Podium at the Dorset Tour with winner Crispin Doyle in yellow.
The stages for the race were:
Stage 1 -- Whiteways Time Trial 8.8 km
Stage 2 -- Stokeford Circuit 106 km
Stage 3 -- Lulworth Castle Circuit 123 km
Stage 4 -- Lawrence of Arabia Circuit 96 km
Stage 1
The weekend racing got underway with an 8.8 km (5 miles) Time Trial. The course skirted alongside the gunnery ranges of Lulworth but the real sting was in the tail with a climb up Whiteways Hill. The course managed to stay dry despite a small shower just before the off. The riders were complaining of a head wind on the course but on the climb, the high sided roadside managed to keep the wind at bay. The winner of the T.T. was Tom Stockdale (MJS Racing) in a time of 13 minutes 22 secs from Daniel Arblaster (Guernsey Vélo dev. Team) at 12secs with Crispin Doyle (Swindon Road Club) at 17secs.
Tom Stockdale stage 1 winner
Stage 2
After a lunch break and a rest for the riders, racing began again with a 106km road race. The race rolled out of the headquarters under the escort of four NEG riders and a convey of Commissaries’ cars. Once the race started, the attacks started to come but it wouldn’t be until the race crossed the finish line for the first of six passes did the first proper break happen.
With the yellow jersey being marshalled, it would be left to others to make the breaks. As the race started its second lap, three riders were at the front and pushing the pace and they soon open up a gap. Jamie Howard (Exeter Wheelers), Michael Leech (Team Tor 2000) and Will Kemp (Onelife- Fuga Racing Team) had a gap of 16 secs over a hard chasing bunch.
The riders and gaps changed many times until on lap three, five riders started to go away and before long, they were joined by a sixth rider. The break had a gap of 48 seconds as they passed the finish line on the fourth lap and the six out in front continued to pull away and at one point their lead was well over a minute with NEG riders being put into the gap to protect the leaders.
The neural service from (performancecycles.co.uk) were being kept busy changing punctures and at one point they found themselves at the back of the bunch changing one puncture when one of the leading group also punctured. With the race approaching the bell lap, the service car was brought through the field quickly to protect the leaders.
As the leaders approached the tight turn towards Worgret Heath, they were all together. A short way along the road however, Crispin Doyle (Swindon Road Club) attacked and took the ‘new boy’ Deacon Cutterham (Army Cycling Union) in his first season of racing with him. The rest of the break were safe in the knowledge they had about a minute on the chasing bunch who had probably decided that minor points were all they were racing for. As the two leaders approached the finish, it was clear Crispin was going to win, but both riders celebrated in unison as they crossed the line. Third place went to David Barnes (East London Vélo) at 32secs. With time bonuses per lap Crispin was elevated to first on G.C.
Crispin Doyle Stage 2 winner
1st Crispin Doyle (Swindon Road Club) 2hrs 35mins 13secs
2nd Deacon Cutterham (Army Cycling Union) @ST
3rd David Barnes (East London Vélo)@32 secs
4th Shane Pope (Swindon Road Club) @42secs
5th Mike Smith (Lotto Olympia Team Interbike @42secs
General Classification after stage 2
1st Crispin Doyle (Swindon Road Club)
2nd Jamie Howard (Exeter Wheelers) @1min 06secs
3rd David Barnes (East London Vélo) @1min 12secs
4th Tom Stockdale (MJS Racing) @1min 15secs
5th Daniel Arblaster (Guernsey Vélo dev. Team) @1min 27secs
Stage 3
A warm and cloudy morning greeted the riders as they rolled away from the HQ. The first pass of the climb to the finish line was kept denaturalised in order to keep the race together and stop anyone being shelled early. Once over the top, the race turned towards Lulworth village and the first of many attacks started. Yellow jersey Crispin Doyle was up near the front with his two team mates around him.
There were several attacks from different riders, but it was Richard Eastham (Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers) who was the most aggressive rider today. Time after time Richard attacked and each time he was drawn back into the bunch. Richard was hoovering up the prime points and at one point had a lead over the bunch of about 1 minute 20secs. The bunch seemed to be able to self marshal any breakaway and although Richard had a large gap, they managed to pull him back with ease.
As the race approached the finish line on the penultimate lap, three riders had a small gap but at the back of the course even this break didn’t stick. So as the bunch raced up the hill towards the line Daniel Arblaster (Guernsey Vélo dev. Team) pulled clear of Phillip Peters (i-team.co.uk) with Matthew Osborn (Guernsey Vélo dev. Team) in third.
