Rapha Condor JLT scores three wins in two days

Rapha Condor-JLT enjoyed a prolific weekend, with their riders notching up three wins in two days at events across the country.

Felix English took victory in round four of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series at Aberystwyth and helping his team to the win.

English held off Jon Mould (NFTO Pro Cycling) by a matter of just a few inches to take the win while Mike Northey (Madison Genesis) was third. With Ed Clancy fourth and Graham Briggs eighth, Rapha Condor-JLT took the team win on the night to strengthen their lead at the top of the overall team standings, five points clear of Madison Genesis.

And while English was winning in Wales, Elliot Porter was taking victory for Rapha in the One Day in Dorset Road Race, where he outsprinted Jack Beezer (Arbis-Colbert Cycles) at the end of the 80-mile race, which was run off on a changed course due to torrential rain and flooding.

Then on Sunday evening, Graham Briggs won The 2014 Milk Race in Nottingham, sprinting home ahead of Team Raleigh rival Mathieu Boulo, with Matt Cronshaw (Velosure) third. Katie Archibald (pearl Izumi) won the women’s race.

Giles Drake secured his first road victory of the season in the York Cycleworks Elite Road Race at Brandsby on Sunday. The 30-year-old from the Wirral pipped the promoting club’s Alistair Kay to victory, while Matt Holmes (Madison Genesis) took third.

Also in Yorkshire, James Moss (Velosure-Giordana) won the Richmond Road Race in North Yorkshire, beating Ben Hetherington (Achieve Skinnergate) to the line.

The Shrewsbury Grand Prix attracted several top riders for both the men’s and women’s races. And there was a happy ending for boyfriend and girlfriend Robert Watson (unattached) and Brit Tate (GB Cycles), with both winning the respective elite races for men and women.

And in Essex, the Hatfield Puncheur was won by Canvey Island teenager George Wood, the 18-year-old Richardsons-Trek rider, who held off Neon Velo 20-year-old Dan Young for victory.

The duo were part of a seven rider break which went clear just after halfway round the 69-mile race. Veteran Wayne Crombie (East London Velo) took third.

And in Scotland, Glasgow Couriers had two men on the podium at the end of the VC Glasgow South Road Race, with Scott Newman winning the 45-mile race near Eaglesham on Sunday.

Second spot went to rival Neill Kemp (Glasgow Nightingale), while Newman’s team-mate at Glasgow Couriers, Lewis Duff, took third.

In Oxfordshire, the latest round of the women’s team series was won by Laura Massey (Epic Cycles) who beat Jessie Walker (Matrix Fitness), while another Epic rider, Molly Weaver, took third.

The accompanying men’s race was won by Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers’ Pete Warner, with the promoting club’s Peter Dumbreck second.