Yorkshire wins team cyclo-cross championships

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Fifth last year, Yorkshire stepped up to take victory in the senior category at the Inter-Area Team Cyclo-Cross Championships at Milton Keynes on Sunday.

Despite not having a rider on the podium in the senior category, they had strength in numbers with four riders in the top ten and held off London for the victory.

First rider across the line was Lee Williams (Wales), but with his closest team-mates well down the field they could only finish fourth team.

Yorkshire's senior win came after success in the veterans and women's categories too.

They topped the team rankings in the veterans class, despite having to settle for second spot in the individual race, with Andy Peace being beaten by West Midlands rider Darren Atkins.

Solo success for Yorkshire came in the women's category, where Sheffield's Adela Carter won ahead of Alice Barnes (Central), while another Yorkshire rider Annie Simpson, took third.

But with their third-placed rider down the field, Yorkshire were beaten to the team win by just one point by the Central region.

In the youth category, Amira Mellor (Yorkshire) was best girl, while Will Gascoyne (East Midlands was top boy. But in the team rankings, London A won the youth class having riders second, third and seventh.

Some riders prepared for Sunday's Inter-Area Cross Championships in regional events on Saturday, including Yorkshire rider Dieter Droger (Dirt Wheels) who took victory in the North West League on Saturday.

For the Barnsley-based rider, it was his first victory in a regional league event after having finished elsewhere on the podium seven times this season across the country.

Another rider warming up for the Inter-Area Team Championships was Greg Simcock (Scott UK), who won the ninth round of the Eastern League on Saturday before going on to finish third in the veterans race on Sunday.

The 41-year-old held off Mike Simpson (GS Henley) by 27 seconds to win the event, at Grafham Water near Huntingdon.

And in the latest round of the CXNE Rat Race Series at Ponteland on Sunday, Steven Ward (MTS Cyclesport) won ahead of Colin Ash (Blackhawk Bikes).

In Lincolnshire, Team Raleigh professional Graham Briggs showed he hasn't hung his wheels up for the winter just yet when he took victory in the eighth round of the Lincolnshire League, the Geoff Bewley Memorial at Otterspool Park in Liverpool.

In the event at Ostler's Plantation near Woodhall Spa, Briggs secured victory ahead of Lincolnshire League regulars and team-mates at Ellmore Factory Racing, Mark Cotton and Rick Lister, who were second and third respectively.

Saturday saw the annual Cyclists versus Harriers event in Yorkshire, run on a 6.5-mile course near Bingley, and it was the runners who took victory over their two-wheeled rivals as muddy conditions worked in their favour.

However, the overall winner was Rob Jebb (Hope Factory Racing) who crossed the line just nine seconds ahead of the first runner.

Plymouth Corinthian CC staged their inaugural King of the Hill climb in Cornwall, and it was Team Certini's Dexter Hurlock who won the event.

After an initial round of rides to establish qualifying times, riders were pitted head to head in a knockout competition.

Hurlock made it all the way to the final where he beat the promoting club's Adrian Sluman.

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Snowdon Sports is a long-established independent sports news agency, which supplies editorial to a range of media outlets - such as Cycling Weekly - as well as sports governing bodies. Snowdon Sports often covers results at Cycling Time Trials events in the UK and has long been a source of information and imagery to Cycling Weekly.