It was a tight fought contest in Sotonia Cycling Club’s 10 mile championship held on the Romsey – Stockbridge road last Thursday evening.

On a warm, pleasant evening conditions were good for an excellent field of 47 riders, and the battle for the top spot was settled in a three second win for defending champion Colin Yeates. Veteran Yeates repeated last year’s win in a time of 23 minutes 12 seconds to edge out younger rival Stuart Martingale who came home in 23.15, whilst close up third was in form Gawain Young a further 16 seconds back in 23.31.

In the ladies championship past champion Wendy Knowlton (26.29) had 27 seconds to spare over fast improving Angela Burnikell, who recorded an excellent 26.56.

Fastest on the night but not eligible for the championship was guest rider Steve Dance of Andover Wheelers who recorded a fine 22.49.

The event also saw four novice riders taking part on a ‘come and try it’ basis, all of whom performed very credibly beating some of the more experienced competitors.

Unattached riders are welcome to ride Sotonia’s events on a ‘come and try’ basis and full details of all the events and where to find them are on the club website www.sotonia.co.uk.

The full list of finishers and their times:
Position Name Club Category Time
1 Steve Dance Andover Wheelers Veteran 00:22:49
2 Colin Yeates Sotonia CC Veteran 00:23:12
3 Stuart Martingale Sotonia CC Veteran 00:23:15
4 Gawain Young Sotonia CC Veteran 00:23:31
5 Phil Connell Sotonia CC Veteran 00:24:06
6 Dan Edwards Sotonia CC Senior 00:24:35
7 Andrew Garner VO2 Maximum RT Senior 00:24:59
8 Jon Legg Sotonia CC Senior 00:25:05
9 Stewart Harrison Andover Wheelers Veteran 00:25:25
10 Duncan Edwards Come and try Senior 00:25:30
11 Time Cooke Sotonia CC Veteran 00:25:34
12 Ben Holdaway Come and try Senior 00:25:45
13 Matt MacDonald Hargroves RT Senior 00:25:50
14 Mark Fitzgerald VC Venta Veteran 00:26:02
15 Jonathan Wren Sotonia CC Senior 00:26:05
16 Jonathan Eggett Come and try Veteran 00:26:06
17 Rob Tomlinson Sotonia CC Veteran 00:26:21
18 Graham Backhurst Come and try Veteran 00:26:23
19 Wendy Knowlton Sotonia CC Woman Veteran 00:26:29
20 Keith Whitten New Forest CC Veteran 00:26:50
21 Adam Jennings Sotonia CC Senior 00:26:53
22 Angela Burnikell Sotonia CC Woman Veteran 00:26:56
23 Darren Sell Sotonia CC Senior 00:26:59
24 David Belcher Sotonia CC Senior 00:27:00
25 Ian Wall Sotonia C C Veteran 00:27:02
26 Sean Holehouse Sotonia CC Veteran 00:27:07
27 Derek Jennings Sotonia CC Veteran 00:27:09
28 Nick Wisby Sotonia CC Veteran 00:27:21
29 Martin Ward Sotonia C C Veteran 00:27:26
30 James Peckham Sotonia CC Senior 00:27:27
31 Brian Coupe Crabwood CC Veteran 00:27:49
32 Chris Summers Sotonia CC Veteran 00:28:18
33 Julian Gee/Bethany Gee Sotonia C C Tandem 00:28:21
34 Jim Ingorfield Port Talbot CC Senior 00:28:38
35 Mark Compton Sotonia CC Veteran 00:28:46
36 Rebecca Bellworthy Southampton University Women Senior 00:28:57
37 Nicole Johnson Sotonia C C Woman Veteran 00:29:03
38 Martin Balk New Forest C C Veteran 00:29:09
39 Norman Harvey Sotonia C C Veteran 00:29:24
40 Trevor Shepherd Sotonia C C Veteran 00:29:30
41 Greg Vint Sotonia C C Veteran 00:29:49
42 William Harrison Sotonia C C Senior 00:30:02
43 Julian Wherrett Sotonia C C Veteran 00:30:06
44 Dan Whiteside Southampton University Senior 00:30:57
45 Dan Sahota Sotonia C C Senior 00:31:13
46 Brian Grierson Sotonia C C Veteran 00:31:36
47 Jan Burnage Sotonia C C Woman Veteran 00:32:13