Island Hopping in February for Under-23s
The Linda McCartney – Welsh Cycling Union team are making their debut at the
Tour of Rhodes this week. While their Elite counterparts are travelling to
Switzerland for the GP Chiasso, the youngsters of the development squad are
riding the difficult mountain roads of the Greek islands.
After a short 3.5km prologue, the race took on a tough 177km route through
the mountains. The race will be a good early test for the lads, as there are
national squads from countries as diverse as Ireland, Yugoslavia, Denmark,
the Czech Republic, Egypt and Greece. There are also some strong Division
III teams here from Germany, Denmark and Austria, hungry for a share of the
UCI points on offer.
Greg Imlah produced a great ride on his first outing of the season, as he
joined an elite group of nine. Unfortunately for Greg, he overshot a corner
on a tricky descent and lost contact with the other eight riders, who stayed
away to dispute the finish between them. James Griffith suffered an untimely
puncture on the big climb, but Mark Kelly, Ross Davis and Paul Sheppard all
pleased Keith Lambert and Chris Lillywhite by finishing in the main bunch.
“It’s the first ever international stage race for most of our guys, so I’m
pleased with their attitude and application,” said assistant manager Chris
Lillywhite.
Meanwhile, the majority of the European squad are meeting on the
Italian/Swiss border for Saturday’s Grand Prix Chiasso. The team will
include last week’s South African winners Max Sciandri and Maurizio de
Pasquale, in-form Pascal Richard racing on home soil, and British Isles
riders Spencer Smith, Ciaran Power and Matt Stephens. Ben Brooks and David
McKenzie are travelling in the team’s brand new Renaults with soigneurs
Louise Deering and Eddie Wegelius from Toulouse. Mechanic Craig Geater will
no doubt be sleeping in the back seat. Manager Sean Yates is arriving from
Sussex.
“The cars are lovely,” reports Louise on her mobile from somewhere near
Nice. “They’re white with a red, blue and yellow ‘swoosh’ down the sides and
the Linda McCartney Foods logo on the bonnets and doors, with the other
sponsors and suppliers’ logos on the sides and across the back window. They’
ve got fantastic hydraulic roof racks too. There’s nothing like a good
gadget is there?”
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