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Caithness News Bulletins August 2003

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Caithness Cyclist David Smith Wins Biggest Junior Road Race In Britain
Helping Scotland To Win the Team Race

The Junior Tour of Wales was won in dramatic style by David Smith from Dunnet, Caithness. The three day race over 5 stages in south Wales is the most prestigious road race for 16-18 year old riders in Britain, and is the one every aspiring rider wants to win.

Helped by superb support from his three team mates, Sean Newington, Bruce Edgar and Bruce Wallace, David took the overall lead, within the final 20 miles of the race.  The result was far from secure however because the ultimate test was still to come ­ the 3 mile climb up The Tumble Hill, arguably one of the hardest tests on the racing calendar. David's situation was seriously affected by a puncture 12 miles from the finish which nearly resulted in him crashing at high speed. His strength and bike handling skills were put to the test following a wheel change as he raced to catch up with the lead group of three he'd been with since the start.  By the bottom of the notoriously difficult climb he was back in contention, and soon began to drive the pace, whittling the opposition down to two. As they neared the summit David powered away from his closest rivals to take a thoroughly deserved victory by 26 seconds overall.

His winning margin had been strengthened by a start to finish attack the previous day at the newly opened Brynmar Circuit.  Working with one other rider for much of the time and relying on his team mates to frustrate the following bunch David kept the fast disintegrating field at about 200-300metres for an hour before crossing the line second.  In the last two races David's attacking strategy helped him win the prizes for 'King of the Mountains' and take second in the 'Points Race' for sprint bonuses.

 

The Scotland Junior Road Racing Team were quite simply outstanding and controlled the race with a maturity well beyond their years.  The strength of the squad was underlined by the fact that, out of eighty riders, all the Scottish Team were in the top eleven at the start of the final fifty mile race.  The Team Prize was just desserts for them, and their mentor and manager Gordon Goldie.

Overall General Classification ­ 1st David Smith - Scotland
Overall General Classification ­ 5th Sean Newington - Scotland

Stage 4 ­ 2nd David Smith - Scotland
Stage 5 ­ 1st David Smith - Scotland

Hot Spot Sprints Overall - 2nd David Smith - Scotland
King of the mountains ­ 1st David Smith - Scotland

Scotland also won 4 out of the 5 stages and therefore the overall Team competition.