April 9/12 10:02 am - Tour Doon Hame: Stage 1 and 2

Posted by Editoress on 04/9/12
 

Jaimie Sparling is racing The Tour Doon Hame in Scotland with his Raleigh GAC team

Stage 1: Castle Douglas - Girvan
Though reduced from the customary three days to two, a record entry of 140 riders for the third edition of The Tour Doon Hame proved that there was no lack of enthusiasm to contest this truncacted edition of the traditional Easter event. With stage one due to finish in the race’s ‘spritual’ home in Girvan - to be swiftly followed by the short, sharp criterium race around Victory Park - the riders faced 79.9 miles of challenging terrain punctuated by 3 King of the Mountains primes for the JB Print Polka Dot
Jersey and 2 sprints in the Endura Hot Spot Sprint completion, each carrying a potentially race changing time bonus.

The first move of the day proved to be the decisive one, although the 13 riders who escaped with just a couple of miles covered would gradually be whittled down to the three who contested the finishing sprint. Most of the major teams were well represented in the break with Team Endura and Team Raleigh each putting three riders up the road and Node 4 Giordarna and Team UK Youth each having 2. Rapha Condor Sharp and IG Sigma Sport also featured, with one rider each.

The gap steadily grew, reaching a maximum of 2:03 by the first KOM climb at New Galloway with 15 miles gone. Maximum points went to Endura’s Alex Wetterhall, a feat he repeated at the second climb at Tairlaw and with it secured the first polka dot jersey of the race. Although a predominantly Sigma-led peloton managed to claw back precious seconds as the riders battled the elements, the thirteen leaders didn’t split until the long descent from Tairlaw. Down to just seven by the final hot spot sprint in Straition, further attacks saw three riders establish an increasing advantage on the road to Girvan. Erick Rowsell (Team Endura), Richard Handley (Rapha Condor Sharp) and Mike Northey (Node 4 Giordana) contested the final sprint in Victory Park, with Rowsell coming home in first place and rounding off a great week for his family following sister Joanna’s Gold Medal at the World Track Championships in Melbourne. Rowsell had also accumulated sufficient sprint points to take the lead in the green jersey competition. The bulk of the field finished 15 seconds behind the first three to set up an great start for the second stage, the 16.5 mile criterium covering 15 laps of Victory Park.
Race report by Carl J Lawrenson

Stage 2: Victory Park Criterium, Girvan
The afternoon drizzle increased in intensity to coincide with the start of stage 2. Despite 4 casualties from the morning’s stage, the 136 remaining riders made a fine sight as the riders from Team Endura set out to defend the yellow jersey of race leader Erick Rowsell. With only a 7 second advantage of Northey in second place, and the prospect of two Endura sprints with time bonuses, the well drilled Endura squad kept their man up amongst the first few places, meanwhile Scott Thwaites, also from Endura, swept up sufficient points to take possession of the green jersey. On the final passage of the finish line, Thwaites bettered Chris Opie (Team UK Youth) for the win, but Rowsell was delivered in fifth place and so extended his advantage to 11 seconds at the top of the general classification. The Tour Doon Hame Promoted by Wallacehill Cycling Club

The final stage, covering 107 miles, will head out from Moffat to an eventual finish in Annan, with the narrow and challenging roads of Talla Linn – last used on the first stage of the 2011 Tour of Britain – set to be the decisive section of the stage and encompassing the only first category climb of the race.
Race report by Carl J Lawrenson