East Lancs Road Race Bashall Eaves Long Circuit

Andy Gorton and Ben Trippier leading the peloton in the East Lancs 2016 Spring Road Race

This was the first time the East Lancs Road Club had used the Long Bashall Eaves circuit and fifty-four riders set off in glorious sunshine to tackle five laps of the undulating course.

From the start, the leading riders set a blistering pace and a dozen riders were soon shipped out the back of the peloton, unable to withstand the combination of a long uphill drag and the relentless speed set by the leaders.

The pace slacked gradually during the second lap but no rider or riders were able to make a breakaway stick. More riders were lost on lap three and a sustained breakaway by Dave Powell (Horwich CC) and Stuart Percival (GMC Fire Services) looked to have settled the matter by the beginning of the fourth lap.

However, the peloton had other ideas and with some sustained hard riding saw the bunch bring the two escapees back into the fold and in a hectic final lap the whole field were in with a chance of the win.

Only on the final climb to the finish did a foursome of Jake Cowen (The Nab Racing), Joseph Bowers (Buxton CC/Sett Valley Cycles), Jimmy Smith (Team Aspire) and Benjamin Trippier of the organising club show sufficient strength to distance themselves from the chasing pack and take victory.

A spokesperson said: "A great days racing and, an extremely well organised event.

"Congratulations to the hard working team of accredited marshals, East Lancs club marshals and helpers and the event sponsorship provided by RRG Skoda of Rochdale."

Top six results:

1 Jake Cowen The Nab Racing
2 Joseph Bowers Buxton CC/Sett Valley Cycles
3 Jimmy Smith Team Aspire
4 Benjamin Trippier East Lancashire Road Club
5 Cameron Jeffers Team Corley Cycles
6 Tom Lowe

Other East Lancs and other local finishers:

18 Christopher Green East Lancashire Road Club
22 Ben Whitehead ABC Centreville
24 Matt Gott West Pennine Road Club
26 Andrew Gorton East Lancashire Road Club
28 Oliver Huszar East Lancashire Road Club