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Defending Pearl Izumi Tour Series champions Madison Genesis rose back to the top in a rain-drenched Edinburgh round to survive a battle of the wettest and take victory in the second of two races to be held in Scotland this week.
Madison Genesis headed home Series leaders JLT Condor presented by Mavic, to trim their advantage to four points at the top of the standings. Their eventual winning margin across their four riders was a minute and a half over JLT Condor, who in turn pipped Pedal Heaven by just two seconds.
Pedal Heaven also enjoyed a bumper evening, with Rory Townsend starring throughout to take the Brother Fastest Lap award, and enough points to move into the lead of the Chain Reaction Cycles Points jersey with a 12-point advantage over Team Raleigh GAC rider Morgan Kneisky.
Star individual man on the night was Graham Briggs, chalking up JLT Condor's third individual win of the 2016 Pearl Izumi Tour Series, a 100% hit rate after wins in Ramsey for Chris Lawless and Motherwell for Jon Mould.
His impressive solo victory, by almost a minute over Rory Townsend, was also his fifth in Tour Series history, drawing him level with Team Manager Dean Downing and making him only the second rider to have won races in five different years.
While Townsend pipped Lawless for runners-up spot from the bunch, it was the work of Tom Stewart in fourth, and crucially the trio of Gruff Lewis, Alexandre Blain and Matt Cronshaw, who chased hard on a soaking, and often perilous, circuit to hand Madison Genesis the team win.
Matt Nowell hung in as top guest team rider in ninth overall for Wheelbase Altura MGD, helping his team win on the night to move into a lead on countback over the Planet X Northside team. Battle in this competition resumes in ten days at the Durham round on Tuesday 31 May.
Madison Genesis, having claimed their tenth ever team win in the Tour Series, now lie on 35-points, five ahead of Team Raleigh GAC but four in arrears from JLT Condor presented by Mavic. Pedal Heaven are fourth, a point behind Raleigh, with NFTO fifth and Team WIGGINS yet to score.
Highlights of the Edinburgh race are on ITV4 at 1900 on Friday 20 May, with a repeat at 0900 on Saturday 21 May. You can also watch the action on demand via the ITV Player catch-up service.
The Pearl Izumi Tour Series resumes on Thursday 24 May with Round Four in Redditch, Worcestershire, which will also see the women's teams back in action at 1800 before the men's event at 1930. The races will again take place on the testing town centre circuit, which includes the ascent of Unicorn Hill at the end of each lap.
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