In the first race of the season for Banbury based cycle race team Shutt Velo Rapide, Mahoney powered through in the final 100 metres to sprint to victory.
A wet and cold Dalton Barracks airfield awaited 80 cyclists in this early season circuit race. SVR riders Ash Mahoney, Jered Allcock, Gareth Harvey and Kieran Munday were all involved in the category 2/3/4 race.
Safety in numbers seemed the order of the day with most riders happy to sit in the group. Only Allcock was active at the head of the race using his formidable winter fitness to stretch the bunch to the verge of breaking. However, nothing seemed to stick for Allcock and with just a couple of laps to go SVR moved to the fore with Munday increasing the pace to allow Allcock, Harvey and Mahoney to position themselves for the inevitable sprint finish. As it played out Mahoney picked an impeccable line through the bunch to ease clear and win with relative ease. Allcock gained a respectable 5th place with Munday and Harvey following through in the remaining group of riders.
Speaking after the race Mahoney said "I never dreamed I'd win! Having my team mates with me gave me a huge boost and being able to bring home the win has left me in shock!" With a win in his first category 2 race who knows what the future holds for Mahoney.
2/3/4
1 Ash Mahoney, Shutt Velo Rapide
2 Duncan Clark, Reading CC
3 Giles Clark, Team Vision Innovative Leisure
4 David James-Cheesman, Southdown Velo
5 Jered Allcock, Shutt Velo Rapide
6 Ben Kenneally, Cowley Road Condors
7 Andrew Ruane, Cowley Road Condors
8 Ian Donohue, Southern Planning Practice Ltd
9 Ben Williams, I-Team Cyclists’ Club
10 Kyle Dovey, Ely Race Club
4th Cat Race
SVR riders Ian Munday, Leon O'Rourke and Jos Busby were involved in the category 4 race at Abingdon. Jos and Ian finished in the bunch and Leon was unlucky with punctures in both races.
Elsewhere, SVR junior George Day crashed out of a tough race at Hillingdon cycle circuit. He was able to ride on but had lost too much ground to have any further impact on the race