The May bank holiday weekend saw four youth riders from local cycling club North Cheshire Clarion travel across the Irish Sea to participate in their club colours in round 2 of the British Cycling National Youth Circuit Series; the Isle of Man Youth Tour.
The event gave these young future cycling stars, aged from just 9 to 13 years old, a real taste of professional level cycling, racing against some of the best youth riders in the UK, on closed roads led out by official vehicles and supported by neutral support vehicles.
The three day three stage event kicked off with a prologue time trial along Douglas promenade on Friday evening. Saturday’s 2nd stage was held on a relatively flat, but technical, closed road circuit on the North West of the Island. But the best was saved until last! The final stage was held amongst stunning scenery along the Douglas coastline with 40mph wind gusts and incorporated a major climb, which riders had to tackle repeatedly as they raced laps of the circuit.
The riders Lizzy Grindley (9), Seb Grindley (11), who attend Appleton Thorn Primary School and live in Stockton Heath and Euan Hacker (11) and Lachlan Hacker (13), who attend Lymm High Hchool, and live in the village, displayed true grit and determination and represented the club fantastically well.
Seb Grindley raced at an exceptionally high level, positioning well in all stages, culminating in a 3rd place on the toughest final stage, finishing with a perfectly timed and executed sprint to the line. This secured him 4th overall in the final under 12 boy’s category General Classification.
Under 14 rider Lachlan Hacker was involved in a dramatic crash during the 3rd lap of the 12 lap 2nd stage. Despite lost skin and blooded arms and knee, he picked himself up and fought hard to put himself back in the race. He then left absolutely nothing in the tank racing his heart out again on stage 3 to finish 18th on the stage, out of the remaining 54 competitors in his category.
It was a truly inspiring experience for these future cycling stars!
Seb Grindley and Euan Hacker
