![Tamworth cyclists enjoy overcast conditions for criterium races Tamworth cyclists enjoy overcast conditions for criterium races](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/JJAXMCtTuAnFPeUKCfF8jc/1d3fefe3-be94-44c8-8e33-528f9e3aa8d2.jpg/r0_283_540_699_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
There was a smaller field of riders for criterium racing at Goddard Lane on the weekend.
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The weather Gods were fairly kind to riders with overcast conditions keeping things comfortable.
The juniors were first out with a race of five laps.
There were four racers and three chasers in the event.
The general consensus from the race was that Annabelle Sadlier finished first with the Sadlier twins second and third and Isobel O'Connor fourth.
The next race was C grade and B grade who were on the course at the same time.
C grade was taken out by Terry Ball in front of Peter Nash.
Murray Russell finished in third and Luke McDonald – in his first C grade race – came in fourth.
B Grade was 20 minutes plus two laps and was mostly uneventful.
Joe Kelly had a go at a breakaway at around 12 minutes and was hoping someone would join him to help out.
After three solo laps the assistance came. Unfortunately it was the entire field that came to help him.
The group then stayed together until the final lap when Sim took off and put 50 metres on the field.
She was not able to sustain the effort, though, and was soon swamped by a fast moving bunch.
In the end Dave Menzies took a comfortable win from Luke O’Connor with Barry Stockman third and Joe Kelly half a bike length back in fourth.
There rumour must have got around town that Fraser Ashford was having a week off racing.
This brought a few riders out of the woodwork that have not been seen for a while.
Ben Clarke and Michael Foster made an appearance after a notable absence from racing for some time.
Fraser's absence made for a less predictable race with a strong field of fairly evenly matched riders.
The only effort of note was a break away attempt by Rob Wright.
Unfortunately, without any assistance, he was unable to split the field.
After 25 minutes it came down to a sprint with Ben Clarke beating Rob Wright on the line by the thickness of a "Tally Ho" paper.
Luke Deasey was third and Michael fourth.