Juniors Step up at Round 9

Juniors Step up at Round 9, Burkes Cycles Speed League

Wellington's junior track cyclists took the racing to their senior rivals at round nine of the Burkes Cycles Speed League, Sunday 2 February in Hataitai. Under 17 Jordan Lewis won his first race as an A category rider, fellow under 17 Holly Blakely battled with under 19 Ele Pepperell in the women's events, while Sam Tillotson and George Jackson were right up in the action in the B category.

Lewis timed his sprint in the A category Scratch to perfection, catching breakaway riders Nick Warren and Regan Bang on the line. Peter Moore was fourth. Louis Higgison's sprint was as strong as ever and he cleanly won the Sprinters Scratch, going on to win The Lanes Sprint Ace ahead of Jon Barnes. A new race for the season, Devilish Point-A-Lap, got riders thinking and legs burning. The first across the line each time scored a point while the last was eliminated, the winner being the rider with the most points regardless of when they were eliminated. Zac Blakely's solo break nabbed him the victory with Bang second, Barnes third and Lewis fourth.

Peter Mora dominated the B category Scratch and Devilish-Point-A-Lap with solo breakaways in each from some distance out. Jamie Hodgkinson, George Jackson and Kahu Tawhia picked up the minor placings in the Scratch; Chris Taylor, Jackson and Sam Tillotson were second, third and fourth in the Devilish Point-A-Lap. Tillotson showed a fine turn of speed to take the B category Sprinters Scratch. Hodgkinson was second and Will Findlay third.

George Jackson shot to the top of the Lemond Fitness Power Play, recording a whopping 18.2 Watts/Kg. Riders have 30 seconds to record the highest power reading on a Lemond Fitness turbo trainer, which is then divided by their weight. Ollie Jones set the second highest score with 15.3 Watts/Kg.

Ele Pepperell extended her lead in the women's overall competition with class wins in the 8-Lap Scratch and Sprinters Scratch. She went on to record her third win in the women's Sprint Ace, winning the one-on-one duel with Martine Barnes. However, Barnes, along with Holly Blakely, got the better of Pepperell in the women's Devilish Point-A-Lap, and Blakely went on to win the final race of the meeting, the Women and C Category 15-Lap Handicap.

In the C category, Jack Taylor won the Devilish Point-A-Lap and also rode strongly in the Handicap, grabbing the mid-race prime and fourth place on the line. Finn Sherlock won the Sprinters Scratch, and Louis Zorn picked up two third places on the night.

Zac Blakely recaptures the overall men's lead from Nick Warren who held the Champion System leaders' jersey for just one week, while Holly Blakely leads the under 17s contest and Louis Hodgkinson the under 15s.

Burkes Cycles Speed League returns on February 9 with round 10, incorporating the Wellington Championship senior, under 19 and masters sprints.

Round nine results are here.
Check all the results here: www.pnp.org.nz/track/speed-league-racing/results/
Photos are up on the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/wellington.velodrome

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