VCL once again put on a great showing at the first two rounds of the Southern Youth Omnium Series. Once more, our best results were in the under-14s, with Max Bergin taking first in Welwyn and second in Bournemouth, while Fred Wright took second in Welwyn and 3rd in Bournemouth. In the girls, Rachel Jary was first in Welwyn, and took second in Bournemouth to Charlotte Cole-Hossain.
In the under-16s, there were respectable results for George Jary, Andrew Bradshaw, Hisham Al-Ramah and Oliver Cliff. George was best placed, coming 10th in Welwyn and 6th in Bournemouth. Abi van Twisk, Eleanor Holden and Amy Good rode in the girls at Welwyn, Abi best placed at 8th and was the only VCL girl to ride in this category in Bournemouth , where she placed 7th, despite not completing the scratch due to a puncture.
The under-12s also saw good performances. Max Cheatle only rode at Bournemouth, where he came 4th. Alexander Griffiths rode both events and impressed the coaches by following instructions to the letter and coming 5th in the Bournemouth points race. Thomas Gloag, Finlay Wellings and India Gloag also rode at Welwyn and gained valuable experience at riding at this level.
This report doesn’t do justice to the quality of some of the VCL performances we saw at these two events. The under-14s in particular had some very exciting races, with Max and Freddy battling it out with Jack Plumley of Welwyn, and Charlotte and Rachel leaving it to the kilo to separate them, which it barely did: only a 0.2 second time difference decided the result at Bournemouth. It was also good to see the under-16 boys riding aggressively when three of them are first-years riding against some who shave daily. It all bodes very well for the future.
A BC report and pics of the Bournemouth event can be found here:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/track/article/tra20120521-Report–Poole-Wheelers-Youth-Ominium-0
