JLT Condor and Drops remained at the top of the men and women’s Tour Series following the second event of the season in Stoke-on-Trent, but only just after two action packed races in the Potteries.
JLT Condor held on to the leader’s jerseys presented by Eisberg as their Australian sprinter Brenton Jones won the race, but several members of the team were brought down in a penultimate lap crash that decimated the front group.
That disrupted the main group, and in particular the efforts of JLT Condor, but Jones hung on to claim his first race win in only his second Tour Series event, just ahead of Team Raleigh GAC’s Enrique Sanz and BIKE Channel Canyon’s James Lowsley Williams.
With a trio of riders firmly inside the top 10, Madison Genesis took the team win, making them the second most successful team in Tour Series history, and moving them up into second spot in the standings behind JLT Condor.
The defending champions now lead by two-points from Madison Genesis with BIKE Channel Canyon a further point behind as they head to Round Three in Northwich.
All images ©www.chrismaher.co.uk | CyclingShorts.cc
Earlier in the afternoon it had been the sheer power of Team WNT duo Katie Archibald and Eileen Roe, along with Drops rider Rebecca Durrell and Team Breeze’s Manon Lloyd that had decimated the field around the 1.4-kilometre Stoke-on-Trent course.
Led by the World and Olympic Champion, the quartet had pulled clear of the field, with Archibald heading them home for a one-four with teammate Roe. That though wasn’t enough to dislodge Drops from the red and white Matrix Fitness GP Series leader jerseys, with Annie Simpson and Lucy Shaw’s rides at the front of the peloton maintaining their one-point lead at the top.
As well as taking the Brother Fastest Lap, Archibald also secured the Eisberg Sprints jersey and moved into the Series’ individual lead, ahead of Durrell.
In the men’s Series’ Jones took the Brother Fastest Lap on the final tour of the event, while Sebastian Mora continues in the Wiggle Points Jersey. Spirit Racing Tifosi moved into the joint lead of the Midlands competition for guest teams alongside Brother NRG Driverplan, ahead of the deciding race in that division in Northwich.
Tour Series Round 2 – Interview – Eileen Roe Team WNT by Cycling Shorts
Eileen Roe of Team WNT – talks to Chris Maher of CyclingShorts.cc at after Round 2 of the Tour Series in Stoke-on-Trent. All content ©Cyclingshorts.cc Image ©www.ChrisMaher.co.uk /www.CyclingShorts.cc
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