After the sunshine of Lancaster on the first day, the Screentek International North West Youth Tour moved down the M6 to the UCLAN Sports Arena in Preston on Sunday.

The day started wet – although the rain stopped before the first race – and the sun did return briefly towards the end of the morning. After that a stiff wind blew the clouds back in - and livened up the racing with a tailwind to speed up the finishing sprints and a headwind on the back of the course to help break up the races.

The ride of the day came from Emile Alexander of Lichfield City CC who slipped away from the Under 14 Boys field with Jamieson Blain of Halesowen just after the halfway mark. The two worked well together – and were aided by the bunch’s apparent lack of interest in pulling them back.

Eventually, Dylan Westley of Albarosa Cycling Club – who had tried his best to animate the peloton – went off in pursuit with Tosh Teare of Team RL360 Isle of Man. Although they failed to bridge across, they were joined in the closing stages by Blain who was unable to match Alexander’s pace at the front – although he had enough left to stick with the pursuers and avoid falling back to the fast receding bunch.

With two laps of the one-mile course still to go it looked as though Alexander might get caught, but he dug in and maintained enough of a gap to secure the win. Teare took second eight seconds back - from Westley, with Blain following them in. Alfie George of Discovery Junior CC won the bunch sprint – 1-55 behind – ahead of Alexander’s team mate Lewis Askey.

With such a big gap, it was inevitable that the four leaders would also lead on GC going in to the final day – and their Time Trial results meant that Alexander leads by seven seconds with Teare a second behind and Blain two seconds further back.

The Under 14 Girls race was animated, but nobody quite had the strength to get away with Ella Barnwell of Cranc Cyclesort taking the win – and the GC lead. Poppy Wildman of Nottingham Clarion took second, three seconds back – a position she also holds overall, with the same gap. Danielle Parker of Towy Riders finished third today, but it wasn’t enough to overhaul overnight leader Amelia Sharpe of Team RL360 Isle of Man who finished fifth and slipped to third.

If the Boys race was the pick of the Under 14 races, the Girls took the honours at Under 16 level. Lauren Dolan finally made the decisive move in a lively race after several earlier attempts. She was joined at the front by Lauren Murphy of Welwyn Wheelers and the two worked well to distance the chasers.

Dolan took the sprint comfortably but Murphy knew she was following her to the top of the leaderboard with the bunch 18 seconds behind her. Dolan leads overall by six seconds with Jessica Roberts of RST Racing Team 15 seconds further back. The format of day three – which sees the riders race twice over relatively short distances – may mean that it’s hard to get big gaps, but the gaggle of riders within 30 seconds of Dolan are all still in with a chance.

The Boys race was another cracker, with a constant stream of attacks – but none of them amounted to anything. The bunch was still sizeable – and compact – as it came to the final sprint and as it crested the rise and swept through the final bends several riders near the front of the action found themselves on the grass.

Everyone stayed upright, though and it was Jake Stewart of Solihull CC that took the win with Fred Wright of VC Londres taking second – three seconds back – with Thomas Pidcock of Speedflex Race Team in third. The gap was enough to put Stewart ahead on GC, with Pidcock’s time trial time enough put him second – two seconds behind Stewart and one ahead of Wright. Overnight leader Dan Tullett took fourth on the day and slipped to that position on the overall – but with the first six separated by just seven seconds, this race is still wide open.

Another breakaway – a solo one from the start, this time – saw Isabella Escalera of VC Londres slip away from the field in the Under 14 Girls race and ease her way out to a 31-second lead at the end – Alexa Hawkins of Palmer Park Velo winning the bunch sprint for seconds from Anna Wadsworth of Beeline Cycles. 31 seconds is also the GC lead that Escalera has – although it’s Wadsworth who’s second, with Hawkins a second behind in third.

Joshua Giddings of Heanor Clarion won the Under 12 Boys race with Max Poole (Bike Box Alan/Envelopemaster) three seconds back with Benjamin Peatfield of Bolton Hotwheels in third. Those three lead overall, too – with Poole four seconds behind Giddings and Peatfield just a second behind Poole.

Jed Smithson of Hilingdon Slipstreamers rode away in the closing stages of the Under 10s race – with James Brown of Palmer Park Velo taking the sprint - 15 seconds back – by two seconds from Smithson’s team mate Joseph O’Brien. Smithson looks likely to take the GC – with 23 seconds a big gap to close in two short races on the final day – but Brown is just a second behind him on GC with his team mate Arlo Carey on the same time, so second is definitely up for grabs.

