This year competition was close, with each stage won by a different team and this reflected when it came to deciding an overall winner as two oufits finished equal on 44 points.

The Eric Sharpham, Rob McAlary, Mick Marton combination ended up winning on a countback over Hollee Simons, Phil McFarland and Brett McFarland.

STAGE 1

WORKING for Phil Cole in the Gestingthorpe Hill stage one, team domestics Glenn Allen and Greg Wills powered off the start and held a good lead at the turn.

David Lowe, Ian Grant and Anne McAlary were the next on the road with the team of Sharpham, McAlary and Marton looking the most threatening as they gave chase.

Of the A grade teams, Craig and Daniel Stibbard were looking to make the most of their slender handicap advantage to give Bill Hutton a chance of getting in the points.

On Gestingthorpe Hill the hard work payed off for the Sharpham/McAlary/Marton team with Sharpham storming to the lead and winning comfortably from Cole and Lowe.

Hutton flashed home for fourth and gave his team the edge on the A graders, with Scott Allen, Graham Stait and Brad Roughley riding a smart race to finish fifth in front of the Geoff Short, Dom Goddard and Michael Robinson team.

STAGE 2

IT was Marian Renshaw’s team that applied the pressure in stage two (Quarry Hill).

Carol Goddard and Rosemary Hastings got Renshaw to the bottom of Quarry Hill where the world masters medallist attacked hard and open up a nice lead. Leading the chase was the Short, Goddard and Robinson team with the yellow jersey well in their sights.

There was plenty of action back in the field with the team of Dean Windsor, Harrison Carter and Bruce Goddard making their move and trying to get a gap on the other A grade teams.

The attack created a state of urgency for Dan Watson and Blair Windsor to get Ryan O’Donnell across to the Hutton/Stibbard group.

Near the top of the hill things changed fast; Renshaw was overtaken by the storming Short, who looked set to put his team into the tour’s overall lead. But suddenly Mark Simon, helped by Dave Reece and Damian Bennett, burst to the lead, stole victory and the yellow jersey on a countback.

The Windsor, Carter, Goddard performance to get third was very impressive and suggested they might be the team to watch in the final stage.

STAGE 3

WITH the rain getting even heaver, the St Johns third stage was a real test of endurance.

Again the Renshaw, Goddard, Hastings team led, but on the wet descents were losing ground to the Lowe, Grant, McAlary team who were looking to lay their claims for overall tour victory.

However, at the midway point Goddard from the masters women’s team seemed to have found a second wind and continued to hold a big lead at the turn.

Looking threatening was the McFarland/Simons team and the Sharpham,McAlary, Marton combination who were both chasing hard, while the team of Scott Allen, Graham Stait, Brad Roughley looked to be riding with an excellent strategy and also looked a big chance of stealing the tour.

The expected threat from the A grade team fizzed out with all the backmarker coming together but not getting into any rhythm in chasing the leaders.

A brave Goddard was caught coming up to the finish, with Brett McFarland too strong and winning clearly from Marton, which saw these two teams finish on top of the points table with 44 apiece.

David Lowe, Ian Grant and Anne McAlary took third place in the stage which also gave them third place overall. TeamWindsor won the bunch sprint of the backmarkers team to take sixth place in the stage and knocked the Allen, Stait, Roughley team out of fourth place overall on a countback.