Kevin Eeckhout (Coollens CT) took a second consecutive victory in the National Trophy series at Southampton, pulling away from a select group to win alone. Paul Oldham (Team Hope Factory Racing) held off a race-long challenge from Tom Van Den Bosch (Hargroves/Specialized/Trant) to secure second place and take the series leader’s Yellow Jersey.
Oldham tried to seize the initiative in the early stages but Eeckhout always seemed to have another gear. The Belgian forged ahead and thirty minutes into the hour long race he held a lead of 20 seconds which would only get bigger. Despite not feeling 100% Oldham looked strong, and he had to be as Van Den Bosch pushed hard and was never far behind.
Series leader going into round 3 at the Southampton Sports Centre, Oli Beckinigsale (Endura MTB Racing) had to settle for fourth place. Bright sunshine, after a frosty start, helped to dry the course cut up from the supporting races but conditions could have been worse had rain forecast for Saturday had amounted to more.
After the race Eeckhout spoke to “Local Riders, Local Races”
Was it as easy as it looked?
“No, No, sure not, it’s a hard race, its fast but it’s still tough because it is always uphill, never flat and with the sections with the running it’s not easy for the muscles as there is a lot of tension. I love to race in England so much because you can race for the win because in Belgium the level is so high, I am not a bad racer but I don’t have the skills of the top guys. The people are so friendly here and I am pleased to see them, I am motivated to come here. I ride the road in Belgium in the summer but it is a bit too long for me, I prefer the shorter distance. I raced in Belgium yesterday and came second, I am very happy about my condition and form. I slept in Folkestone last night for eleven hours so that is enough to recover? Next week I have the regional championships in East Flanders”
Local riders Mike Cotty (Wheelbase-Cannondale) & Stu Bowers (Hargroves) found the going tough and finished well down the field
“I am not the rider I used to be “joked Bowers, “It’s just hard, I need to train, at 36 I can’t wing it anymore”
Cotty was more upbeat ”It was sort of draggy all the way round, you have to stay as composed as you can, you think you are going backwards but everyone is going backwards because it is so draggy. Someone caught their handlebar in the tape and brought three of us down I lost a few seconds apart from that it was great fun”
The action moves north to the Temple Park Centre, South Shields. Round 4 in the 6 race series is on December 2nd
Elite Men/u23
1 Kevin Eeckhout Coolens Cycling Team Belgium 1.5.48
2 Paul Oldham Team Hope Factory Racing 0.39
3 Tom Van Den Bosch Hargroves Cycles/Specialized/Trant 1.0
4 Oli Beckingsale Endura MTB Racing 1.16
5 David Fletcher Orange Monkey/Cannondale 1.36
6 Steven James Hargroves Cycles/Specialized/Trant Under 23 2.39
7 Peter Ghyllebert An Post – Sean Kelly – Belgium 2.40
8 Adam Martin Cestria Cycles RT Under 23 3.7
9 Ben Sumner Beeline Bicycles RT Under 23 3.12
10 Dany Lacroix VC de l’Espoir Condruzien (Belgium) 3.18
11 Edward McParland GT Racing UK Under 23 3.20
12 Lewis Craven Wheelbase.co.uk/MGD 3.22
13 Robert Jebb Team Hope Factory Racing 3.45
14 Michael Cotty Cannondale Racing 4.57
15 Angelo de Clerq Belgium Under 23 5.27
16 Dieter Droger Dirtwheels Cycles 5.29
17 William Bjergfelt Cycle Premier – Kovert 5.30
18 Lee Williams Team Wiggle 5.33
19 Darren Barclay Arctic Sram RT 5.45
20 Nicholas Barnes www.Zepnat.com RT/Kuota/GSG Under 23 5.45
21 Crispin Doyle Hargroves Cycles/Specialized/Trant 6.15
22 Lorenzo Pepermans Cycling Team Zemst (Belgium) Under 23 6.19
23 Dave Collins Team Hope Factory Racing 6.31
24 George Thompson Sleaford Whs CC/Chandlers/Solo Under 23 6.42
25 Jack Humphreys Wheelbase.co.uk/MGD Under 23 6.52
26 Matt MacDonald Hargroves Cycles/Specialized/Trant 7.3
27 Tom Payton Islabikes 7.26
28 Steven Ward MTS Cycle Sport/Inkland/Elvet RT 7.34
29 Mark Cotton Ellmore Factory Racing 8.7
30 Scott Chalmers Dream Cycling 8.42
31 Stuart Bowers Hargroves Cycles/Specialized/Trant 9.18
32 Alex Payton Team GWB – ACTIV at 1 lap
33 Andrew Waterman Vicious Velo
34 Charles Coleman Cadence Cannondale Under 23
35 Dennis Lisbygd Icknield RC/Compomotive Wheels
36 Andrew Taylor Craven Energy
37 Bruce Dalton The Kinesis Morvelo Project Under 23
38 James Dalton Pedalsport CC
39 Neil Hayward Torq Performance
40 William Thompson GB Cycles.co.uk
41 Simon Maudsley Dirtwheels Cycles
42 Chris Atkins Team Specialized
43 James Cotty Cannondale Racing
44 Mark Smith Crawley Wheelers at 2 laps
45 Michael Guilford Team Silva/Craft
46 Ben Spurrier Vicious Velo
47 Jeremy Hicks Rugby Velo
48 Oscar Hutchings VC Venta Under 23 at 3 laps
49 Neil Ellison WDMBC Beyond Mountainbikes/Rapid
50 Joe Atkins Coventry RC Under 23
51 Stuart Nisbet Crawley Wheelers at 4 laps
52 Glenn Whittington Individual Member
53 James Atherton VC St Raphael
54 Stewart Ward Ful-On Tri Club
55 Greg Anderson Team Probikekit.com at 5 laps
Under 23: Steve James, Hargroves Cycles,
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