Youth Tour 2008 - As perceived by Alan Haycox Chairman Maindy Flyers Youth Cycling Club

 Year on year the Isle of Man Youth Tour has provided youth cycle racing of the highest quality held anywhere in the UK and 2008 was no exception. Much of this must be down to event organiser Oliver Last and his huge team of volunteers, as well as the Manx Constabulary and their Highways Department for ensuring the roads were suitably clear of any obstruction and Sleepwell Hotels the main sponsor for their generous support as well as all the effort they made to cater for competitors and their families.

The representation of riders from Wales was good with members of the Welsh Cycling Union Talent Team and Maindy Flyers as well as others from the principality producing very promising performances.

The three day festival started at 7pm on Friday, with the spectators having the chance to get a glimpse of all the competitors as they rode the out and back prologue time trial of just over a kilometre of the promenade at Douglas, the islands capital town. One thing that has certainly made this event so popular is that there’s none of the nonsense that goes with hand-timing as each bike is fitted with a transponder which corresponds to the riders’ number and records their time which is electronically displayed for all to see at the start/finish area.

The C category riders (Under 12) boys and girls were first to go with each of them starting at 30 second intervals and to show our support for our riders, the same Welsh flag that had travelled around the Tour De France in support of former Maindy Flyer Geraint Thomas was proudly being allowed to blow in the stiff breeze that prevailed during the early part of the event.

The atmosphere was great and racing fast and furious which led to enthusiastic cheering and applause for each rider as they powered off the ramp and returned to the finish line opposite. There were three riders to leave the start ramp before the first of the Maindy Flyers; Emily Haycox. Traditionally Emily has not done well when racing the clock and with the bulk of the competitors starting after she had finished, she had the added pressure of most of those following being able to see what she had done before they started. Following Emily was Maindy team mate Megan Barker and starting 30 seconds after Megan was Rhys Doul who raced on the Isle of Man last year. So we had all three Maindy riders on the course at the same time and as Emily made the turn 500 metres away it was impossible to tell if Megan had made up any time or not. Rhys was now well into his effort but as they came around the curve of the bay nobody could see which way any of their 30 second gaps had swung. As Emily crossed the line and 02.20 popped up on the screen. It was a short but agonising wait to see how long she would stay fastest girl but as Megan flew towards the finish, a spectator said they thought Emily had gone around two seconds faster and straight away Megans time of 02.23 appeared giving Emily some hope that she could still take the pink leaders jersey into tomorrows stage. Rhys was in the boys’ category but his time was still very important as it counted towards the overall team competition and he recorded a very respectable 02.29.

The sole Maindy Flyer in the B category (Under 14) boys’ event was Geraint Manley. Geraint really had his work cut out; as this was his first year in this category and we’re sure he’ll tell you that the races are a lot longer and tougher than they were last year when he was a second year under 12 rider. Geraint has begun to show that he’s made of dour stuff and despite finding it much tougher, he has acquitted himself very well with a highly respectable ride in the step undulations of Stage 2 around Elersley and was just as impressive when finding himself isolated with nobody to share the work into the wind on the sea front during Stage 3 at Ramsey. Geraint battled on to finish when a number of others packed.

Manon Morgans and Elinor Barker have progressed through the ranks of Maindy Flyers and Sarah Crowley has come this far after starting with Newport Velo and increasing her training. and now all three are a part of Team Lifeforce and riding in category B (under 14). All three young ladies made a good impression on this their first visit to the Island. Each of them rode smoothly against the clock.
Day two and Stage2 around Elersley, it was noted how most of the Welsh riders coped very well with the undulations, some even appeared to relish the climbs that seemed to go on and on before taking them left handed and slightly downhill for over a mile which often seemed as though it was uphill due to there being a strong headwind.

The route took the race to a mini-roundabout where riders were able to corner at around 30mph if they got their racing line right and then carry it through at breakneck pace down to the foot of the long climb again. One rider who is guaranteed to have run out of gears on the descent is Jack Llewellyn (M&D Cycles/Specialized). Former Maindy Flyer Jack is another rider who will is sure to enjoy the course when the time comes for him to push a bigger gear, for not only has he got a tremendous power for weight ratio, he has great bike handling skills and nerves of steel as well. Jack looked impressive each time he came round to start the climb and we can optimistically look forward to seeing him back again for the 2009 race.

Manon Morgans looks to have hit form at long last and reports to having really loved the undulations of the Elersley course, meanwhile Elinor Barker encountered poor fortune when a transmission problem caused her difficulty in the opening few seconds of this stage, with the start being at the foot of a severe climb and there being no lap-out facility in this race, Elinor just got going as best she could and eventually appeared riding up front with the big guns. Elinor really looked at home in that company and so it was easy to share her disappointment when learning that due to a mechanical failure she had been prevented from riding the first lap. I wonder if this might provide an opportunity for Elinor to return and lay the ghost to rest in 2009.

In the category ‘C’ race: Megan Barker (Elinors sisiter) had no problems; with just three seconds to make up to take the pink leaders jersey from team mate Emily Haycox, she made light of the climbs and went up the road with four boys, that leading group steadily increased the gap to bring Megan to take the lead, and the pink jersey in the category C girls event by a safe looking margin of around two and a half minutes, Rhys Doul dug in well to complete the course and keep alive the realistic hopes Maindy Flyers achieving a team podium placing.

