Club Championship Road Race
Saturday 24th September 2005 at TBC
Foster Club Champion For 2005
Wesley Foster shrugged off his fellow competitors to take victory in an exciting sprint finish at the annual Club Championship last Saturday.
It was a chilly and blustery Fivemiletown circuit which hosted the Club Championship with 14 riders prepared to take their chances in a race to decide who would take the coveted title of club champion 2005.
The race was handicapped and the first 10 riders had a three minute head start on the scratch group of Stephen Coyle, Kenny Boylan, Wesley Foster and Irish Veteran Champion Eddie Bryson. Things were looking good after the first of the four laps as the scratch had only reduced the lead by 30 seconds.
This was due to hard work by Eddie Carson, Mark McGirr and Francis Coyle. By the end of the second lap, however, the blustery conditions took their toll on the front group as they struggled with the wind and the scratch group took another 1 1/2 minutes off their lead.
With riders being dropped due to the high speeds, the front group crossed the start/finish line to take the bell for the last lap with a mere 18 second lead. Just after the start of the last lap the groups came together and with six miles to the finish, riders attacked, taking advantage of the break in the rhythm of the race.
Raymond Dunlop, Brian Martin and Julian Dunlop joined the scratch men in a new group forging ahead at the front but a few bursts of speed inside the last five miles saw the scratch ease out a gap and they left their fellow competitors in despair as they pulled out a one minute lead.
The front group was now down to three riders and with over a mile to go to the line, Bryson tried to burn off his fellow would-be champions in a bid for victory. Not to be out-gunned Foster and Boylan dug deep to reel in the attack and as the trio approached the line it was down to the sprint finish. Nobody gave an inch but it was Foster who found that little bit of energy to get his bike to the front as the line approached. Wesley took the flag with the loudest roar of the season closely followed by Boylan with Bryson coming in third all with the same time.