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The Manx Road Club AGM is this Tuesday October 16 at the Horse and Plough Pub, next to Oxleys car showrooms, new and current members are welcome as are children until 9.00pm. Chip butties will be provided by the club and our new club kit will be available to purchase

There has been phenomenal coverage of Manx cyclists recently in magazines such as Cycling Weekly and Pro Cycling. Jonny Bellis and Mark Cavendish feature in this weeks edition of CW, only one week ago the 'Manx Talent Team' were featured in an excellent double page spread with some excellent shots of the TT course, turn over a few pages and there was a double page report on Bellis's bronze medal ride in the World Road Championships, and if that wasn't enough, a week before that there was 'a minute with' Peter Kennaugh interview on the inside back page. Pro Cycling, pictured left, featured a fasion show with new British stars Cav plus Ben Swift and Geriant Thomas.

The Stuart Slack Parishes Ride takes place this Sunday, there will be two groups departing from the NSC gates. First group away departs at 8.30 am for slower riders with a 9am start for the faster riders. There will be a 'pit stop' at St Johns AFC clubhouse.

Mark Christian and Chris Whorrall have been selected for the Olympic Development Programme (ODP) both Jonny Bellis and Peter Kennaugh have come through the ODP. British Cycling's Olympic programmes explained here

Christian Pictured right and Whorrall join up with team mate Tim Kennaugh at this weekends Future Revolution at Newport Velodrome

Please make sure you have lights fitted and working when out riding during the evening. Although it may well be bright and sunny when you set off it can soon become dark.

Pinarello RT rider Malcolm Elliott is guest of honour for the forthcoming Cycling Association Dinner on Friday November 9 at the Claremont Hotel, Loch Promenade. To reserve tickets please send a cheque payable to 'Isle of Man Cycling Association' for £12 per ticket to Richard Fletcher, Thie Noa, Grove Mount, Ramsey. IM8 3HE

Such is the strength of Manx cycling at the moment, an Isle of Man team has been invited to compete in the all new Future Revolution meeting at Newport Velodrome this weekend. Manx Road Club riders Mark Christian, Chris Whorrall and Tim Kennaugh plus Kit Karzan (USA) will compete in Isle of Man colours for the two day event. Teams competing include England, Scotland, Wales and Holland. More

Mark Cavendish notched up his 11th win of the season on Stage three of the Franco-Belge, this comes after a crash on stage one and a narrow defeat on stage two to Belgian rival Gert Steegmans (Quickstep). Steegmans won the final stage on Sunday to win overall with Cav in second. The T-Mobile rider also finished second in the Points competition and won the Young Rider competition.

Jonathan Bellis won two bronze medals (Points Race and Individual Pursuit) and a gold (Team Pursuit) at the National Track Championships at Manchester Velodrome last week. His Manx Road Club team mates Peter Kennaugh and Mark Christian also performed well with Kennaugh winning a bronze in the Scratch. It was Christians first outing in an Elite Championship, his goal was to qualify for a final, this he did in both the Points race and Scratch Race. Reports, results and photos from British Cycling

The Manx Road Club are holding their AGM on Tuesday October 16 at the Horse and Plough. Chip baps will be available and all members old and new are welcome. The AGM commences at 7pm and children are welcome to attend untill 9pm. Any further information can be obtained from Kerry on 498975

Gianni Epifani (MVW) won the Bobby and Essie Memorial Hill climb on the tough Baltic climb in Kirk Michael on Sunday. Epifani recorded an impressive three minutes 59 seconds to finish comfortably ahead of second place Ellan Vannin's Mark Lawrence (4.24). One second further back in third was Stephen Hull (MVW). Another Wheeler Elliott Moore (4.35) took fifth and Ellan Vannin's Allan Thompson (5.05) was sixth

Bobbie and Essie used to provide excellent tea and cakes from their Kirk Michael home after cycling events in the area

Jonathan Bellis produced a truly superb ride to finish third in the U23 World Road Championship in Stuttgart Germany. Peter Velits of Slovakia timed his sprint to perfection to become Under 23 World Champion, despite fading in the final 50 metres of the sprint, silver went to Australian Wesley Sulzberger just ahead of a delighted Bellis. Velitis said on Eurosport "I'm very happy, my brother (Martin) helped me a lot. He gave me a lot of support." Jonny told British Cycling “I’m real pleased of course but it is hard to believe. All credit to Rod (Ellingworth), Shane (Sutton), Dave (Brailsford), Max (Sciandri) out in Italy and the other staff who have helped because if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be in a position to progress and achieve what I have achieved this year.”