Second is probably the best anyone can hope for in the Girls race, too – with Bethany Bennett finishing in the Boys’ bunch, 32 seconds ahead of another Slipstreamer – Millie Coleman, with Stephanie Kingston of Lichfield City third a further 51 seconds back. The leaves Bennett 40 seconds ahead of Coleman overall, with Kingston 1-30 off the lead.

Cian Howard of Team RL360 Isle of Man took the Under 8s race from Ryan Oldfield of Redditch Road and Path and Seth Jackson of Kirklees Cycling Academy – and leads overall, 11 seconds ahead of Oldfield with Jackson 14 seconds behind him. Megan Lloyd of Harry Middleton CC finished 16 seconds ahead of Anna Lloyd of Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club with third placed Danielle Barker of Halesowen and minute and a half behind that. The two Lloyds are separated by 23 seconds on GC with Barker almost two minutes behind them.

The final day sees the event return to Lancaster – to the Salt Ayre circuit – with two ‘sprint’ races for every age group – and most of the trophies still up for grabs.

Results

Under 8
Girls
Stage Result
1 Megan LLOYD Harry Middleton Cycling Club 14:35
2 Anna LLOYD Lee Valley Youth Cycling at 16 seconds
3 Danielle BARKER Halesowen A & CC at 1:44
4 Elise HAWKINS Palmer Park Velo RT at 2:17
5 Ella HARRIS Halesowen A & CC at 2:46

General Classification
1 Megan LLOYD Harry Middleton Cycling Club 16:14
2 Anna LLOYD Lee Valley Youth Cycling at 23 seconds
3 Danielle BARKER Halesowen A & CC at 1:56
4 Elise HAWKINS Palmer Park Velo RT at 2:17
5 Ella HARRIS Halesowen A & CC at 2:59

Boys
Stage Result
1 Cian HOWARD Team RL360 Isle Of Man 12:15
2 Ryan OLDFIELD Redditch Road & Path CC at 7 seconds
3 Seth JACKSON Kirklees Cycling Academy at 9
4 Noah SCOTT-WRIGHT Featherstone RC at 11
5 Michael POSTLETHWAITE Mossley CRT at 25
6 Trayden JARRETT Blackpool Youth Cycle Association at 26

General Classification
1 Cian HOWARD Team RL360 Isle Of Man 13:28
2 Ryan OLDFIELD Redditch Road & Path CC at 11 seconds
3 Seth JACKSON Kirklees Cycling Academy at 14
4 Noah SCOTT-WRIGHT Featherstone RC at 24
5 Ben SCOTT Newcastle Phoenix Cycling at 37
6 Trayden JARRETT Blackpool Youth Cycle Association at 38

Under 10
Girls
Stage Result
1 Bethany BENNETT Towy Riders 16:57
2 Millie COLEMAN Hillingdon Slipstreamers at 32
3 Stephanie KINGSTON Lichfield City CC at 1:23
4 Bobbie O’BRIEN Hillingdon Slipstreamers same time
5 Carys LLOYD Lee Valley Youth Cycling st
6 Greta CAREY Palmer Park Velo RT at 2:23

General Classification
1 Bethany BENNETT Towy Riders 18:05
2 Millie COLEMAN Hillingdon Slipstreamers at 40 seconds
3 Stephanie KINGSTON Lichfield City CC at 1:30
4 Bobbie O’BRIEN Hillingdon Slipstreamers at 1:35
5 Carys LLOYD Lee Valley Youth Cycling at 1:44
6 Greta CAREY Palmer Park Velo RT at 2:30

Boys
Stage Result
1 Jed SMITHSON Hillingdon Slipstreamers 16:31
2 James BROWN Palmer Park Velo RT at 15 seconds
3 Joseph O’BRIEN Hillingdon Slipstreamers at 17
4 Arlo CAREY Palmer Park Velo RT at 19
5 Eddie McHUGH Team Terminator at 20
6 Kyle JONES Maindy Flyers Youth CC at 21

General Classification
1 Jed SMITHSON Hillingdon Slipstreamers 17:31
2 Joseph O’BRIEN Hillingdon Slipstreamers at 23 seconds
3 James BROWN Palmer Park Velo RT at 24
4 Arlo CAREY Palmer Park Velo RT D same time
5 Kyle JONES Maindy Flyers Youth CC at 25
6 Joshua JACKSON Lyme RC at 27

Under 12
Girls
Stage Result
1 Isabella ESCALERA VC Londres 27:41
2 Alexa HAWKINS Palmer Park Velo RT at 31 seconds
3 Anna WADSWORTH Beeline Bicycles RT at 33
4 Tilly PERCY Salt Ayre Cog Set at 35
5 Natalie BLOOMER VC Londres at 36
6 Niamha ALBONES Liverpool Century RC at 37

