Dean Downing ripped to another big win at round three of the Tour Series, the UK's new urban road race series, in Woking, Surrey. The racing was furious from the start, with an early crash involving round one and two winners Graham Briggs and 2008 National Circuit champion Downing.
After 20 minutes of racing, four riders, including Malcolm Elliot, escaped and stayed away for almost 10 laps until the Halfords Bikehut train reeled them in coming through the second sprint of the night.
By this point the field had started to fragment - due in part to crashes and some high-speed pain being dealt out by the Rapha-Condor, Candi TV-Marshalls Pasta and Halfords squads.
As the race reached 45 minutes, Downing was at the head driving another small group of riders, seeing off some furious attacks. Racing then settled with five laps to go as a group of around 20 riders started to think about the final.
With four laps to go Downing launched himself off the front –- speeds were by now averaging 32mph - and quickly gained a gap of around five seconds, which he kept until the finish line.
Tony Gibb won the sprint for second and Steven Adams took third, meaning that Madison.co.uk (formerly Plowman Craven-Madison) won the team prize on the night, with Jeroen Janssen making up the three counters.
After three races of the 10-round Tour Series, Rapha-Condor took the overall team jerseys, with Candi TV-Marshalls Pasta moving down to second and Madison.co.uk in third.
The next stage of the Tour Series takes place tonight (Thursday, 4 June) in Peterborough. It then heads to Blackpool, Southport, Stoke-on-Trent, Colchester, Chester and Southend-on-Sea. You can follow the Tour Series on ITV4 at 7pm on Wednesdays and Fridays.