How close was that? Bellis second from left takes bronze! photo British Cycling.

“I thought the course would suit me and it was just a wearing down process and it was about conserve and conserve and riding clever. That’s what I done and had that energy at the end to be able to do something. It’s all what I have learnt in the last year from Rod and Max. Earlier on in the year, I’d lose a lot of energy early on, was crunching the gears and not eating. Now I have learnt to conserve a bit and have it the end -Ian (Stannard) did a great job. He knew he wasn’t feeling great and able to do something at the end and there were a few good riders up the road and he did all he could to get them back so all credit to him and Swifty (Ben Swift).” Full results from cyclingnews.com...Well done from everyone on the Rock !!

Mark Cavendish and Jonny Bellis compete in the World Road Championships in Germany this weekend. Jonny competes on Saturday in the U23 men's race. Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen is the bookies favourite, but will have to fend off Russian riders such as Nikolai Trusov and Mikhail Ignatiev. Tour de l'Avenir champion Bauke Mollema will be supported from the strong Dutch team that includes double U23 World Champion (Cyclo Cross and Time Trial) Lars Boom. Jonny's Great Britain team mates include Ben Swift and Ian Stannard

On Sunday Cav takes on the Italians who are strong contenders for the men's road race. Paolo Bettini will defend his rainbow jersey. Other Italians to watch include Filippo Pozzato, Alessandro Ballan, Danilo Di Luca and Davide Rebellin plus Spanish riders Alejandro Valverde, Carlos Barredo and Samuel Sánchez, Belgium's Philippe Gilbert, and Schleck brothers from Luxumburg. One to watch however will be Stefan Schumacher who lives nearby and has good one day credentials having already won the Amstel Gold

Peter Kennaugh won the Keizer Der Junior race in Belgium on Sunday afternoon. The Service Tech Sport Aid recipient finished second in Saturday's opening 99km road stage, the following morning Kennaugh was second again in the 6km time trial, this put him in the yellow jersey going into the final stage of the UCI event. The Great Britain team worked hard throughout the 95km to ensure Kennaugh held on to his slender five second lead. During the final kilometers the attacks came thick and fast but Kennaugh held on to finish seventh on stage but take the overall victory. It was a good weekend for the British riders with British Time Trial champion Erick Rowsell who was riding for the South East team finished second and European Road Race bronze medalist Ole Haavardsholm (Norway) was third. Great Britain's Mark McNally finished an impressive fifth. results

Peter Kennaugh finished second in the 95km opening stage of the Keizer der Juniors stage race in Belgium on Saturday. The race continues on Sunday morning with a 6km individual time trial followed by a tough 95km road stage in the afternoon results

140 riders converge on Manchester Velodrome for the National track Championships (October 2-6). Local interest comes from Jonathan Bellis, Peter Kennaugh and Mark Christian who compete in the endurance events. Such is the high standard of British Cyclists that there could be up to 16 current and former World or European champions in the 24 rider Scratch final! The Manx trio are entered in the Scratch Race, Points Race and Individual Pursuit, Bellis fresh from his brilliant ride in the Tour of Britain teams up with his 100% ME squad for the Team Pursuit where they start as clear favorites. Link

The 2008 Isle of Man Youth Tour takes place from Friday May 2 to Sunday May 4. The event is open to Junior, Youth A, B and C category riders only. The Junior category event will incorporate a round of the National Junior Series. The Youth Tour website will be up and running shortly. Enquiries can be directed to youthtour2008@manx.net

The Rob Rohrer Memorial 25 mile time trial takes place on Sunday September 30. Entries in advance to Ian Brand, 19 Close Quane, Peel by Tuesday September 25. The Essie and Bobby Collister hill climb takes place on Sunday October 7 and the Stuart Slack Memorial Parish ride is on Sunday October 14

