Green hits gold run to clinch title

KURT GREEN was the overall winner of this year's Cotswold Cycle Racing League despite a low-key end to the competition.

The Velo Club Montpellier rider, who crossed the line with a scratch group in the last event at Aston Down Airfield, finished 21 points ahead of team-mate Ian Packer.

The penultimate round of the Cotswold League was the Cheltenham and County Cycle Club-hosted stage at Chedworth.

There was a good turnout which meant three evenly-sized groups set off with equal time gaps.

The fast-moving scratch group caught the middle group after two of the four laps, soon followed by the remnants of the first group.

The strong riders from the scratch group immediately started attacking and a group of five quickly escaped the bunch.

Colin Mattinson, Lee Davis, Duncan Jamieson, Ian Packer and Ian Alexander got their heads down and did what they could to stay away.

They worked well right to the last kilometre, where Jamieson decided to attack on a rise before the last bend.

It was well timed and he managed to hold on for the win as Mattinson claimed the sprint for second.

Result: 1 Duncan Jamieson (Felt Racing); 2 Colin Mattinson (VC Montpellier); 3 Ian Alexander (Cheltenham and County CC); 4 Lee Davis (Pinarello RT); 5 Ian Packer (VC Montpellier); 6 Peter Hutchinson (Corinium CC); 7 James Griffin (VC Montpellier); 8 George Bryant (Tri Team Glos); 9 Marcus Eales (Las Vegas Institute of Sport); 10 Mark French.

A perfect summer's evening greeted riders for the final round, which was hosted by the extravagant Las Vegas Institute of Sport Cycle team.

It was the first time a cycling event had taken place at Aston Down Airfield, thanks mostly to the co-operation of the Cotswold Gliding club and Leda Properties.

The circuit took in six circuits of the airfield, which included riding the length of the main runway and back after a tight 180 degree turn, along with some tight corners out on the perimeter road.

Three groups set of as normal, with three minutes and four minutes separating the groups.

The middle group was by far the largest, which showed as they caught the first group quite quickly.

The scratch group were working hard from the off, instigated by Lee Davis (Pinarello RT).

There were numerous attempts from the middle group to break away but none succeeded, so with just 1km to go 20 riders were still in with a chance of a win.

In the final 200 metres, George Bryant (Tri-Team Glos) made a textbook move, getting to the corners first and accelerating out to take the win.

He was followed in by Simon Willis and James Smith and the rest of the main bunch, with Green coming in arms aloft amid the cheers of the spectators.

Final Overall: 1 Kurt Green (VC Montpellier) 47; 2 Ian Packer (VC Montpellier) 26; 3 Marcus Eales (Las Vegas Institute of Sport) 25.

Final Team classification: 1 VC Montpellier 127; 2 Las Vegas Institute of Sport 59; 3 Corinium CC 39.