Kogan so close at the Beccles Road Race.

Sunday 8th June dawned sunny and warm for the Beccles Road Race and, not only did it make a pleasant change for the team but it was also a perfect day to launch the fantastic new Ciclos Uno-Plowman Craven-Isaac Racing Team kit. The new kit is a strong design in orange and blue, and will make the team even more visible in the peloton now!

A relatively small field set out from the picturesque village of Ringsfield, near Beccles, for the 83 mile race on a deceptively hard course. The team consisted of Martin Bryant, Ian Franklin, Daniel Kogan and James Whatling, with Dan Patten unfortunately sidelined with the injured knee sustained in his crash at The World University Championships. Even with a man down, the team were still confident of a good result and their attacking style was perfect for the rolling course. Kitted out in the new clothing, the team really meant business and, soon after the flag was dropped, James Whatling and Ian Franklin were at the head of proceedings, trying to split the race up. After one of Ian's attacks was brought back, Daniel Kogan countered and, keen as ever to attack and get away early, Daniel took three other riders away with him and, although not working as cohesively as they could, they managed to hold a gap of almost a minute.

Back in the bunch and Ian, Martin and James were very vigilant jumping on all the dangerous moves and controlling the bunch. James, on very good legs from a strong ride in the Regional Championships, was keen to bridge across to Dan in the break to bolster the move, but was hampered by some negative riding in the bunch who weren't prepared to let another Ciclos Uno-Plowman Craven-Isaac Racing Team member escape. James was soon after hit by a catalogue of bad luck, which included three wheel changes and a broken gear cable but, although out of the race and suitably annoyed at wasting good legs and good form, he carried on with only two gears and got some useful training miles in.

Coming onto the end of the third lap, a group of six including Martin Bryant and the race favourite Phil Hetzel bridged across to the break but although this looked like a strong move, the ten rider group didn’t work well together and were soon brought back into the fold. Just when everything looked like it was back together, Dan Kogan picked his moment perfectly and attacked on the drag through the finish and pulled out a sizeable gap. Soon joined by Joe Skipper (Lotto/Interbike RT) and Kevin Chamber (API-Metrow), the three riders began to work well together with just fewer than 40 miles to go.

The bunch were held up by a train crossing and, seeming to lose interest in the chase afterwards, on the last lap the three escapees had pulled out two minutes on a lone chasing Phil Hetzel (Ipswich BC) and a further minute to the bunch. Keen to keep the pressure on, the three rode hard until about 3km from the finish when Chambers and Skipper decided to play the tactical game and let Daniel lead them out. Not able to get his breakaway companions to come through, the odds for Daniel weren't too good and when Kevin Chambers began his sprint, Dan slipped back a little. Joe Skipper came over the top of Chambers to take the win but Daniel dug deep, outsprinting Chambers to take second. Ian Franklin and Martin Bryant sprinted in with the bunch, taking 20th and 22nd place, after working hard to defend Daniel's position.

All in all it was a mixed race. James was very unfortunate mechanically, which put paid to his chances, yet he’s getting ever stronger and will definitely be one to watch next weekend. Ian and Martin showed well, mixing it up in the moves and helping their teammate Daniel by blocking. Daniel showed his strength in forcing both of the moves of the race and rode his heart out to make the podium and gain enough points for his 1st cat licence. Once again it was a strong team ride by the Ciclos Uno-Plowman Craven-Isaac Racing Team, showing the ever growing strength and professionalism of the team. As a fellow competitor said after the race, “the future's bright, the future's orange”.......Ciclos Uno orange!

Results:

1.) Joe Skipper: Lotto/Interbike RT
2.) Daniel Kogan: Ciclos Uno-Plowman Craven-Isaac RT
3.) Kevin Chambers: API-Metrow
4.) Phil Hetzel: Ipswich BC