Great Britain's Paul Manning won the final stage of the Tour of Britain today from Dumfries to Glasgow. Mark Cavendish led the bunch home in seventh whilst Jonny Bellis was 16th. Overall result was very tight, infact the top two riders finished on the same time, but the win went to French rider Romain Feillu (Agritubel) from former leader Adrian Palomares (Fuerteventura-Canarias) Bellis finished 35th and Cavendish 36th overall, also on the same time! The Points competition went to Cav as did the Sprints competition, Barloworlds Ben Swift, who was part of the winning GB European U23 Team Pursuit Team with Bellis and Peter Kennaugh, won the Mountains competition, with Cav finishing fifth Results Report from British Cycling

The Tour of Britain will be screened on BBC2 and Eurosport on Sunday, check your viewing planner for details

Mark Cavendish finished second on the penultimate stage of the Tour of Britain. The Liverpool to Kendal stage was won by Russian rider Alexander Serov (Tinkov Credit Systems) Jonathan Bellis also had another gutsy ride to finish 10th. Amazingly both Cav and Jonny are equal on time overall, 11.18 behind leader Adrian Polomares. Results

Jonathan Bellis (Great Britain) finished an excellent seventh on the Rotherham to Bradford stage of the Tour of Britain today, Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) crossed the line in 24th place. The stage winner was Spaniard Adrian Polomares of the Fuerteventura-Canarias team. Overall Polomares now leads by one second from fellow countryman David Blanco Rodriguez (Duja Tavira) Bellis (pictured right) is now 39th and Cavendish 42nd. Results

Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) and Jonny Bellis (Great Britain) finished ninth and 10th on stage three of the Tour of Britain. The stage was won by Australia's Matt Goss (CSC) with Roger Hammond in third. Overall Trusov remains in yellow, Cavendish is currently in 38th and Bellis is 45th. Results

Pictured left: Cav sprinting to ninth with Jonny 10th, courtesy of British Cycling

Tinkov rider Nikolai Trusov took stage two today in Taunton after the peloton was split in two on the Exmoor hills. Some of the lead group crashed out in a spill 200 metres from the line whilst contesting the sprint. Both Mark Cavendish and Jonny Bellis finished in the second group some 10 minutes behind the leaders. Trusov now leads overall, Cavendish drops to?th and Bellis is 43rd Results

T-Mobile's Mark Cavendish notched up his second win in as many days in the Tour of Britain. The on-form Manxman has now notched up an amazing? wins this, his debut season! The stage from Reading to Southampton was mainly flat and was expected to end as a bunch sprint. Cav beat Belgian Steven Caethoven (Chocolates Jacques) and Argentinian fast man Juan Jose Haedo (CSC) into third. Cav now leads overall by 14 seconds, is the leader in the Points category, is second in the Sprint competition and third in the Mountains category. Jonathan Bellis (Great Britain) finished right up there in 15th today and moves up to 26th overall.

Results - T-Mobile On British Cycling there is a picture of Cav with Steve Joughin who is driving the press bus on the Tour of Britain

Mark Cavendish won the opening prologue stage of the Tour of Britain today, he beat Tinkoff Team riders Nikolai Trusov and Alexander Serov who were second and third. Full results here

Mark Thwaites dominated today's End to End mountainbike classic. The Kinesis rider never looked troubled during the tough two and a half race. Ride of the day came from Mark's younger brother Scott (Crosstrax) who paced himself perfectly to claim the runner up spot, third place went to Jack Puller, also a Kinesis rider. Leading local was Paul Kneen with Alex Kinvig one place behind in fifth.. Results

Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) and Jonathan Bellis (Great Britain) are set to ride the Tour of Britain this Sunday. Britain’s biggest International road cycling event commences with a prologue time trial at Crystal Palace and finishes up in Glasgow on Saturday. Follow the results and action on the Tour of Britain site or on British Cycling

