Tour of the Cotswolds (Premier Calendar)
1-Aug-1998

Sturgess causes upset in Cotswolds
By Martin Ayres for Snowdon Sports Editorial.

Ex-world pursuit champion Colin Sturgess scored the biggest victory of his comeback season in Sunday's Tour of the Cotswolds

YET another BCF Premier Calendar victory for Team Brite in Sunday's Ecclesiastical Insurance Group Tour of the Cotswolds came as no surprise, though the identity of the winner, Colin Sturgess, did.

Sturgess, the 1989 world professional pursuit champion hauled his considerable bulk up eight major climbs - and numerous lesser ascents - on the tough 119mile course to finish 16 seconds clear of the opposition in Gloucester Park.

Premier Calendar leader Chris Newton clinched a Brite one-two ahead of Danny Axford (Team 120/80), who produced his best ride for several seasons to finish in third place.

For once, the ever-changing terrain of the Cotswolds failed to produce a decisive breakaway in this 46-year-old classic. Sturgess attacked on a descent inside the last 10 miles and held his solo lead to the finish.

"But he's a trackie!" exclaimed a sceptical spectator. Sturgess could have pointed out that he once rode for Greg LeMond's ADR team and won the British professional road race title in 1990.

While Sturgess netted the £450 first prize, the Most Meritorious Rider award went to Scotland's Drew Wilson (Clarke Contracts) who sparked the day's other big breakaway on the climb of Birdlip Hill after just seven miles.

Tree-shaded Birdlip, which was littered with debris from overnight storms, saw Commonwealth Games selection Wilson open a 23-second solo lead.

He wasn't alone for long. On the fast descent through Painswick he was caught by a chasing group comprising Joe Bayfield (HarrodsGiant), Scott Gamble (Linda McCartney), Belgian pro Koen Beeckman (Ipso), Irish champion Raymond Clarke and his national team-mate David O' Loughlin, 1993 Milk Race winner Conor Henry (Northern Ireland) and Tim Bayley (VC Deal).

The bunch seemed happy to let the eight escapees hang out to dry and slipped to 3-30 in arrears. That was how it stayed for the next 50 miles or so. Then, with the bunch starting to nibble into their lead, the breakaways dropped a suffering Clarke at the 70-mile mark near Swell, the westernmost point of the race's long loop.

At Winchcombe (84 miles) the strain was beginning to tell as the lead group blew apart - Beeckman, O'Loughlin, Henry and Bayley dropping their three companions on a climb.

Bayley slipped back on the fifth prime of the day, Corndean, but the two Irishmen and the Belgian made progress and, with just three classified hills remaining, an overseas whitewash was on the cards.

But a small chasing group, driven by national champion Matt Stephens (Harrods) and Chris Newton, whose Brite team had missed the initial move, rapidly ate into the breakaways' lead, ending their escape on the Kilkenny prime (98 miles).

The race, which had split into four groups, came together again, prompting a new attack by Justin Clarke (Harrods) and Rob Lyne (Team Bristol).

Their freedom ended on Fiddler's Elbow, when they were caught by the main group of about 40 with a dozen miles to go.

Despite police closing down the village of Painswick, there was still traffic on the road as the race hurtled through, and in the momentary confusion the bunch split, with 20 or so riders going off the front.

As the roads cleared, Sturgess seized his chance and attacked on a descent.

Ahead, and not marked on the race profile, was a two-mile climb which surely merited KoM points. Undeterred, Sturgess climbed steadily, holding a lead of 13 seconds over the field. Then Axford and Newton emerged from the bunch. But they were too late to peg back Sturgess, who cleared the summit and plunged down into Gloucester, where he swept through the park gates and on to the grass finishing straight.

Newton, who understandably did not commit himself to the pursuit of his team-mate, duly beat Axford for second. Belgium-based Ukrainian Oleg Pankov (Ipso), who had involved organiser Malcolm Prince in some last minute faxing to the authorities to secure his entry visa, made his visit worthwhile by finishing a lone fourth, some 17 seconds clear of a 25-strong group, led home by Gordon McAuley (Harrods).

