Round 2 of the Oxfordshire Road Race League was upon us in a flash – with the team having a bit of reshuffling due to crashes we fielded a strong side capable of competing at the Dalton Barracks Run way track. Abingdon Race Team (ART) the hosts of this event had organised an 18 lap thriller on the old airfield.

All of the team were told to warm up and arrive back at the team pit by 0910 giving us a 5min tactic chat before heading across to the start line, all the riders were given a race brief and roles to maintain during the race. With a few of the riders reporting slight niggles upon arrival we gave two plans; (1) The race leader was Joe, the team would ultimately work to get him placed for a lead out sprint. Matt was the secondary leader and priority would shift to him should Joe not be in place. (2) Watch for attacks and get a rider into the break, watch and manage chasing groups.

The race was off to a flyer with team manager, Tom, & owner, Stephen, watching on in amusement as Joe and a Raptor London rider had attacked on the first lap – putting in a fair distance between them and the peloton. After a lap or two two further bridges were made which ultimately gave the peloton the carrot to chase and shut down, notably the Swindon Wheelers controlled and worked very well as a team on the front to reign in the break. However with all the riders given roles in the pre-race tactics and chat Mattia completely took his role on board and proved his talent watching and reacting to a strong move by 5 other riders he bridged and pulled Joe with him, gifting Joe a place with-in the break that ultimately stuck.

Joe pulled turns with the group featuring; 2x Reading CC, 1x SWCC, 1 Raptor and an unknown rider to form the lead break – Joe, not feeling 100%, gave it his everything and managed to stick in there and enjoy the hurt locker. The break stayed together and settled for a bunch sprint; Joe kicked early out of the final corner and rode in to claim 3rd – just +0:00.7 down on Second and +0:00.52 off the win.

Matt, had maybe the hardest job – he was to either hold out for the sprint OR to follow the chasers if we had a rider in the break. So the later was what played out, his role was to work for the best finish whilst ensuring not catching or bridging to his team mate – the effort was considered and controlled, he rode in to claim 9th and earn valuable team kudos along with ORRL points!

Myles and Mark had roles within the peloton; watching key riders and nullifying strong chasing moves. Largely sitting in and surfing wheels, the two riders were caught the wrong side of a split and Myles tried to bridge putting out an 800w kick to chase a move, which he bridged and then couldn’t sustain the wheels and fell back. Myles Rode home to take 27th – Mark stayed within the original peloton and pulled the group home to take 23rd. Carlo had a good start to the race, but unfortunately muscular issues in his leg forced him to conserve his efforts but with the final team reminder of “finish the race, crossing the line gets you at min a point” meant he soldiered on and finished in 31st.