There was a large Manx contingent at Saturday evenings bi-annual Newport Nocturne. T-Mobile's Mark Cavendish, Pinarello's Peter Kennaugh and Warren Flynn (Obri Coaching) featured in the Elite event that concluded the evening and riders such as Steve Joughin, Mike Doyle and Ernie Lightfoot (a former Island resident) competed in the Past Masters race. Dennis Lightfoot a former pro rider from our shores, who now runs a bike shop in Perth, Australia, was also present to cheer on his father. Both 'Doyler' and 'Jockey' were active in the Past Masters race but had to settle for 17th and 19th respectfuly, whereas Ernie Lightfoot finished 23rd. The winner was 'Super Sid' Barras well known in his hey-day for his sprint, this time he broke clear to take a lone win. The Elite race, part of the National Elite Circuit series saw a similar style victory from a well known sprinter who broke clear. Pinarello's Malcolm Elliott rode half of the race out on his own to take a well deserved win, behind a group of five fought out a sprint for the minor placings with Tony Gibb (Plowman Cravern) taking second with Chris Newton (Re - cycling.co.uk) in third, New-Zealand rider Gordon McCauley (Plowman Cravern) fourth and Kennaugh in fifth, behind the chasers, Mark Cavendish tried to get away but the winner of eight Professional races this year was not being given any room. Warren Flynn rode well in such a top quality field but was eventually lapped and retired. Earlier Cav competed in the Beijing Challenge, where invited riders rode a timed flying lap.

It was topical that the three Manx Peter Buckley Series winners were also present at the same venue (Left to right Mike Doyle 1979, Peter Kennaugh 2007 and Steve Joughin 1977)

Peter Kennaugh finished second in the National Junior Time Trail Championships based on an 18 mile loop around Holmes Chappel on Sunday. Kennaugh who only hours earlier competed in the Elite race at Newport finished just five seconds behind season long rival Erick Rowsell (Team Corridori) Greame Hatcher finished third in the Masters 'A' category. Pinarello's Tim Kennaugh, Gianni Eppifani (MVW) and James Smetton (MRC) also competed. Tim competed with the Juniors to finish 23rd the same position for James in the Senior race behind Saunier Duval's David Millar, whereas G rode well to finish 13th in the Master 'B' race behind winner Kevin Dawson (Pinarello RT)

There were some excellent performances by Manx riders in the various National Championships over the past few weeks. British Cycling has photo's, reports and results on the following links. National Junior Road Race - National Track Championships

The South Barrule marked trail is now open. The signposted trail is a 1KM demo trail and we need feedback for further development. There is a feed back form is on the trails section of the mtb club page or on the main page of www.visitisleofman.com (there are also eight suggested MTB trails on the site).

August has proved to be another excellent month for cycling on the Island. Mark Cavendish has taken yet another win in a Pro Tour event and Peter Kennaugh took four national titles in a week.

Warren Flynn was the overall winner of the Alexander Forbes Road Series, Peter Gage was top veteran in second place overall and third position went to Scott Flynn who was third overall. Leading Youth rider was Tim Kennaugh in sixth overall. The B series was won by Chris Nicholson from James Smetton in second and Caroline O'Neill was third and leading female. Results here

Another supply of the much acclaimed Manx Road Club kit has arrived. We will bring it out to the 2 Up on Wednesday...just bring your dosh!

Peter Kennaugh (Pinarello RT) won the final round of the Alexander Forbes road race series at Jurby on Sunday. Kennaugh was in the action from the word go in the 60 mile Tour of the North event promoted by the Ellan Vannin CC, having Peter O'Shea (Manx Viking Whs) for company early on, Kennaugh continued on his own for four of the 10 lap race gaining almost a minute at one point. On lap five the Service Tech Sport Aid recipient was reeled in just as Tom Black (Manx Road Club) went on the attack, but ths was soon nulified as were other attempts of freedom over the next lap. Kennaugh broke clear again and there seemed little interest in closing Kennaugh down by the bunch, something must have been said, however, as the bunch again closed the gap as quickly as it opened. On the final lap Kennaugh and series leader Warren Flynn (Obri Coaching) broke clear, they never gained more than 15 seconds but had enough in hand to stay clear at the chequered flag where Kennaugh took the win from Flynn with Scott Flynn (Obri Coaching) taking third. Robin Garry won the 'B' race from Robert Dooley and Elliot Moore. Caroline O'Neill was first female in sixth. Results here

