With the race for the Eastern Road Race League Championship hotting up, it was down to Paul Fielding and Malcolm Smith to extend St Ives Cycling Club’s lead over nearest rivals, East London Velo, who started the day only one point behind.
55 riders took the start of the prophetically named Last Chance Points Grabber Road Race, promoted by Hertfordshire Wheelers club on a course at Whitwell near Stevenage. It was Fielding who attacked early on, establishing a lead of 1.43, before being caught on the fourth lap of the 67 mile race. With two laps to go, Fielding was part of a seven man group, including club mate Smith, which extended their lead to three minutes over the rest of the field, before Douglas Coleman (CC Luton) went clear to win by over a minute.
In the break, Fielding was left to win the uphill sprint for second place, and the commissaire’s prize for the most aggressive rider, reward for his determined riding throughout the race. Malcolm crossed the line fourth, further securing his place at the top of the league’s individual standings. Importantly for the club, there were no East London riders in the points, meaning St Ives now have a cushion of 18 points going into the last two weekends of the year.
“I’ve been trying to win either this race, or any other race on this circuit, for about six years now,” said Paul Fielding afterwards. “Considering I did a three lap time trial on my own before I was caught, I’m very happy with second place.”
Next week sees St Ives trying to defend their lead in two races hosted by Maldon CC in Essex.
