2014 George Samuel Memorial Hove Park Crits

By Bruce Samuel and Michael Leonard

2014 George Samuel Memorial Hove Park Crits

Race 1 of 4 George Samuel Memorial Hove Park Crits, organised by Brighton Mitre, was held on the 25th April 2014

 

 
Cat 4 Race
 
2014 is shaping up to be an epic year for cycling in Great Britain, what with Wiggo releasing another Fred Perry clothing collection, the Tour de France starting in Yorkshire and of course the return of the annual George Samuel Memorial Hove Park Crits.
 
Building on the success of the previous two series this year looks to be another action packed contest with all of the contenders from last year lining up to duke it out for the top overall spot.
 
New for this year – and responding to popular demand – is online entry for all the races which resulted in almost full fields taking to the start line on a cool April evening in Hove.
 
A grey and damp day saw the Cat 4 riders line up bang on 6.45pm with all riders, officials and spectators hoping that the rain would hold off, which thankfully it did.
 

 
The Cat 4 races often produce some determined riding as riders want to get their license points to move up to the Cat 3 level. Tonight proved no exception with two riders attacking right from the gun: Samuel Stean (Mountain Trax RT) and Ed Fraser (PB Cycle Coaching RT) stepped on the gas and quickly set about opening up a gap on the bunch.
 
This had the dramatic effect of putting many riders into difficulty after only a couple of laps with the bunch strung out in an attempt to limit the growing gap.
 
After 20 minutes of racing completed the duo had established a safe lead and were working together like a couple of pros looking to lap the field. The severely depleted bunch started to look like it had accepted defeat. A few more attempts from the bunch to inject some pace resulted in more riders being shed from the back.
 
Finally the 5 laps to go board was held up and the first and second places were pretty much guaranteed with the minor placings to be fought out by the survivors.
 
With 2 laps to go Samuel Stean put in a massive dig to leave his companion and held it until the finish thus scoring victory. Ed Fraser took a well-deserved second place with Brindley Taylor (Crawley Wheelers) bringing the bunch home.
 
Cat 4 Results
 
1. Samuel Stean (Mountain Trax RT)
2. Ed Frasier (PB Cycle Coaching RT)
3. Brindley Taylor (Crawley Wheelers)
4. Tim Warner (Blazing Saddles)
5. Chris Hewitt (Brighton Mitre)
6. Edward Rulton (Glendene CC)
7. Richard Molt (Private Member)
8. Michael Rice (De Laune CC)
9. Laurence Dodd (Brighton Mitre)
10. Lee Benson (Fareham Wheelers)
11. Gregor Ross (Brighton Mitre)
12. Simon Dowling (Brighton Mitre)
13. Chris Evans (Brighton Mitre)
14. Ian Millan (Medway VC)
15. Luke Kennard (Mountain Trax RT)
16. Andrea Diacci (Brighton Mitre)
17. Rory Barrett (Private Member)
18. Jamie Crookston (Private Member)
19. Elliott Banks (Private Member)
20. Luke De Quay (East Grinstead CC)
21. David Harries (Eastbourne Rovers CC)
22. James Cornford (SPS)
23. Alex Beyfus (Sussex Nomads)
24. Kevin Ashford (Brighton Mitre)
DNF Dan Armitagge (Private Member)
DNF Danny Watts (Crawley Wheelers)
DNF Eddie Bull (Sussex Nomads)
 

 
Continued overleaf with 2/3 race…