Chris Nicholson (TSP) finished an excellent fourth at the Omnium Series in Manchester on Sunday. Results from British Cycling

Kiwi Gordon McCauley won Sunday's Premier Calendar event, The Tour of Pendle. Andy Roche finished 22nd. More from British Cycling

Tour of the North organiser Ian Brand has a helmet that was left behind after the event, it is a silver Giro with a distinguishing mark on the back but no name on it. Give Ian a call on 842891 if it is yours
Alex Forrest Family 2 Up

The Alex Forrest family 2 up takes place on the 10 mile Ballavarran course on Wednesday. The event starts on the Ballamoar straight at 6.45pm. Entries can be taken on the night but please be there in plenty of time. Afterwards the Manx Telecom 10 League, Alexander Forbes road series, the Bikestyle series and family 2 up awards will be presented in the Leyzare Parish Hall, Sulby

Team Isle of Man Juniors won the Three Up 25 mile time trial championships on Thursday evening. The 'A' team consisting of Mark Christian, Warren Flynn and Peter Kennaugh stormed around in 52minutes 31 seconds. The 'B' team of Tom Black, Scott Flynn and Colom O'Shea closcked 55.48 for second place with the Manx Road Club trio of Peter Gage, Trevor Kirkwood and Dave Taylor finishing third clocking 56.08.

Team Isle of Man ladies, Natalie Arrowsmith, Cayley Ennett and Caroline O'Neill impressed with 1hour 2 minutes 21 seconds. Team Isle of Man seniors lost Andrew Cook thus unable to register a time as three riders are required to finish, however Greame Hatcher and Andrew Roche continued and recorded an impressive 52.35 just three seconds behind the flying juniors. Results here

Andrew Cook and Ian Sharpe teamed up on their tandem to clock the fastest time in the final round of the Manx Telecom 10 League clocking 22.02. Gianni Epifani was first of the solo riders in 22.51. Results here

Team Isle of Man rider Warren Flynn was on form in the Suir Valley 3 Day in Ireland over the weekend. Flynn finished an impressive fourth overall and picked up the best second category rider award. Pictures on Irish Cycling but full results are hard to find! Race site with top five placings here

Track racing will come to an end at Kirkby when the Sports Centre closes its doors for the final time at the end of this month. The closure also brings to an end the Wednesday night Track League, which in it’s heyday was acknowledged as one of the most successful leagues in the country. Despite declining interest in recent years - due to the uncertainty over the future of the track and the lure of an indoor velodrome just up the motorway in Manchester - the Kirkby Track League has retained an enthusiastic band of riders, spectators and officials.

The 485 metre tarmac track, first opened more than 40 years ago, has hosted many major events attracting the top riders in the UK. Kirkby was also the place where World and Olympic Champion Chris Boardman learned his track skills under the watchful eye of renowned coach Eddie Soens. Although Kirkby will get a new sports centre it will not include any cycling facilities, despite a long campaign by local British Cycling officials.

The final Kirkby Track League meeting will take place on Wednesday 29th August, and is set to be a memorable occasion. All riders will receive free entry on the night and it is hoped to attract many former track league regulars for one last ride around the famous outdoor track.

The event will get underway at 7.15pm and will be followed by a gathering in the centre’s ‘Pyramid Suite’ where light refreshments will be available (this will go ahead even if the weather prevents racing taking place)..

Tom Mazzone won last Thursday's round of the Bikestyle Series on the Bride circuit. Jonathan Cregeen finished second to clinch the overall series. Results here

Fifteen year olds Tim Kennaugh and Chris Nicholson, both riding for the North West Talent Team finished second and third overall after the final stage of the Kerry Youth Tour on Monday. After winning the opening two stages Kennaugh built up a 23 second lead, however on day three the Sport Aid recipient was attacked by the Belgian Cedric Demenceau who then gained an 11 second lead going into the final stage, Demenceau would increase his lead to 32 seconds despite Kennaugh's efforts on the final stage. Nicholson also had an great race after impressing in the time trial stage where he finished fifth, Nicholson then rode well to get into the winning break on the final stage to finish third thus moving him to third overall and second in the Cat 1a competition. The Talent Team foursome, including Simon Yates and Lewis Balycki, had a productive race, they won the Team prize as well as two stage wins, second overall and third in the Points competition plus a third place on stage and overall by Nicholson and Yates who was second in the Mountains competition. Results here

