Curran proves form on Humberside

CELEBRATING his Milk Race recall, former double Commonwealth champion Paul Curran gave his rivals food for thought when he rode to victory by more than two minutes in the Skelton Bakery Bread Race on North Humberside.

With a confident performance - which justified his inclusion in the GB-Manchester 2000 team for the round-Britain event - the Dinnington RC-Neilson rider fully capitalised on the misfortune of Olympic team time triallist Matt Illingworth (North Wirral Velo), the overnight leader.

Curran' s final stage breakaway companion and team-mate, Julian Ramsbottom, finished second overall, leaving a disappointed Illingworth to salvage third.

The North Wirral rider had narrowly beaten Curran in both a 1.8-mile individual TT and the opening 64-mile road stage on Saturday, but his puncture on stage three could not have come at a worse time. Illingworth lost an estimated six minutes when he punctured the next day.

With service cars unable to get through on the narrow Yorkshire Wolds roads, Illingworth could only watch as Curran and Ramsbottom rode into the sunset, and a display of team pursuiting power by the North Wirral riders on the front of the chasing bunch could do little to reduce the damage.

Curran' s eventual race domination was further demonstrated by his victory in the Croft Pipework King of the Hills competition - four of the seven hill primes fell to the former Commonwealth champion.

Stage 1 TT

A U-shaped 1 .8m prologue - based on the picture post-card village of Bishop Burton, near Beverley - proved a hard test for the 83 riders taking part in the 37th edition of the Hull Thursday RC two-day race.

Early leader was local hope Richard Moore (Hull Coureurs) with a 4-18 ride, but this was eclipsed when BBAR and 1991 Skelton race winner Kevin Dawson (GS Strada) went four seconds faster.

It was not enough to win the stage, but his fast start did earn him the mid-distance time award.

Paul Curran put things into perspective when his 4-07 ride set a new standard. Only Matthew Illingworth could beat it - and then by only one second.

Prominent non-starter was last year's race winner Rob Harris (Dinnington), nursing a knee injury.

1. Matt Illingworth (North Wirral Velo-Kodak) 4 06
2. P. Curran (Dinnington RC) 4 07
3. P. Longbottom (N Wirral Velo) 4 08
4. J. Ramsbottom (Dinnington RC) 4 08
5. P. Jennings (N Wirral Velo) 4 12
6. K. Dawson (GS Strada) 4 14
7. M. Pitchford (Dinnington RC) 4 16
8. S. Tyson (Hartlepool CC) 4 16
9. S. O'Brien (N Wirral Velo) 4 16
10. R. Moore (Hull Coureurs) 4 18
11. S. Calland (Stsrs & Stripes) 4 18

Stage 2, 64 miles

AFTER only 13 miles, the strong men of the race made their presence felt on the 64-mile second stage. A group of 16 went clear, 15 of them never to be seen again by the rest of the field.

The unlucky one was Dawson. On the first prime at Etton Pasture, after 22 miles, Paul Jennings (North Wirral Velo) led through. By the Huggate Wold prime at 41 miles, taken by Steve Calland (Stars and Stripes), Dawson was in trouble, taking service for a loose crank. He was never to rejoin.

By now the break's nearest chasers were 1-40 in arrears. The winning move came near Bainton, after 55 miles, when Illingworth and Curran heaved themselves away from the rest.

The two strongest teams in the race had made their intentions clear.

At the finish, however, Illingworth had the better of Curran, with Jennings leading in the chasers ahead of Julian Ramsbottom, Gary Speight (Invicta RC) and David Cook (Middridge CRT).

1. Matt Illingworth (N Wirral Velo-Kodak) 65m in 2-22-59
2. P. Curran same time
3. P. Jennings at 35sec
4. J. Ramsbottom at 37secs
5. G. Speight (Invicta RC)
6. D. Cook (Middridge CRT) both st
7. S. Calland (Stars & Stripes) at 47sec
eq 8, P. Longbottom, N. Martin (Dinnington RC), M Pitchford, J Brown (VC Chesterfield), S O'Brien, P Wakefield (BCE Lincs Div) all st.

