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McCallum in a late bid for glory
16th July 2008
Continuing their participation in the National Circuit Race Series Team Plowman Craven lined up in the northern town of Colne in Lancashire for the ninth round of the competition.
With only minutes till the start of the Elite race the heavens opened making the 800 metre circuit somewhat tricky. The race set off at break neck speed and with only a few hundred metres covered as the riders rounded the final corner before the finish line Ian Stannard (Landbouwkredit) slipped, hitting the deck taking Team Plowman Craven's Evan Oliphant and Simon Richardson with him. The pair quickly remounted and after a lap out were back into the action if not a little worse for wear.
The pace was high as the major players fought for control and with 20 minutes covered a break had forced itself clear. Simon Richardson was present in the break, but resisted driving the group forward as Tony Gibb was in the process of bridging across to the leaders. Making contact after an epic chase Gibb had strengthened Plowman Craven's chances in the front, but his presence was short lived as riders decided to leave gaps in order to try and distance Gibb. Battling on for lap after lap Gibb succumbed and found himself detached from the break with Russell Downing and Kristian House, however neither could offer any assistance to Gibb.
The pace was high again in the peleton as the remaining riders were stretched by the Pearl Izumi team as they began to make an impact into the breakaways lead, catching Gibb and his group in the process. With 15 laps remaining Richardson was in a strong position and attacked his break away companions, gaining a small advantage as he pounded on the pedals trying to snap the elastic between himself and the leaders.
However the combined efforts of the SIS riders in the lead group brought Richardson back into the fold and with just 10 laps remaining local rider Ian Wilkinson countered upon Richardson's capture and broke clear. The bunch was now closing in on Richardson and the breakaway as Wilkinson battled on. Catching the break with 5 laps to go, National Champion James McCallum made his bid to join Wilkinson. Rocketing out of the already fast moving peleton McCallum swiftly pulled out a 200 metre advantage which he held onto as the lap board counted down. Joined by Dean Downing the duo sat in between the peleton and Wilkinson, as they entered the bell lap McCallum and Downing were swept the peleton leaving Wilkinson to take the win alone.
McCallum commented "We were so close to catching Wilko in the finale, I made a really big effort to get across. I was really pleased with how I felt, it's been such a hard year for me and my come back has taken so long but I'm starting to feel like my old self"
Results
1 Ian Wilkinson Scienceinsport-Trek
2 Malcolm Elliott Pinarello R.T.
3 Russ Downing Pinarello R.T.
11 Tony Gibb Plowman Craven
18 Simon Gaywood Plowman Craven
19 Mark Perry Plowman Craven
21 Simon Richardson Plowman Craven
22 Evan Oliphant Plowman Craven
27 Tom Barras Plowman Craven
33 James Millard Plowman Craven
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