Cycling: Armstrong wins in Horwich (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Cycling: Armstrong wins in Horwich

4:40pm Wednesday 21st December 2011 in Sport By Patrick O'Kane, Senior News/Sport Reporter

WHEELBASE/Cannondale rising star Tom Armstrong took victory at the latest round of the North West CycloCross League at Leverhulme Park, Horwich at the weekend.

Another cold day in Bolton saw the start of the senior event at 2pm with the three main contenders - Giles Drake (Team Elite), Paul Bethall (Team Elite) and Tom Armstrong (Wheelbase/Cannondale) - taking to the line.

Armstrong had only been beaten once this season by Drake but competed despite his National CycloCross Trophy commitments meaning he will be unable to win the series.

Drake iss the overall series leader with Bethall in second and the race got off to a blistering start with Drake being the only one able to stay with the increasingly 'in form' Armstrong.

The rest of the field slipped further and further behind as the race flew on, seeing everyone up to eighth place lapped by Armstrong as he burst on to the finish.

With two laps to go Armstrong made the move on Drake, who had managed to grip his wheel for the entire race and the youngster opened up a 10m advantage.

With a rare mistake from Armstrong, Drake pulled back the advantage, only to be beaten in the sprint for the line as Armstrong stamped his mark on another round.

Results: 1 Tom Armstrong, Wheelbase/Cannondale, 2 Giles Drake, Team Elite, 3 Peter Middleton, Zepnat (V45), 4 Paul Bethell, Team Elite, 5 Martin Woffindin, Cycle Sport Pendle (U23).

* Kent Valley Road Club's Christmas 10 just about survived Sunday's deep chill with only six cyclists braving the icy roads at Milnthorpe. Tom Gibson was fastest overall with an unseasonally quick 26mins 9secs, while Adrian Leigh as Spiderman won the fancy dress competition. Robert Crawford was closest to his estimated finishing time.