National Trophy Final - Abergavenny - 14th December '03

This was to be the decider of the 2003 series. I lead by a slender 2 points abd had to beat Steven Roach to win the series for the 8 time. My form this year has been up and down but somehow I was still leading the series. I went to try and win.

I felt quite good before the race and thought I was in with a shout. Steven Roach obviously thought he had it right too, as he made some big efforts early on. I played more of a waiting game as the course was tough and with the wind it was had to get a good gap on a group. I watched how Steven rode and made my plans for the later part of the race. He was very quick on the tight slippery corners, faster than me. The finish was along a  100m of road but before that it was tight through the trees and then a drop down a slippery back before dropping off the curb before the stretch to the line.

About half way through the race I had to close a dangerous gap that Ronny Poelvoorde, Nick Craig and Steven Roach opened. This showed that I was not strugglig as much as it might have looked.  I knew Ronny and Nick would try to split the group before the end. This they did with 2 laps to go. I could not go with them and nor could Roach. This left a head to head battle. We were still in a group containing U23 champ Shaun Snodden, Liam Killeen and Phil Dixon. I made my beak for home with half a lap to go on a section I had seen Roach was weaker on. I opened a gap but it was only 10-15m. The next section was the tight corners on slippery grass. Roach closed the gap. I was happy, infact I wanted to lead out the  sprint. I did not think there was enough room to come around before the line as the approach to the road was difficult to hold a wheel. I was wrong.... Roach just nipped around me before the line to take 3rd place and the overall series.

Senior Results

 1. Ronny Poelvoorde     Belgium                      57.11
 2. Nick Craig           Trek UK
 3. Steven Roach         Rugby Velo U23                @ 23
 4. Barrie Clarke        Giant Racing              
 5. Liam Killeen         Subaru/Gary Fisher U23        @ 32
 6. Philip Dixon         Ace RT/Terry Dolan/Impsport
 7. Shaun Snodden        JE James RT                  @ 52
 8. Fred van de Vivere   Belgium                 @  564
 9. Darren Atkins        MI Racing/Peugeot/Thule/Fuji  @  58
10. Paul Oldham          Giant Racing                 @ 1.17
 

Roach outsprint Clarke for Series win

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(written 15/12/03)