General Classification
1 Isabella ESCALERA VC Londres 28:41
2 Anna WADSWORTH Beeline Bicycles RT at 31 seconds
3 Alexa HAWKINS Palmer Park Velo RT at 32
4 Niamha ALBONES Liverpool Century RC at 35
5 Eva YOUNG Royal Albert CC same time
6 Zoe BACKSTEDT Maindy Flyers Youth CC at 36

Boys
Stage Result
1 Joshua GIDDINGS Heanor Clarion CC 31:34
2 Max POOLE Bike Box Alan/Envelopemas at 3 seconds
3 Benjamin PEATFIELD Bolton Hot Wheels CC at 9
4 Ben ASKEY Lichfield City CC at 7
5 Lewis DOLAN Speedflex Race Team at 8
6 Bevan SMITH Cardiff JIF at 9

General Classification
1 Joshua GIDDINGS Heanor Clarion CC 32:26
2 Max POOLE Bike Box Alan/Envelopema at 4 seconds
3 Benjamin PEATFIELD Bolton Hot Wheels CC at 5
4 Ben ASKEY Lichfield City CC at 11
5 Owen LIGHTFOOT Rutland Rouleur same time
6 Odhran DOOGAN Errigal CC at 12

Under 14
Girls
Stage Result
1 Ella BARNWELL Cranc Cyclesport 59:42
2 Poppy WILDMAN Nottingham Clarion CC at 3 seconds
3 Danielle PARKER Towy Riders at 5
4 Becky SURRIDGE VC Londres at 7
5 Amelia SHARPE Team RL360 Isle Of Man at 8
6 Anna ARMSTRONG Border City Wheelers CC at 9

General Classification
1 Ella BARNWELL Cranc Cyclesport 1:00:35
2 Poppy WILDMAN Nottingham Clarion CC at 3 seconds
3 Amelia SHARPE Team RL360 Isle Of Man at 9
4 Danielle PARKER Towy Riders at 11
5 Becky SURRIDGE VC Londres same time
6 Lucy NAYLOR Cycle Sport Pendle st

Boys
Stage Result
1 Emile ALEXANDER Lichfield City CC 1:06:23
2 Tosh TEARE Team RL360 Isle Of Man at 8 seconds
3 Dylan WESTLEY Albarosa Cycling Club at 10
4 Jamieson BLAIN Halesowen A & CC at 12
5 Alfred GEORGE Discovery Junior Cycling Club at 1:55
6 Lewis ASKEY Lichfield City CC at 1:56

General Classification
1 Emile ALEXANDER Lichfield City CC 1:07:16
2 Dylan WESTLEY Albarosa Cycling Club at 7 seconds
3 Tosh TEARE Team RL360 Isle Of Man at 8
4 Jamieson BLAIN Halesowen A & CC at 10
5 Lewis ASKEY Lichfield City CC at 1:50
6 Alfred GEORGE Discovery Junior Cycling Club at 1:51

Under 16
Girls
Stage Result
1 Lauren DOLAN Giant Cycling Club - Halo Films 1:15:54
2 Lauren MURPHY Welwyn Wheelers CC at 3 seconds
3 Jessica ROBERTS RST Racing Team at 21
4 Elizabeth BENNETT Cardiff JIF at 23
5 Sophie WILLIAMS Cardiff JIF at 24
6 Ellie RUSSELL Sportcity Velo at 25

General Classification
1 Lauren DOLAN Giant Cycling Club - Halo Fi 01:16:45
2 Lauren MURPHY Welwyn Wheelers CC at 6 seconds
3 Jessica ROBERTS RST Racing Team at 21
4 Tara FERGUSON Team RL360 Isle Of Man at 25
5 Georgia ASHWORTH Cycle Sport Pendle at 26
6 Lucy HORROCKS Cycle Sport Pendle at 27

Boys
Stage Result
1 Jake STEWART Solihull CC 1:22:32
2 Fred WRIGHT VC Londres at 3 seconds
3 Thomas PIDCOCK Speedflex Race Team at 5
4 Daniel TULETT Specialized Racing at 7
5 Jim BROWN Holmfirth Cycling Club at 8
6 Richie ALLEN Achieve Northside Skinnerg at 9

General Classification
1 Jake STEWART Solihull CC 1:23:19
2 Thomas PIDCOCK Speedflex Race Team at 2 seconds
3 Fred WRIGHT VC Londres at 3
4 Daniel TULETT Specialized Racing at 4
5 Jim BROWN Holmfirth Cycling Club at 6
6 Stephen DENT Nevis Cycles Racing Team at 7