Corries Modbury Road Race 2015
2 min read
Plymouth Corinthian CC promoted its showcase event for 2015 at Modbury in the South Hams. Eighty of the regions top riders lined up at the start of the 52 mile Road Race based on 4 laps of a testing 13 mile circuit. Promoting club, Plymouth Corinthians fielded a strong outfit of nine riders hoping to win the coveted ‘Spry’ memorial trophy in memory of former club stalwarts Frank And Pearl Spry. Plymouth’s Dextor Hurlock (Easton Ritte) also lined up to defend the title he’d won twelve months earlier. The race began with Corinthians Simon Bevans attacking aggressively from the gun. Bevans though, was brought back into the fold by the eager peleton. Lee Frost (Tri UK) then launched his bid for freedom and significantly he was joined by Mark Lees (Tanks Direct) following a powerful surge on the climb to Modbury. Working well together Frost and Lees opening up a 1minute30second lead by half distance. With the peleton lacking any intent and cohesion, Corinthians’ Adrian Sluman and Sam Woods tried to inject some urgency on the 3rd lap 13 mile lap. Sluman and Woods joined forces with team mate Miles Earl to forge clear of the bunch in pursuit of the two leaders although with the headwind down the valley towards Ermington taking its toll the bunch brought the Plymouth trio to heel. Lees and Frost meanwhile had opened their lead to over two minutes and continued to work well in tandem, taking turns in the wind. A major crash in the bunch saw several riders go down which only served to help the two leaders. On the final rise to Modbury Lees proved the strongest to outsprint his breakaway rival to claim a richly deserved win. A flurry of late efforts saw the peleton split under the pressure with Andrew Syme (Primera Sports) rounding out the podium. Winners from the previous 2 events locally, James Williams (Team Tor 2000) and Jake Alderman (Bikechain Ricci) had to settle for 4th and 5th this time out while top local rider on the day was Josh Rochester-Greet who claimed 7th place. Photos courtesy of Rob Ditcher and Sam Woods
