New Forest XC, Horton Wins, Heartbreak for Hooper!

James Horton (Cannondale) won the New Forest XC, taking full advantage of the cruel misfortune that befell long time leader, Josh Hooper (UK Biking-Copyrite). Hooper looked to have the race in the bag holding a lead of over 40 seconds as he started the last 4.5 km lap but a snapped chain left him a mere spectator as Horton sailed by, his victory wheelie rubbing salt in the wounds. It was hard not to feel for Hooper, he had ridden strongly, taken the race confidently to the opposition and ended up with nothing, 20th place a lap down will hurt.

Race favourite and winner last year Kim Little (Merida Factory Racing) led the charge from the start stringing out the 100 plus field across the grass and into the sparse woodland.

Only Tony Revel (Off-Camber) could live with Little as the pair pulled out a lead of 30 seconds on the first lap, the heavy rain of the previous day causing few problems on a course now bathed in bright sunlight.

The smart money was on the normally dependable Little it seemed but one lap later we had a race on our hands as Hooper, Horton and Ross Smith (UK Biking) worked their way back on.

Little appeared rattled, Revel took a tumble & Horton watched from the back as Hooper looked the more likely, pulling comfortably away as the race went into the second hour. Little had the courage to get across to Hooper but not the legs to stay with him, the normally solid Merida man, surprisingly paying for his effort.

Revel too was feeling the pace being caught and passed by Smith who had ridden strongly to stay in contention.

Julia Hamlin won the womens race, ahead of Zoe Buckland (Off-Camber) & Kym Harvey.

Hamlin fell heavily whilst leading but was quickly back on the bike in what turned out to be a muddy time trial.

The 2 hour enduro at Avon Tyrell activity centre on the south western edge of the forest was preceded by an impeccably observed 2 minutes silence on this remembrance Sunday. The New Forest XC enjoyed support from the Eight Arch Brewery Company, the free beer going down well post race!
BRIEF RESULTS

1 JAMES HORTON
2 ROSS SMITH
3 TONY REVEL
4 KIM LITTLE
5 DAVID BONE
6 STUART KING
7 RICK EVANS
8 CHRIS RANDALL
9 ANDREW SMITH
10 SIMON LESSER

WOMEN
1 JULIA HAMLIN
2 ZOE BUCKLAND
3 KYM HARVEY
4 KATIE DRAKE
5 SONIA LAURIE
6 EMMA MULCAHY
FAT BIKES

1 CHRIS HILLIER
2 STEVE GORDON
3 IAN STOCKLEY

SINGLE SPEED

1 ALEX EVANS
2 JOHN WILLIAMS
3 SIMON JEMPSON
Lots more pics on our FACEBOOK page

FULL RESULTS
1 165 James Horton Main M
2:09:58.80 -
2 97 Ross Smith Main M
2:10:58.90 +1:00.10
3 148 Tony Revell Main M
2:12:12.10 +2:13.30
4 166 Kim Little Main M
-1 lap -
5 131 David Bone Main M
-1 lap -
6 153 Stuart King Main M
-1 lap -
7 158 Darren House Main M
-1 lap -
8 140 Rick Evans Main M
-1 lap -
9 94 Chris Randall Main M
-1 lap -
10 104 Andrew Smith Main M
-1 lap -
11 171 Simon Lesser Main M
-1 lap -
12 164 Darren Mathews Main M
-1 lap -
13 91 Alex Evens Singlespeed M
-1 lap -
14 145 Chris Clark Main M
-1 lap -
15 134 Adam Mitchell Main M
-1 lap -
16 160 Graham Starmer Main M
-1 lap -
17 154 John Williams Singlespeed M
-1 lap -
18 122 Stefano Fratesi Main M
-1 lap -
19 174 Scawen Roberts Main M
-1 lap -
20 172 Josh Hooper Main M
-2 laps -
21 162 Adam Baker Main M
-2 laps -
22 117 Chris Hillier Fat M
-2 laps -
23 163 Tony Canning Main M
-2 laps -
24 156 Ales Snow Main M
-2 laps -
25 173 Steve Gordon Fat M
-2 laps -
26 149 Louis Coutinero Main M
-2 laps -
27 161 Simon Miles Main M
-2 laps -
28 167 James Bannister Main M
-2 laps -
29 116 Ian Stockley Fat M
-2 laps -
30 137 Ben Hazel Main M
-2 laps -
31 96 Lee Higgins Main M
-2 laps -
32 169 Richard Lang Main M
-2 laps -
33 139 Julia Hamlyn Main F
-2 laps -
34 157 Chris Green Main M
-2 laps -
35 112 Jason Canning Fat M
-2 laps -
36 115 Simon Jempson Singlespeed M
-2 laps -
37 93 Antony Broom Main M
-2 laps -
38 124 Chris Gray Main M
-2 laps -
39 159 Zoe Buckland Main F
-2 laps -
40 133 James Leoni-Peters Singlespeed M
-2 laps -
41 155 Al Fairbairn Singlespeed M
-3 laps -
42 89 Andy Trayford Main M
-3 laps -
43 120 Hanif Jetha Main M
-3 laps -
44 144 Tim Maundell Main M
-3 laps -
45 128 Jack Kingman Main M
-3 laps -
46 130 Tom Pugh Main M
-3 laps -
47 136 Tristan Gash Fat M
-3 laps -
48 118 Duncan Towner Main M
-3 laps -
49 181 Alex White Main M
-3 laps -
50 142 Connor Jocelyn Main M
51 129 Drew Freeman Main M
-3 laps -
52 108 Mike Horseman Main M
-3 laps -
53 111 Steve Willcocks Singlespeed M
-3 laps -
54 110 Jim Hart Singlespeed M
-3 laps -
55 141 Kym Harvey Main F
-3 laps -
56 98 James Ruddock Singlespeed M
-3 laps -
57 132 Ed Shaw Main M
-3 laps -
58 123 Oliver Marsh Main M
-3 laps -
59 150 James Wausl Main M
-4 laps -
60 109 Katie Drake Main F
-4 laps -
61 101 Philip Barthram Main M
-4 laps -
62 114 James Guppy Main M
-4 laps -
63 143 Mitchell Jocelyn Main M
-4 laps -
64 147 Jack Potter Main M
-4 laps -
65 90 Sonia Laurie Main F
-4 laps -
66 146 Jo Sinclair Main M
-5 laps -
67 127 James Zebediela Main M
-5 laps -
68 107 John Borton Main M
-5 laps -
69 170 Henry Ayres Main M
-5 laps -
70 106 Emma Mulcahy Main F
-5 laps -
71 100 Carl Carter Main M
-5 laps -
72 99 Andrew England Main M
-5 laps -
73 180 Paul Burton Main M
-5 laps -
74 102 John Guppy Main M
-5 laps -
75 126 Jon Macey Fat M
-6 laps -
76 152 Wayne Walford Jenks Main M
-6 laps -
77 168 Leanne Ebdon Main F
-7 laps -
78 151 Mark White 2 Main M
-7 laps -
79 105 Sandra Samways Main F
-7 laps -
80 125 Vince Aragone Main M
-8 laps -
81 103 David Venditti Main M
-8 laps -
- 92 Michael Clarke Main M
DNF -
- 95 Alex Hopkins Main M
DNF -
- 113 Dr Robert Koppenhol Singlespeed M
DNF -
- 119 Maggie Maundrell Main F
DNF -
- 121 Matt Williams Singlespeed M
DNF -
- 135 Mark White Main M
DNF -
- 138 Stephen Scally Main M
DNF