward (the victim of an untimely mechanical) were both dropped, leaving six riders who—on paper at least—would decide the Eastern title.
For a long while the escape rode with cooperation, each man burying himself then swinging off into the gutter; “heads down and roll as hard as you can” was how Guerrini described after that race.
Yet everyone knew Bigham’s dossier: chip away, chip away, and if the elastic slackens, go. With two laps to run he duly attacked into the wind, but Guerrini and Laborde—stung by Bigham’s successful raid at the recent DAP CC road race—were alive to the danger and doused the flames. That counter-punch merely reset the tension. Entering the final circuit the front group slowed, collars were turned, eyes flicked sideways; the classic moment when a race can be won by daring to blink first.
Bigham tried again, Laborde glued to his wheel, and that was Guerrini’s cue. He shut the move down, only for Parsonage to rocket past. Guerrini followed, and the pair carved open daylight while the others marked shadows. Parsonage’s valiant diesel eventually hit the red, but Guerrini, pressed on alone. Half a lap, then a quarter, the gap never truly large but always decisive, he took the win in fine solo fashion.
Laborde fought home for second, Baker completed the podium, while Bigham—architect of so much of the day’s agony—rolled in sixth.
Results
| Pos | Rider | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monte Guerrini | Le Col Race Team | +60 |
| 2 | Callum Laborde | Private Member | +52 |
| 3 | Rowan Baker | Raptor Factory Racing | +45 |
| 4 | Ross Fawcett | StolenGoat Race Team | +40 |
| 5 | Steven Parsonage | DAS Richardsons | +35 |
| 6 | Daniel Bigham | HUUB WattShop | +31 |
| 7 | Clay Davies | Ride Revolution Coaching | +27 |
| 8 | Rahid Alblooshi | UAE Cycling Federation | +23 |
| 9 | Charlie Crawt | Primo RT | +20 |
| 10 | James Ambrose-Parish | Ride Revolution Coaching | +17 |
| 11 | Morris Bacon | DAP Cycling Club | +15 |
| 12 | Joe Adlam-Cook | Ride Revolution Coaching | +13 |
| 13 | Colin Ward | Primo RT | +11 |
| 14 | Frank Longstaff | DAS Richardsons | +9 |
| 15 | Jake Lunt | Lee Valley Youth CC | +7 |
| 16 | Stanley Cooke | Lee Valley Youth CC | +6 |
| 17 | Adam Robertson | Ride Revolution Coaching | +5 |
| 18 | Toby Langstone | Le Col Race Team | +3 |
| 19 | James Dent | Team PB Performance | +2 |
| 20 | Thomas Dawtrey | Islington Cycling Club | +1 |
| 21 | Lyle Simpson | DAS Richardsons | +0 |
| 22 | Robert Smith | Army Cycling Union | +0 |
| ⚠️ DNF | Helal Alharbi | UAE Cycling Federation | 0 |
| ⚠️ DNF | Tobias Bartlett | Lincoln Wheelers CC | 0 |
| ⚠️ DNF | Alan Jay Brazier | Private Member | 0 |
| ⚠️ DNF | Tsz Shun Cheung | Private Member | 0 |
| ⚠️ DNF | Aaron Freeman | Schils – Doltcini Racing Team | 0 |
| 🚫 DNS | Benjamin Hellebo | Le Col Race Team | 0 |
| 🚫 DNS | Kieran Jarvis | Optimum Coaching | 0 |
| 🚫 DNS | Joshua Jones | ALL IN Racing | 0 |
| ⚠️ DNF | Calum Moir | Brocar-Rali-Alé | 0 |
| ⚠️ DNF | Benjamin Myers | Lee Valley Youth CC | 0 |
| 🚫 DNS | Sean O’Sullivan | Hart Performance Coaching | 0 |
| ⚠️ DNF | Ian Perry | Schils – Doltcini Racing Team | 0 |
| 🚫 DNS | Alex Peters | DAS Richardsons | 0 |
| ⚠️ DNF | Alexander Pritchard | DAS Richardsons | 0 |
| ⚠️ DNF | Dominic Schils | Schils – Doltcini Racing Team | 0 |
| ⚠️ DNF | Benedict Thompson | Primo RT | 0 |
