Maidenhead & District Cycling Club

The summer season closed with the Club Track Championship at Dorney Lake. Ten riders competed in the 1km timetrial qualifying round, with the fastest eight going through to the head to head 500m sprint race.

In the quarter finals, Mark Dewey and David Marshall went through easily; Steve Taylor hung in Andrew Richardson's slipstream and then came past as they crossed the line; and brothers Tom and Lewis Smith both rode hard with Tom just outpacing his brother in the last 100 metres.

The semi-finals went to seeding, though Tom almost outpaced David by jumping right from the start but hung in his slipstream and then passed easily in the second 250m.

There was a five minute break for the riders' legs to recover from their previous effort before the ride off between Steve and Tom for third, where Steve finished well clear of Tom, whose gears slipped accelerating out of the line and couldn't make up the distance. The evening finished with Mark and David competing for the Club Track trophy - David hung in Mark's slipstream until the last 100 metres and then pulled out but Mark put in a last effort and held off the challenge to come over the line a length clear.

Paul Richardson's photos are here

Videos of each sprint finish are here (select 'mdcc' folder).