James Whatling secured his third podium spot of the season with a hard working performance in the Beccles Road Race on Sunday 10th June.
A busy weekend of racing across the region meant that the race had quite a compact field, but this was a group of riders in no way short of talent or willingness to race. Attacks started on the first of four 16 mile lap's of a fast, rolling course and James was instantly in the thick of the action, following the moves and making sure he was in the break of the day. The first break of the day, however, was soon hauled in by a strong peloton, but when that move was snuffed out, Tom Hemnant, (London Dynamo) counter attacked and got a good gap on the bunch. James broke away in pursuit and was soon joined by Shaun Aldous (Interbike RT) and the pair worked well to move up to Hemnant and began the task of keeping the chasing pack at bay. That job was made easier when a strong Douglas Bradshaw (Cambridge CC) and the in form Kevin Chambers (API-Metrow) bridged across, but despite all four working well together, their lead remained a slender one.
This lead was made more slender still when, on the final lap, Bradshaw pulled away on his own to leave the breakaway a man down. This was soon remedied when Richard Simmonds (London Dynamo) got across to the group and the impetus returned, with everyone driving hard to keep away and to catch the tiring Bradshaw. He was swept up by the group with about 3 km to the finish and despite a few attacks leading into the finish, the five stayed together to contest the sprint, with Shaun Aldous taking the narrowest of wins from Douglas Bradshaw and James coming in third.
Results:
1.) Shaun Aldous: Interbike RT
2.) Douglas Bradshaw: Cambridge CC
3.) James Whatling: PCA/Ciclos Uno
4.) Kevin Chambers: API-Metrow
5.) Richard Simmonds: London Dynamo
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