When Colin Sturgess embarked on a comeback after six years out of the sport, he hardly dreamed that his first season would bring victory in a climbers' classic.

The Yorkshire-born, South African-raised, recent resident of Australia said: "I set myself a target of trying to make the top five in a Premier Calendar event, so this was really satisfying."

So, bearing in mind he retired in 1993, when was his last big road race victory? He thought for a moment before replying, "It must have been the national back in 1990. Jeeez... I know one thing, the standard of road racing in this country has certainly gone up since then."

How did he make his escape? "Chris (Newton) made a good move and then Gordon McAuley went down the road. I wasn't feeling too bad, and I went after him. There was a bit of confusion with traffic so I had a bit of a dig, but didn't realise there was another climb ahead. I got over that all right, and a bloke shouted `Go on mate, it's downhill all the way now!' So I thought, right I'm OK."

Premier Calendar leader Chris Newton was quietly satisfied with second place, after picking up a chest infection that forced him to miss the previous weekend's BCF time trial championship.

"That was a big disappointment, but I couldn't risk it," he said. "Today, I tried to keep a low profile because I didn't know how I'd be going after eight days out.

"Then there were a few attacks on the last climb. Colin had gone, and I went with Danny Axford and sat on a bit. Danny was going really strong, but I just made sure that Colin didn't get caught."

Newton wasn't surprised that so many riders were still in contention with only 10 miles to go. "Everything was coming back today, probably because there were so many fairly strong teams, like the Belgians. It was that kind of racing."

It wasn't long ago that Danny Axford was being named as a rising star in the sport, but he has suffered his share of disappointments in recent seasons.

"I took a lot of time off last year after coming back from France, and I was a bit demoralised," he said. "At the start of this year my aim was a podium place in a Premier Calendar event. My best placing in a Premier before this was the last round, the Five Valleys, where I was fifth, so that was encouraging, I knew I had good form. I'm off to university this year, but I'll still continue to race."

Northern Irish Commonwealth Games selection Conor Henry was one of the last breakaways to be caught after almost 80 miles out front.

"There was still a chance we could've done it if we'd got over those last couple of hills, but there were only three of us at the end and still a long way to go," he said. "Earlier, everybody was working in the break except the Linda McCartney guy [Scott Gamble] -I don't know what his story was."

Colin Sturgess's victory bid was almost wiped out by an errant motorist in the last kilometre. Earlier, despite a big police operation, the race had got mixed up with traffic at least twice. The Severn Valley CRC event is a rare classic on the UK calendar, but a 100-man peloton and ambitious race route meant the police escort was overstretched at times.

The police's reluctance to halt or even slow oncoming vehicles gave cause for concern while official's failure to control the convoy meant that race vehicles added to the traffic congestion.

The Cotswolds is too good an event to lose. But, given modern road conditions, a re-think on safety and security is needed before someone gets hurt.

1. Colin Sturgess (Team Brite) 119m in 4-56-09
2. C. Newton (Brite) at 16sec
3. D. Axford (Team 120/80) st
4. 0. Pankov (Ipso-Euroclean) at 18sec
5. R. Clarke (Ireland)
6. G. McAuley (Harrods-Giant)
7. M. Lovatt (Ambrosia)
8. D. Wilson (Clarke Contracts) all st
9. R. Moore (Clarke Contracts) at 23sec
10. J. Clay (Brite) at 40sec
11. K. Beeckman (Ipso-Eurocleian)
12. D. Staite (Team Undergear)
13. D. Stile (Condor Cycles)
14. S. Tamblin (Letchworth Velo)
15. R. Lyne (Team Bristol)
16. P. Swettenham (Twickenham CC)
17. R. Taylor (Team 120/80)
18. D. Moore (Team Bristol)
19. G. Patterson (Clarke Contracts)
20. J. Griffiths (unatt) all st

KoM.- Koen Beekman; eq 2, D. O'Loughlin (Ireland) & T. Bayley (VC Deal).


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