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Stood on the top step of the podium on Friday the 14th July when i won an elite crit at Evergem just outside of Ghent beating riders including local National Belgian U23 rider Cocqurt.
After 5 laps of the 44 i got myself in a split of 8 riders but this wasnt really working so i headed down the road with a Bulgarian, this turned out to be a good move as lap after lap we worked well to keep are gap of 30 secs on two chasers including Cocqurt with the bunch at 45 secs. I was pretty strong and getting stronger which was a good sign but the Bulgarain started to suffer and soon i was pulling most of the turns. As we reached the halfway point at 22 to go he cracked and just sat up leaving me out there in the middle of knowhere ploughing round on my own, the team manager told me to ease up and wait for the chasers i wasnt convinced but i did what he said, turned out to be the right move as toghter we pulled out a race winning gap of 50 secs over the rest of the field.

I was still pulling the harder turns and looking at the faces i felt and looked to be the strongest, i weighed up my options and decided that Cocqurt would probably win the sprint, at 4 to go i attacked hard into the headwind stretch took the initative i just kept hamering the pedals for the whole lap before glancing round coming upto the 3 to go point, id pulled out a good 20 secs and i still felt strong, at 2 to go i was still well clear but not daring to think id won, at the bell everyone was going wild but i managed to keep it together. I rounded the last bend well clear had time to milk the applause and throw the hands up to take the biggest win of my career and my first outside of the UK.

On Sunday 16th July i lined up for a 140Km kermis in Aarsele, when i got there the Belgians were taking bets on the race and i was pretty chuffed to be a 7-1 at the start, not bad. Anyhow keeping up recent tradition, i was down the road after 2kms with a Lithuanian and i was to be out there all day, we were caught by 5 chasers two laps in but then 3 of us left the rest after 5 laps to ride to a 1 min 15 second gap. Everything was rosey until about 4 to go when one rider left the other two of us to solo to victory leaving me and a rider from the Sean Kelly Academy team,somehow we managed to hang out there to the end and i beat him in the sprint to the line for second. Another great result.

Well done Luke, Andrew, Sam and Matthew it was a privelege to work with you. Best wishes for the future.
The DRF support team. Final Result

In a breathtaking final stage, Luke Rowe took the Yellow Jersey, and Team Daverayner won the Team Prize.
Commiserations to Adam Bonser who crashed out of the Tour in the final 20 miles. Full Results

GC
1st Luke Rowe
13th Andrew Griffiths
16th Sam Webster
35th Matthew Greaves

Young Rider (White Jersey)
1st Luke Rowe
5th Andrew Griffiths
8th Sam Webster
14th Matthew Greaves

Points (Green Jersey)
4th Andrew Griffiths

KOM (Polka Dot Jersey)
3rd Matthew Greaves

For more info on junior tour
http://www.irishcycling.com/publish/news/

Stage 4 http://www.juniortour.org
1st Adam Bonser - North West
2nd Alistair Carr - West Midlands
3rd Denis Dunworth - Stena Line Ireland
4th Amdrew Griffiths - Team Dave Rayner

GC
1st Adam Bonser - North West
2nd Luke Rowe - TDRF @ 1min 25secs
11th Andrew Griffiths TDRF @ 5 Mins.
14th Sam Webster - TDRF @ 5 Min 20
19th Matthew Greaves TDRF @ 5 Min 44

Junior White Jersey - Luke Rowe TDRF
Points Jersey - 2nd Andrew Griffiths TDRF
Polka Dot KOM - 2nd Matthew Greaves TDRF

MORE INFO

The Team have made a great start to the Junior Tour
Stage 1 - Prolog
1st Dennis Dunworth - Stena Line Ireland 6.59.00
2nd Andrew Griffiths - TeamDave Rayner 7.02.56
3rd Stephen Halpin - Stena Line Ireland 7.02.63

Green Jersey Andrew Griffiths

Stage 2 - 61 miles
1st Adam Bonser - East Midlands - 2hrs 30.07
2nd Luke Rowe - TeamDave Rayner 2hrs 30.50
11th Andrew Griffiths - Team Dave Rayner 2hrs 34.48
14th Sam Webster - Team Dave Rayner 2hrs 34.48
23rd Matthew Greaves - Team Dave Rayner 2hrs 34.48

General Classification
2nd Like Rowe - @36 secs
Green Jersey - Luke Rowe
First Year Jnr - Luke Rowe
KOM - 2nd Luke Rowe
Team - 3rd Team Dave Rayner

Four More Stages to Go

News from Belgium
The event: U23 Dikkelvenue 150km Finished 3rd
On Sunday 2nd July was placed 3rd over a challenging 150Km hilly course in Gavre, the original break of 7 riders which had formed early on in the race became four with 3 laps remaining and this soon became 3 when one was
dropped on the climb coming upto the bell lap.

Feeling sure that i was weekest in the sprint i attacked hard at the foot of the last climb and put my head down for victory but was caught with 200 meters to go but took a strong third never the less.

This is my strongest result of the summer so far and came after strong performance in the intercub event over the Tour of Flanders course on the Wednesday. The strong week has seen me become one of the team leaders for the coming races, hopefully my form will hold and i can turn a place on
the podium into top spot soon.

Tom Murray

hi this is a platform for riders to publish their results, thoughts and generally communicate to the world of cycling.
Congratulations Lorna for your 2nd place in the National Championships