Halfords Tour Series: Round 1 (London)

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Story posted May 25, 2010; Event Press Release
The Halfords Tour Series Round One Canary Wharf

Rapha – Condor – Sharp take victory in round one of The Halfords Tour Series

Tony Gibb wins the sprint to be the first over the line from veteran class act Malcolm Elliott.

The ‘men in black’ became the ‘men in orange’ as Rapha – Condor – Sharp powered to victory in an exciting opening round of The Halfords Tour Series at Canary Wharf. The Series kicked off in spectacular style beneath the skyscrapers of the World famous business and shopping district, with the home team of Rapha – Condor – Sharp coming out on top after an hour’s exciting racing to pull on the Halfords leader’s jerseys.

CyclePremier.com – Metaltek’s London racer, Tony Gibb, crossed the line first to take the individual victory, making it two home victories in an evening at Canary Wharf.  Despite Gibb being crowned the first individual winner of the 2010 Halfords Tour Series, his team could only come seventh, as Rapha took the win and the Series lead.

The action was frantic from the start, with the peloton immediately stretched out into a long line as the pace immediately hotted up. Riders from various teams took the initiative to attack off the front of the bunch, with Yanto Barker in particular enjoying a brief spell of freedom before the speeding peloton once again swallowed the lone escapee.

The peloton in this typically nervous, opening round though didn’t want to let anyone out of their sights for long, so each attack was shortlived. Several frantic attacks in the final laps saw the peloton split, as first six riders from the likes of Endura Racing, Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta and Rapha – Condor - Sharp, went clear, before the group swelled to fifteen, but still they couldn’t make their advantage count as they were reeled in.

Liam Holohan with his Sprints jersey.

This set up a high-speed final five laps, with Gibb edging Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta’s Malcolm Elliott in the sprint to take the win. Behind Elliott, Dean Downing led home teammates Dean Windsor (fifth) and Graham Briggs (sixth) for a comfortable win for the Rapha – Condor – Sharp team. Liam Holohan of the Raleigh team becomes the first rider to lead the Boardman Bikes Sprints Competition, taking second, fifth and first in the three Boardman Bikes Sprints to score ten points and lead the way from Gibb and Graham Briggs who lie one point behind.

The Boardman Bikes Sprints Competition proved to be a hotly contested competiton, with fastmen Holohan, Briggs, Gibb and Australian duo Dean Windsor and Casey Munro all featuring strongly at the various hot spot sprints.

In the curtain raising Canary Wharf Corporate Grand Prix presented by NYSE Euronext, the team from Barclays Capital, assisted by Rapha – Condor – Sharp’s British Champion Kristian House, took the victory from Credit Suisse in the Pro-Am relay that helped raise money for The Prostate Cancer Charity.

To re-live all the action from Canary Wharf, tune in to ITV4 on Wednesday evening at 7pm for an hour’s highlights show. The Halfords Tour Series is back in action with Round Two from Durham on Thursday night, for more information visit www.tourseries.co.uk or follow the action via Twitter at www.twitter.com/TourSeries

The Halfords Tour Series and The Tour of Britain are proud to be partnered with The Prostate Cancer Charity.

The top team in Round 1, Rapha Condor Sharp swap their black for Halford's orange. L-R, Lauren, Zak Dempster, Kristian House, Dean Windsor, Graham Briggs and Dean Downing.

Round One Results

Team
1. Rapha – Condor – Sharp
2. Endura Racing
3. Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta
4. Team Raleigh
5. Pendragon – Le Col – Colnago
6. Sigma Sport – Specialized
7. CyclePremier.com – Metaltek
8. Kuota – road.cc
9. Team Corley Cycles
10. Team Ireland

Individual
1. Tony Gibb            CyclePremier.com – Metaltek
2. Malcolm Elliott              Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta
3. Dean Downing         Rapha – Condor - Sharp

The Halfords Tour Series Standings
1. Rapha – Condor – Sharp               10pts
2. Endura Racing                        9pts
3. Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta         8pts
4. Team Raleigh                         7pts
5. Pendragon – Le Col – Colnago         6pts
6. Sigma Sport – Specialized            5pts
7. CyclePremier.com – Metaltek          4pts
8. Kuota – road.cc                      3pts
9. Team Corley Cycles                   2pts
10.) Team Ireland                        1pt

Boardman Bikes Sprints Competition Standings
1. Liam Holohan         Team Raleigh    10pts
2. Tony Gibb            CyclePremier.com – Metaltek     9pts
3. Graham Briggs        Rapha – Condor – Sharp          9pts