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Jon Mould helped himself to yet another individual race victory in Croydon, his sixth of the 2016 Pearl Izumi Tour Series, but it was the Madison Genesis squad who took the round honours, picking up their second win of the season to slightly reduce the gap to JLT Condor presented by Mavic at the top of the standings.
In the women's Matrix Fitness Grand Prix Series the Drops Cycling Team continued their run of form with the round win in Croydon, but there was a new name on the podium as the individual race winner with Grace Garner of the Podium Ambition presented by Club La Santa team sprinting to her first ever win in the Series. Garner follows in the wheel tracks of elder sister Lucy, who won races in 2011 and 2012 in the Matrix Fitness Grand Prix Series. As a result of her race win, Garner is just three points behind reigning champion Nikki Juniper in the individual standings heading to Portsmouth. In the men's event, JLT Condor presented by Mavic's coronation is nearly complete and they will head to the south coast on Thursday night with a seven point lead over Madison Genesis The Croydon win helped them move clear of the battle for second and third, six points ahead of Team Raleigh GAC who are level on points with Pedal Heaven, with 79-apiece. Round Five of the Matrix Fitness Grand Prix Series had seen Garner be amongst the most active riders in the race, attacking and holding an early solo lead, before showing enough recovery and composure to win the bunch sprint after she'd been caught. The Podium Ambition rider held off Monday night's winner Barnes and British criterium champion Juniper, with Lydia Boylan and Charlotte Broughton rounding out the top five. A night on from victory in Stevenage Barnes took the runners-up spot in Croydon, this time from a bunch sprint. That combined with sixth for Rebecca Durrell and eleventh for Croydon resident Jennifer George gave Drops Cycling the win and a 56-point lead over Podium Ambition presented by Club La Santa heading to the final event in Portsmouth, where double points are on offer. Team Ford EcoBoost are third, a further 34-points in arrears, while Team Breeze and Team WNT are locked in a battle for fourth, with just ten points the difference. Juniper extended her lead in the sprints competition and will wear the green jersey in Portsmouth, as she hopes to retain that title. The Ford EcoBoost rider has an eight point lead over Barnes, with ten points on offer at Round Six. For full results and standings from the Matrix Fitness Grand Prix Series, please click here. Just 13-seconds separated the top four teams on the night, with JLT Condor presented by Mavic having an uncharacteristic off-night, coming fourth. Behind Madison Genesis, Team Raleigh GAC trailed by just three seconds, a margin so small in a 22-rider bunch sprint to make it the narrowest of margins for success. Liam Stones of the NFTO team had made a prolonged break for freedom around the Croydon town centre circuit, building and maintaining an 11-second lead, but with five laps to go it was all back together, setting up what seems to be the now inevitable Jon Mould victory. Mould headed Tom Stewart and Johnny McEvoy, but it was fifth placed Graham Briggs who set the Brother Fast Lap on the final tour, clocking a 1:40.963. In the Chain Reaction Cycles Points classification, Team Raleigh GAC's Sebastian Mora paid a visit to the podium as the Points winner on the night in Croydon, but the real winner was Pedal Heaven's Rory Towsend, who stretched his hold on the jersey out to 12-points over Chris Lawless. Just Townsend or Lawless can now win the blue and white Chain Reaction Cycles jersey, but with only a further 20-points on offer in Portsmouth, the current incumbent will start the favourite. In the guest team competition for South teams there was a home win for South London based Catford CC Equipe Banks, helped by another impressive top 15 finish for Bertie Newey, but with Richardsons Trek taking second behind them they only reined in the leaders by one-point. For results and standings from the men's Pearl Izumi Tour Series please click here. Highlights of the Croydon event are shown on ITV4 at 2000 on Wednesday 8 June, with a repeat the following morning at 1150. The programmes from every round of the 2016 Pearl Izumi Tour Series are available on demand via the ITV Hub catch-up service. The final rounds of the men and women's competitions take place in Portsmouth on Thursday evening as the Series returns to the South Coast city for the first time since 2010. A full afternoon of support events on the city centre circuit will begin at 1300 with a women's race followed by an emergency services race, which will include teams from the Royal Marines and Royal Navy, before an amateur support race. The Matrix Fitness Grand Prix Series race begins at 1830 and the elite men's race at 2000, while a big screen close to the finish line will be showing the highlights from all nine previous events throughout the afternoon. |