With the Eastern League Cyclocross season taking a weekend off, junior rider Tom Lewis was the only Ely rider racing at the weekend in the third round of the British Cycling Cyclocross National Trophy series at South Shields. Lewis was racing in the Under 16 category and was hoping to put the setbacks he had experienced earlier in the season behind him.
The first two rounds of the series had not gone well for Lewis, with a gridding problem in the first round and a crash in the first corner of the second round meaning that he had effectively started both races at the back of the field. This meant that for the third round he was on the fifth grid of the starting grid, a significant handicap given the limited opportunities for overtaking in a cyclocross race.
Lewis made a tentative start to the race, perhaps mindful of the crash which had taken him out at the first corner of the last race, and lost time and places during the first two laps. However, Lewis fought back during the second half of the race, overtaking twelve riders ahead of him, and ended up in 25th place. While slightly disappointed with the result, as he had been hoping for a top 20 place, Lewis can at least console himself that the result should improve his grid slot for the fourth round at Torbay on 19th November.
Ely & District Cycling Club - B&T Motor Repairs Press Release 1st November 2022