Halfords Tour Series Round 7: Rapha-Condor-Sharp take series lead by a whisker

With just three rounds left in the Halfords Tour Series, things couldn’t be tighter at the top of the team standings, with Rapha-Condor-Sharp and Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta level on points, the former taking the lead by virtue of having won four rounds to two of the seven races to date.

The fourth of those wins for the London-based team came last night courtesy of Dean Downing, winner of the Exeter round earlier this month, in Peterborough, and the Yorkshire-born rider also took the evening’s sprint competition.

Downing held off Ian Wilkinson of Endura Racing to win on the night, the pair both involved in a breakaway that also included Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta’s Malcolm Elliott, Simon Richardson from Sigma Sport-Specialized and Pendragon-Le Col-Colnago’s Yanto Barker, though the latter was taken out of the equation following a pit infringement.

The escapees had got of the front of the peleton during the opening half of the race, and with representatives of all the top teams represented in the break, there seemed little inclination from the bunch to chase it down – indeed, by the end of the race, Downing and his fellow riders were threatening to lap the main field, where Rapha-Condor-Sharp’s Chris Newton took the bunch sprint to help clinch the team victory.

Highlights of yesterday’s race will of course be shown on ITV4 tonight at 7pm, with full results available on the Halfords Tour Series website, and the next race takes place in Stoke-on-Trent tomorrow evening – as with previous rounds, we’ll have a VIP hospitality package for two people on offer for that race, so look out for that on road.cc later this morning.

Halfords Tour Series Round Seven Results

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

Individual

1) Dean Downing Rapha-Condor-Sharp
2) Ian Wilkinson Endura Racing
3) Malcolm Elliott Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta
4) Simon Richardson Sigma Sport-Specialized
5) Chris Newton Rapha-Condor-Sharp

The Halfords Tour Series Standings (after seven rounds)

1) Rapha-Condor-Sharp 60pts
2) Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta 60pts
3) Endura Racing 58pts
4) Sigma Sport-Specialized 45pts
5) Pendragon Le Col Colnago 39pts
6) Team Raleigh 38pts
7) CyclePremier.com-Metaltek 35pts
8) Team Corley Cycles 25pts
9) Kuota-road.cc 16pts
10) Team Ireland 7pts

Boardman Bikes Sprints Competition Results

1) Dean Downing Rapha-Condor-Sharp 10pts
2) Malcolm Elliott Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta 8pts
3) Simon Richardson Sigma Sport-Specialized 5pts

Boardman Bikes Sprints Competition Standings (after seven rounds)

1) Graham Briggs Rapha-Condor-Sharp 43pts
2) Liam Holohan Team Raleigh 35pts
3) Kristian House Rapha-Condor-Sharp 32pts