BITTERLY cold but dry conditions met the hardy riders campaigning for the annual Cyclocross Championships at Les Quennevais last Sunday.
Tensions were high as it was all about the race on the day which would crown riders as the annual category champions.
The Jersey Youth Cycling riders were first to the line.
In the Under 6 Category, Alfie Lee mastered the tricky course and was able to claim the victory.
In the U8s, there was a great battle between riders, with Loic Burton coming out dominant and taking the win to cap a successful season.
Sully Cabot claimed the U10s.
In the U12s, Maverick Bull took full advantage of an unfortunate “Did Not Finish” for Alex Le Sueur to take a comfortable win.
Rounding out the Youth races, Beth Ellis secured the U14s category.
In the Senior races, the stakes were high.
Robin Ovenden did not hang around and went hard from the gun, opening up a gap.
Behind him, Martin Allix chased hard but was unable to hold on to Ovenden, who went on to claim the Open Vet50 category.
In the Ladies Senior category, Lisa Mansell and Harley Cadoret continued as they had all season with another close battle.
Cadoret set off at a fast pace putting Mansell on the back foot.
Mansell recovered and started to reel in the gap and take the lead.
The gap was not comfortable, but Mansell held on for victory, while Natalie Sullivan was pleased to claim the Ladies Vet50 category.
In the Open Youth category, Rory Wanless set the pace with Milo Skuse chasing behind.
As Wanless’ pace started to drop Skuse was getting faster but the gap was too much to bridge with Wanless claiming the win.
An ever improving Lia Romero put in her strongest performance this year to claim the Youth Girls’ category.
The final race of the day was another tense affair.
Jay Cracknell has had a fantastic season to claim the Point Series win, while Liam Cadoret has been coming into some electric form towards the end of the season.
Not to be outdone, Dillon Catney and Ben Richards have enjoyed strong campaigns and any one of them on the day was a contender for the Open Senior Championship.
Cadoret set the tone with a rapid start to get the holeshot with the other riders close behind.
After a couple of laps Cadoret and Cracknell opened a very small gap to the chasers, with both swapping the lead over the next couple of laps.
Cadoret maintained the pressure on and slowly eased a gap over Cracknell, with a fast-charging Catney chasing hard.
In a thrilling finale, Cadoret was able to hold the gap to claim the Open Senior win while Catney and Cracknell were locked together behind.
With huge vocal support from the sidelines the two went into the last two laps line astern.
Catney pulled ahead but unfortunately dropped his chain in the sand, allowing Cracknell to establish a gap that he did not relinquish to finish second overall with Catney taking the third podium spot.
Behind the Seniors, Herbie Buchholz, leveraging his winter road training, was able to claim a comfortable win in the Open Juniors category and the ever consistent Adam Wojtkiewicz topped the Vet40 category.
The organisers extended their thanks to the marshals, officials, and Normandy Rescue for ensuring the day ran smoothly, as well as Jersey Cycling, Group Legendre, and Les Quennevais Sports Centre for making the event possible.
The Cyclocross Winter Series is due to re-commence in October.