Yellow jersey holder Crispin Doyle
1st Daniel Arblaster (Guernsey Vélo dev. Team) 3hrs 16mins 05secs
2nd Phillip Peters (i-team.co.uk) @2secs
3rd Matthew Osborn (Guernsey Vélo dev. Team) @st
4th Jamie Howard (Exeter Wheelers) @st
5th Roland Tilley (Ride Team) @st
General Classification after stage 3
1st Crispin Doyle (Swindon Road Club) 6hrs 04mins 29secs
2nd Jamie Howard (Exeter Wheelers) @1min 16secs
3rd Daniel Arblaster (Guernsey Vélo dev. Team) @1min 20secs
4th David Barnes (East London Vélo) @1min 26secs
5th Tom Stockdale (MJS Racing) @1min 29secs
Richard Eastham on the attack
Daniel Arblaster winning stage
Stage 4
An overcast sky with a hint of rain greeted the riders outside the HQ at the riders briefing. With most of the hard work done, there were a lot of happy faces. Today’s stage was a 96km, 5 lap ‘sprint’ for the final day. Crispin Doyle knowing he only had to finish in the bunch was not going to rest on his laurels however. With team mates Shane Pope and Andy Duff watching the attacks, nobody from the leading group managed to get more then 45 secs in front.
Right: Murdo Jamieson
The roll out from Wool was short and before the first left turn one rider attacked, but this didn’t come too much. As the bunch approached the finish line for the first time they were unaware of the rain shower on the opposite side of the course. Just after the finish line four riders, Jamie Howard, Thomas Knowlton (Sotonia CC), Tom Stockdale and Daniel Arblaster attacked and got away and had a gap of between 20 and 30 seconds.
With Jamie in the leading group, the bunch upped their effort and pulled them back, but this attack caused a crash which managed to pull four riders down, none of which were badly hurt. As the race reached the far side of the course, a short shower caused a slight speed reduction, but not for long.
The next lap saw the bunch close the gap to the leaders down to 14 seconds and before they passed the tourist attraction of Monkey World, the race was all back together again. Then on the fourth lap another attack, this time by Joshua Yetman (Qoroz-Novatech), and eventual stage winner Murdo Jamieson (East London Vélo), managed to open a gap of about 30secs. The highlight of this lap was the lightning speed in which Christopher Hurd (VC Lincoln) punctures, gets a wheel and manages to get back into the bunch, “well done neutral service boys”.
As the race rolled past the finish line to take the bell they were all together again and remained together until about 5km to go when two riders attacked. As they approached the climb towards finish line Murdo Jamieson attacked and sprinted away to a clear victory from Tim Allen in second place.
Stage Result
1st Murdo Jamieson (East London Vélo) 2hrs 15min 37secs
2nd Tim Allen (VC Lincoln) @3secs
3rd Peter Johnston (Team Tor 2000) @st
4th Barry Clewett (Bournemouth Arrow CC) @ST
5TH Andrew Carnall (Agiskoviner) @st
Final Classification after stage 4
1st Crispin Doyle (Swindon Road Club) 8hrs 20min 09secs
2nd Jamie Howard (Exeter Wheelers) @1min 11secs
3rd Daniel Arblaster (Guernsey Vélo dev. Team) @1min 12secs
4th David Barnes (East London Vélo) @1min 26secs
5th Tom Stockdale (MJS Racing) @1min 29secs
After three days of racing everybody left the beautiful Dorset country vowing to return and do it all again next year.
Race Quotes
Crispin Doyle “The last day was always going to be a hard one. We thought the safest thing to do was to let breaks go away providing they didn’t contain anyone with under 2 minutes down on GC but every break that went away did contain someone with time to make up and as there were time bonuses after each lap we had to close it down."
"So job well done on the overall, and a big thanks to my team mates Shane and Andy without whom I couldn’t have done it. It was a superbly well organised event, the marshalling was first class and the courses were very different making for a varied weekends racing.”
Jamie Howard “A fantastic weekends racing, very well organised and I really enjoyed it."
Daniel Arblaster “A really well organised race and the racing was very competitive. I got lucky on the second stage, some people got boxed in, but that’s what road racing is all about, luck. It was well worth coming over for (Guernsey Channel Islands) and now we are off to get the boat home."
