A rare Monday evening event proved decisive in the destination of the Decathlon Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport as a broken bike and six riders unseen during the rest of the season turned out for Round 15. A replacement for the cancelled Round 6 which was weather-affected saw Oli Freeman enter the race with a three point lead over Tomos Hales, the reigning champion and just two events remaining. With this pair often 1-2 Hales could only have anticipated losing the Series by a single point all things being equal – but Freeman was compelled to ride his road bike due to a frame crack. Sportingly Hales tried to make things equal by also turning up on his road bike – but the pair reckoned without three of the 2024 first-timers being speed merchants.
Time trial bikes have a natural aero advantage over road bikes, not that anyone had told Hales who finished in a strong runner-up spot in a fabulous 22 minutes 49 seconds; with Phil Roberts taking his second win of the Series on 22:18 – sealing Series Bronze in the process. The Long Lane course is technical, featuring 11 turns around a 3¾ mile circuit, which even things out a little on the handling stakes. However Freeman finished back on 24:05, with Adam Mumford, Oliver Rodwell and Clive Middleton all finding the Monday rearrangement suited them, split by just four seconds on 23:38, 23:40 and 23:42respectively. This interpolation saw Hales score 5 points but Freeman only 1, meaning Hales took over at the top of the standings by a single point with just a final 16th round left, a dramatic reversal of fortunes.
Hales and Freeman were instead 1-2 in the Road Bike Series, but with Matt Price taking 3rd spot in 26:02 he sealed Road Bike Series Silver, and consigned Dave Moore to the Bronze medal. This is an increasingly popular ‘back-to-basics’ version of the sport, with 9 of the 20 entrants on Road Bikes and a great way for new entrants to the sport to get involved competitively.
In the Women’s Series it was a win for Victoria Doran in 31:53 ahead of Sarah Bradshaw on 33:25, with the Silver and Bronze medals in play for the final round with any of four riders in the mix.
Decathlon Series by Wrekinsport Cumulative Standings after fifteen rounds
|
Pos'n
|
Name
|
Total Points
|
|
1
|
Tomos Hales
|
59
|
|
2
|
Oli Freeman
|
58
|
|
3
|
Phil Roberts
|
45
|
|
4
|
Hayley Wells
|
35
|
|
5
|
Ben Southgate
|
28
|
|
6
|
Ben Wood
|
15
|
|
=7
|
Allan Henderson
|
14
|
|
=7
|
Rich Smith
|
14
|
|
9
|
Deb Hutson-Lumb
|
13
|
|
=10
|
Chris Halford
|
12
|
|
=10
|
David Seager
|
12
|
Road Bike Series Cumulative Standings after fifteen rounds
|
Pos'n
|
Name
|
Total Points
|
|
1
|
David Seager
|
62
|
|
2
|
Matt Price
|
49
|
|
3
|
Dave Moore
|
31
|
|
4
|
Peter Jukes
|
20
|
|
5
|
Sarah Bradshaw
|
13
|
|
6
|
Stuart Wortley
|
12
|
|
7
|
Elliott Wills
|
8
|
|
8
|
Tomos Hales
|
6
|
|
=9
|
Mike Bigwood
|
5
|
|
=9
|
Oli Freeman
|
5
|
Women’s Series Cumulative Standings after fifteen rounds
|
Pos'n
|
Name
|
Total Points
|
|
1
|
Hayley Wells
|
59
|
|
2
|
Deb Hutson-Lumb
|
28
|
|
3
|
Karen Sherriff
|
25
|
|
4
|
Sarah Bradshaw
|
22
|
|
5
|
Victoria Doran
|
21
|
