Verulam Reallymoving’s Marcel Six said his victory in the latest round of the Central Road Race League was important to motivate the youngsters in the team.
The team boss just got his wheel in front at the final sprint, beating Jamie Caldwell of Portsmouth North End by mere inches.
And as this round was hosted by Verulam, it made the win all the more important.
He said: “Being a home round it was important as there was quite a bit of pressure, a lot of local people there and we had quite a few of the youngsters who were looking forward to it.
“We have set ourselves targets but I think it is important for the youth riders to see we are developing and it gives them something to aim for, something that they want to be part of.
“[The senior riders] have got to lead by example. We’ve got in to the CiCLE Classic and we’ve raced abroad and hopefully they see it and it motivates them.”
Six was the last man to get into the race-winning move which already contained team-mate Luke Houghton, a prime example according to the directeur sportif of how well the team is doing in only their second season.
“We always knew it was going to be hard because people know we’re a good team and well-organised,” said Six.
“But luckily we got Luke into the break and I managed to get across at the end and we played it from there.
“It was risky in such a big group to just have Luke in there and I got across on the finishing climb with two laps to go and then we were a lot happier having two in the leading group of nine.
“I knew between us we could finish it off.
“Last year was good considering it was our first year but this year has gone from strength to strength.
“As a team we’re raising our game and all the riders seem to be raising their game as well.
“You look at Luke for example; he’s come on a huge amount since last year, Clay [Davies] has taken on the role of one of the strongest guys in the area and the way they all work together is fantastic.
“And we’ve got a couple of the younger ones like Sam Reed. They showed today that they are part of the team with a huge amount of work.”
Rachel Dunn was the best placed of the Verulam Reallymoving riders in the women’s race.
She finished 13th with team-mate Dagmar Pfeifer two places further back in the 80km race held on a circuit around Mentmore on the Beds/Herts border.
Helen Ralston of Sigma Sports x Threo took the win ahead of Jessica Finney of Cycle Team OnForm and Team Jaden Weldtite’s Georgia Bullard, who was also first junior.
Away from the team’s road race, Verulam Reallymoving’s Jamie Maxen won round three of the U14 Hillingdon Slipstreamers Youth Summer Series and said: “It was an extremely tough race with our four-man breakaway easily outpacing and making a huge gap between the U16 peloton
“We worked hard for most of the race but luckily for me it slowed down in the last lap and I got a good sprint with a decent bike length between me and the second-place rider.”
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