Overall after stage 2:

1. Matt Illingworth 2-26-55
2. Curran at 4sec
3. Jennings at 46sec
4. Ramsbottom at 49sec
5. Longbottom at 59sec
6. G. Speight (Invicta AC) at 1-04.

Stage 3, 80 miles

STAGE two may have been relatively flat, but the deciding factors on stage three were the steep climbs and tricky descents of the Yorkshire Wolds.

There was little action for the first 15 miles and it took the first prime, Life Hill, to spark the race; Steve Calland leading over the top.

Anxious to get on with things, three riders - Ramsbottom, Jennings and Mark Addinall (Middridge CRT) - overtook the lead car on the following descent. Addinall was to lose contact and at the bottom of the next prime, Fimber Hill, Jennings unshipped his chain.

Ramsbottom was alone, but on the climb was soon joined by Curran and Illingworth, with Curran taking the prime.

This and the next two primes had featured in the 1991 Milk Race, and so had the narrow, gritty descent into Burdale. It caused problems in the Milk Race, and the Bread Race was no different with a number of riders falling or running out of road. It was disastrous for Illingworth. He punctured, and because the three service cars were fully employed picking up the pieces behind, he had a long wait for a wheel.

The two Dinnington men grabbed their chance. At Uncleby Wold, where Curran again took a prime, their lead was one minute.

Another hair-raising descent to Bugthorpe was followed by the first category climb of Garrowby Hill, where a big crowd saw Curran again first over the top.

The chasing group comprised 24 riders, but their deficit had grown to 2-53. Illingworth, with his team-mates for company, was still further behind but gaining. They were to rejoin near Wetwang.

Clearly, the North Wirral men did not deem Illingworth's deficit a lost cause, for they drove the chase along at 35mph. By Etton Pasture, however, with the gap at more than four minutes, the North Wirral men sat up and the pace dropped 10mph.

It would take a miracle to stop the Curran-Ramsbottom tandem now.

Ramsbottom was feeling the pace, and with ten miles to go he slipped off Curran's wheel.

Curran waited. They exchanged words, Ramsbottom gave Curran his bottle, and the former double Commonwealth champion rode on to win the stage by 1-17 from his club-mate.

Jennings led in the chasers, four minutes later, outsprinting Ian Dalton (BCF Lincolnshire Division), Martin
Pitchford (Dinnington) and Steve Swales (City RC).

'We knew we had better climbers than Wirral, and we had planned to attack in the hills,' said Curran later.

'Illingworth wasn't working when we were away because he had the jersey. He sat on, so Julian and I made sure he was riding in the grit on the narrow roads. Eventually he punctured, so we took our opportunity. We rode hard to Garrowby, because I knew there was a five-second bonus at the top and that gave me the overall lead.'

The puncture wasn't Illingworth's only problem. 'I wasn't going so well - I've been coughing a lot during the night.

'I lost a lot of time with the puncture - it seemed like six minutes before service got to me.

Ramsbottom had started the race with a sore throat, which probably explained his failure to hold Curran in the closing miles. 'I didn't seem to get any shelter. Paul's only about five foot, and I'm six foot.'

1. Paul Curran (Dinnington RC-Neilson) 80m in 3-13-13
2. J. Ramsbottom at 1-17
3. P. Jennings at 5-00
4. I. Dalton (BCF Lincs Div) at 5-03
5. M. Pitchford at 5-04
6. S. Swales (City RC, Hull) at 5-12
7. T. McKenna (Middridge CRT)
8. G. Speight (Invicta RC)
9. N. Giles (CC Abergavenny)
10. N. Fox (BCE W Yorks Div) all st.

Final overall

1. Paul Curran (Dinnington RC-Neilson) 5-39-52
2. Ramsbottom at 2-12
3. Illingworth at 5-28
4. Jennings at 5-57
5. Pitchford at 6-27
6. Longbottom st
7. Speight at 6-32
8. O'Brien at 6-35
9. Calland at 6-37
10. Cook at 6-41.

Team.- Dinnington RC-Neilson.