Published: 3 May 2005
From John Dennis
Just plain awesome is how they describe the speed of Bryan Taylor , V.C.Londres at Reading Velodrome. On Bank Holiday Monday which featured the A.W.Cycles sponsored Bordeaux ? Paris two stage endurance marathon, he again dominated the racing at Palmer Park. One observer actually compared his acceleration to that of a motor cyclist turning the twistgrip to raise the pace, and that was a pretty fair description of what this giant of a man is capable. He took the 10 lap scratch, 20 lap points and the 30 kilometre motor paced races in dashing fashion.
Having said that he did not capture all the attention during the afternoon, a fair amount concentrated on the up and coming youngsters in the sport who showed little respect for all Taylor?s dominance. Firstly 17 year old Lewis Atkinson who won a 65 mile road race in Surrey the previous day, is beginning to regain his form of last year when he took the League Championship. He pushed Taylor hard in the 10 lap and held on to the flying Taylor for more than half of the 30 kilometre (66 laps) paced race.
Sam Sturgeon just out of the junior category, always rises to the big occasion grabbed third position in the 500 metre sprint, and then stuck, leechlike, to the speeding Taylor in the motor paced race until the VC Londres giant delivered the coup de grace in the final stages. With his final effort over the last ten laps Taylor demonstrated the speed he uses to win National Championships and just managed to put a full lap between himself and Sturgeon as he crossed the finish line.
The unexpected surprise of the day was 15 year old lad from Sheffield Adam Blythe, already snapped up by the crack Planet X team, who first showed his capability in the opening 10 lap race when he challenged Taylor and Atkins when he finished a close third. Then he qualified for the 30 km race from the preliminary 20 km scratch event and showed form worthy of Championship class until he dropped back into fifth place in the closing stages. Unbelievably with more than 50 kms of racing in his young legs he elected to contest the last race of the day and proved to be the strongest challenger to Bryan Taylor finishing just 1 point down on him in the 20 lap points score.
The popularity of Palmer Park Velodrome is growing fast, only three weeks into the new season 90 riders have already registered, 25 checked in this week, which is only 10 behind last year?s record 100 signings. Five of these were ladies, or girls, bringing the female total to 13 riders and in this category youth again took a bow! 14 year old Greta Junker from Taunton in Somerset, (Lukracing.net), returned from a racing session in Belgium the previous day, established herself with a runners up finishing place in the Ladies 500 m sprint, much to the pleasure of Bryan Taylor, who in addition to his own racing regularly takes teams of promising racers to Belgium which he rates to be the best bike racing academy in the world.
Photos
Photographs of the events are available courtesy of DGS Cycling Photography and swarbrick.com.
Results
Seniors
10 laps Scratch:
A riders: 1. Bryan Taylor, V.C.Londres; 2. Lewis Atkins Glendene; 3. Adam Blythe, Team Planet X
B riders: 1. Ian Greenstreet, Newbury R.C.; 2. Alex Aldram-Breary; P.C.A. Ciclos Uno; 3. Marc Cunnington, Hounslow & District.
Ladies 1. Jayne Toyne, V.C.Londres; 2. Rebecca Stubbs, London Dynamo; 3. Abby Jackson, Team Luciano-Trek.
500m Sprint:
A riders: 1. Robin Thompson, BCF; 2. Lee Povey, BCF, 3. Sam Sturgeon, Trackcycling.net.
B riders 1. David Dentus, Willesden CC; 2. Alex Aldram-Breary, 3. Ian Greenstreet.
Ladies: Samantha Van Gerbig, Oxford University CC; 2. Greta Junker, Lukracing.net; 3. Abby Jackson.
20 laps Points Score:
1. Bryan Taylor (9 pts), 2. Adam Blythe (8 pts), 3. Marc Cunnington (3 pts).
A.W.Cycles 50 kms Bordeaux ? Paris style: Stage 1 20 kms scratch:
1. Thomas Dominic, BCF; 2. Louis Charity. Sutton CC; 3. George Olive, North Road CC, 4. Scott Elliott, Viner; 5. Nicholas Peacock, London Dynamo, 6. James Leach, Didcot Phoenix.
Prime winners: Nicholas Peacock and Marc Cunnington.
Stage II 30 kms Derny motor paced. (qualified from Stage 1).
1. Bryan Taylor, 2. Sam Sturgeon, 3. Lewis Atkins, 4. Rob Richardson, Hounslow & Dist. Wheelers, 5. Adam Blythe, 6. Stuart Blunt, Team Edwards, 7. David Dentus, 8. Alex Aldam-Breary.
Youth League:
6 laps scr:
U16 1. Sam Serruya,Palmer Park Velo; 2. Christopher Bradbury, PPV; 3. Mark Wilmot, Hillingdon Slipstreamers.
U14 1. Mark Baxter, 2. Chris Legg, 3. PPV; 3. Robert Jackson, Agiskovener.
U12 1. George Withers, PPV; 2. Robert Lambton, V.C.Londres.
1 lap Sprint
U16 1. Sam Serruya; 2. Christopher Bradbury; 3. Michael Wilmot
U14 1. Mark Baxter; 2. Chris Legg, 3; Robert Jackson
4 laps Block handicap:
U16 1. Sam Serruya,; 2. Christopher Bradbury; 3. Michael Wilmot
U14 1. Mark Baxter; 2. Chris Legg; 3. Robert Jackson
U12 1. Stephen Bradbury; 2. George Withers; Jamil Gaida
2 laps Keirin:
U16 1. Sam Serruya; 2. Christopher Bradbury; 3. Thomas Barlow, PPV
U14. 1. Mark Baxter, 2. Chris Legg, 3. Robert Jackson
U12 1. Stephen Bradbury; 2. Robert Lambton; 3. Jamil Gaida, PPV
10 laps scratch:
U16. 1. Tom Withers,PPV; 2. Sam Serruya; 3. Christopher Bradbury.
U14 1. Mark Baxter; 2. Chris Legg; 3. Emily Hogge, PPV
U12. 1. Stephen Bradbury; 2. Jamil Gaida; 3. Robert Lambton