Cycling

James refuses to get stuck in the mud at Thetford

Monsoon conditions hit Thetford Forest for the first round of Thetford MTB's Whyte Winter Series bringing an end to an Indian summer of fast riding on dusty tracks.

"Gruelling" was the key word from both Stephen James, who won the four-hour race for 18-39 year olds, and from four-hour 40+ winner Paul Ashby, who led the field early on, but eventually finished 9:02 behind James but 17:54 ahead of his nearest veteran challenger.

The 7.9 mile circuit south-west of Brandon featured two fast gravel descents and long miles of muddy return climb. The rain turned the course to mud and then it dried up so the mud went sticky. Barely recognisable riders slithered around the course. With a huge range of abilities among the 500 competitors, the leaders are constantly overtaking, and this became more and more difficult.

"We can't steer, they can't steer" said Ashby, who nevertheless belied his 45 years with the fastest lap of the day - 34:33.

In the shorter - and wetter - two-hour races, George Budd won the 18-39s for the Salsa Factory Team. Behind him, Glenn Stanford (Extreme Sports Therapy/CCN) was moving fast but was overhauled by single-speed rider (no gears, that is) Neil Richardson (RAFCA) with Norwich man Jason Smith (EST/City College Norwich) in close attendance. Eventually Richardson took second with 32-year-old UEA student Smith 48 seconds down and Stanford fourth.

John McAndrew (Ben Hayward Cycles) won the 40+ two-hour race in which there was further joy for Streetlife (who also back the EST/CCN team) when their own Andrew Manning took third place among 113 veterans.

Nikki Humphries from Huntingdon won the women's two-hour, 4:49 ahead Faith Addison (Salsa), while among the juniors Adam Cross from Watton, his yellow CC Breckland kit scarcely visible under mud, survived three falls to take second place.

Full results can be seen at www.timelaps.co.uk

n Anna Buick led the Eastern women's team to the bronze medals in the cyclo-cross Area Team Championships in Leicestershire.

With two of the team's stars - Nikki Juniper and Rachel Moss, both sidelined by illness, repeating the team's 2008 win was beyond reach, but Buick showed the way with fourth place and was backed by Rachel Fenton (11th) and Laura Hindle (15th).

Morning rain cleared just in time for the start of the first race which was for the youth teams. This featured the best individual performance by an Eastern rider - from second placed Hugo Robinson - as well as the most unfortunate - an over-the-handlebars dive by Norwich rider Josh Hannan which put him out of the race. The double hump on which it happened - originally built as part of a BMX track - was promptly taken out of the circuit.

Suffolk riders dominated the windswept CC Sudbury Open Hill Climb, which incorporated the East District Championship. Mark Arnold of API was fastest up Watkins Hill near Semer in 47.9 seconds with Paul Moss (Stowmarket & District) taking the EDCA Championship in 49.6. Best Norfolk competitors were Andrew Knowles (North Norfolk Whs) and Rob Hobbs (VC Norwich) who tied for 12th place on 59.5 seconds.

n Former Norfolk girl Helen Wyman (Kona) took the bronze medal in the European Cyclo-Cross champion-ships in Hoogstraten, Belgium, her first podium in a major continental championship.