CYCLO-CROSS and mountain biking have a few things in common, including the excitement of tackling tricky off-road terrain.
Therefore, when the under 12 national mountain bike champion decided to race in a cyclo-cross at Newport, a treat was in-store.
Champion Max Greenhill was up against rising Stratford stars Spencer Corder and Lewis Tinsley and their other rival Luke Harris from Halesowen, who did not get a look-in for a change.
There was some skilled powerful racing with no quarter given but from the start Corder made it obvious he was not going to be overtaken.
At high speeds, the trio kept up a hectic duel and for a time it looked as though they would come home together.
However, Corder had other ideas and, with a determined burst, produced a gap of 21 seconds at the finish as he stormed to victory.
The national champion had a battle on his hands to keep Tinsley at bay but managed it.
With five races remaining in the series, it will be exciting to see if Tinsley can produce the results to take overall second place away from Harris.
Other Stratford riders maintained their support as Joe Gregg finished 19th, Josh Barlow 20th and Guy West 26th.
Reuben Phillips was 13th in the under ten race, followed by Sam Abbott in 15th.
Elsewhere, in the under eight race, talented Finlay Child was second, followed by Ruben Stringfellow in fourth and Xanthe Phillips who was fourth in the girls’ race.
Reuben Child was again third in the under six race and in the other youth races Baden Green was tenth in the under 14 race, followed by Tom Charles in 12th.
Connor Murphy was 13th in the under 16 event and the club’s two senior riders in the 45+ race were Ian Tinsley who was 11th and Danny Murphy who finished 26th.