Sarah Crowley has so far, done most of her racing on the track, so she must have found her weekend trip a real baptism of fire, but what a great place to ride her first ever road race. Sarah had expressed some anxiety around descending at speed but after a gentle introduction to the course during the morning where she rode around with one of the Maindy Flyers; Sarah seemed to grow in confidence and impressed with her lap times. She could be another one to watch out for next year.

There were (unfounded) reports from some of our riders in the C category race who claimed they descended at speeds in excess of - - mph but they have asked that the speed is kept secret and that they are allowed to remain anonymous to prevent repercussions from anxious parents.

Hannah Manley and Ruby Miller, who both started with Maindy Flyers and are now with Team Lifeforce, both rode in the Welsh Cycling Talent Team.

Going into Stage 3 on the Sunday at Ramsey and Megan Barker looked to have the ‘C’ category overall sewn up with almost a two and a half minute advantage over her second placed team-mate Emily Haycox. Only the unexpected could now deny Megan of her biggest career win to date.

Many of the riders appeared excited by the prospect of the final stage but to many spectators the stage must have looked a comparatively mundane affair after the twists and undulations of the previous day. The course was no more than a simple up and down of an elongated oval, about a mile and a half in circumference, as long as conditions prevailed, the fields would ride with a strong wind behind them in one direction and then have to pay the penalty when they made the 180 degree turn.
Racing again started with the large ‘C’ category field rolling away with the aforesaid strong tailwind to assist them on their way but sure enough, as they made the turn to come back towards the town of Ramsey, the pace dropped to around10mph and continued like that all the way back towards the turn at the town end as no rider was prepared to have a crack at the head of affairs.



With four laps remaining Haycox knew her only chance of an overall victory was to get away. The field had spread across the entire width of the promenade like a troop of Hussars about to charge into battle but nothing could be further from the truth, as Emily discovered each of the four times she tried to orchestrate a break and rode off the front, every time she managed to get about 50 metres clear but no other rider fancied joining her for the enterprise and Emily concluded that it would be unlikely that she would be able to make up enough time to win overall and opted to stay handy enough to contest the final sprint and go for the stage win.

Apart from just a few who found it too tough, the pack remained almost intact and turning for home there was no more than 40 metres from the front to the back. With the wind behind them, the pace was fast from the turn meaning that those contesting the sprint would have to endure a huge effort from about a third of a mile from home. As Emily had spent a long time at the sharp end of the bunch in the hope that she could orchestrate a break, she may have felt a little tired as she took a while get up to speed when the charge for the line began.

As the major protagonists got nearer to where I stood I could clearly see the bright pink leaders jersey worn by Megan Barker with any one of about 25 riders also in with a squeak, and with about 350 metres to go and no rider giving an inch anything could happen.

The leaders flew past me with less than 100 metres to go and I was able to recognise Emily Haycox by her white cycling shoes, she was in the first dozen and really starting to use her speed. All riders gave their all to secure the best possible placing. Emily surged towards the line and as she crossed it she could see that only 5 boys had finished ahead of her. This gave Emily Haycox her second win of the three stages and Megan Barker held on to the ‘C’ category win overall. Rhys Doul finished strongly enough to ensure Maindy Flyers took the honour of second placed team in the ‘C’ category.

In the next event, the Welsh Talent Team had Ruby Miller leading the ‘A’ category girls by about 20 seconds with Hannah Barnes of the East Midlands Region in second place. Hannah Manley wore the green jersey as she had accrued most points. The race route took competitors up and down the sea front into a strong head-on wind in one direction which almost brought them to a stop when going around the turn. Most of the riders must have decided that today was going to be ‘all about me’ and Hannah Barnes appeared to test the water with a feign of a break, Barnes went about 4 seconds clear before having quick look over her shoulder to see what was going on and when she saw that nobody was going to take her bid seriously, she seized the initiative and tore off up the road to take her further away from the field, the laps went by and still the other contenders rode with no sense of urgency until with two laps to go it became apparent that the Welsh riders had handed this stage and tour overall to Hannah Barnes of the East Midlands Region.

This was certainly a valuable lesson in the ethics of cycle-sport and one we hope Maindy Flyers and others can learn from.

In stark contrast the category A boys race was an Owain Doul master-class; with Sam Harrison leading in yellow, Richard Forest and Owain all riding as part of the Welsh Cycling Talent Team the race provided what for many must have been the highlight of the season so far. With Sam contesting the sprints by doing just enough to protect his yellow jersey, he and Richard watched as Owain made his bid for glory; the initial attack seemed to get him not much more than 100 metres up the road but then only half hearted efforts came from the chasing pack where Harrison and Forest were holding a steady tempo in the front line of the front of the group, Owain Doul made it look easy and led them a merry dance over the final two laps to win by the length of a couple of football pitches.

The committee, the coaches and parents will I'm sure want to congratulate all our riders on the way they conducted themselves and on their performances in the 2008 Isle of Man Youth Tour and we wish you all the very best for the rest of the season and the future.

Don't forget to book early for the 2009 tour – But don’t forget that we’re all off to Tywyn again at the beginning of August for another great event.
Entries close on the 26th July – Book early as there are loads planning to make the pilgrimage.

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