Adam Johnson (TSP) also rode well to finish 31st overall in the U16 race. In the U14 race Jack Wolstencroft came home in 18th, Alexander Haddock 31st and Alicia Corlett was 41st. There was also success in the U12 category with Lucy Johnson taking an impressive second overall and Mathew Davies riding well for fourth. Alexandra Christian was up there in 13th place all helping TSP take the team prize

Mark Cavendish won the final stage of the Danish Tour. Cav beat Team CSC rider Juan José Haedo (Argentina) in the sprint and also secured the Points competition.
Results here T-Mobile Site here

Tim Kennaugh is now 11 seconds behind Belgian rider Cederic Demenceau after finishing with the main pack in the Kerry Youth Tour. Chris Nicholson is now up to fifth overall after his sterling ride in the time trial earlier in the day. Results here

Tim Kennaugh won the time trial stage, his second win, of the Kerry Youth Tour despite a front wheel puncture on the start line. The NW Talent Team member changed wheels with a Team Scottish Provident rider before blasting around the 2.2 mile course to win by four seconds from Belgian rider Cederic Demenceau. Tim now extends his lead to 23 seconds with two stages remaining. Chris Nicholson, who is also riding for the NW Talent Team showed his greatly improved time trialing skills to finish an impressive fourth. More on this and the Suir Valley 3 Day later. Time Trial results here

Irish Cycling's Emma Walsh has some excellent photos of some of the Manx riders in action here

Tim Kennaugh won the opening road stage of the Kerry Youth Tour on Saturday afternoon. The Manx Sport Aid recipient broke away with a Belgian rider mid way through the stage then dropped the Belgian to take the stage by some? seconds. Tim also leads the Points competition and is third in the Mountain competition. The North West Talent Team that includes Chris Nicholson lead the Team competition. Matthew Davies (TSP) also had an impressive ride to finish second in the U12 category. Stage results here

Peter Kennaugh (Team Isle of Man ) finished fifth in the opening stage of the Suir Valley Three Day. A group of four riders broke clear after five miles and were joined on the climb of the Vee by another 12 riders making 16 in total up front . Included in this selection were five Murphy Gunn riders , pre race favourite Brian Kenneally ( Myhome.ie BDBC ) and local Junior Sam Bennett (Dan Morrissey). There was another selection on the arduous climb by Araglin with Sean Lacey , Derek Burke , John Dempsey and 39 year old Rory Wiley all working well to open a gap of over five minutes on their pursuers . However some incredible riding by the likes of Kenneally and the Isle of Man duo Peter Kennaugh and Warren Flynn along with Sam Bennett reduced this to just 1¡?¡± at the finish . Lacey attacked inside the final Kilometre to take victory and the initial Yellow jersey ahead of his team mates Burke and Dempsey just 3 seconds behind Results (top five) here

There will be a strong Isle of man presence in Ireland this weekend. The Junior development team under the guidance of team manager Mike Doyle, Robert Dooley (mechanic) and Claire Moore (masseur) compete in the Suir Valley 3 Day based around the Waterford / Clonmell area. Peter Kennaugh, Mark Christian, Warren Flynn, Scott Flynn, Collum O'Shea, Tom Black, Robin Garry, Peter O'Shea and Alex Kinvig take part Link

In Kerry Manx Sport Aid recipients Tim Kennaugh and Chris Nicholson represent their Talent team in the Kerry Youth Tour, there is also a strong Team Scottish Provident presence in Killorglin

Jonathan Cregeen won the 2007 Bikestyle Series after finishing second in the final round. More later - Results (overall series) here

T-Mobile's Mark Cavendish took third in the opening stage of the Tour of Denmark. The winner of the 175km stage form Thisted to Aalborg was Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas. Welsh based sweed Magnus Backstead was eighth. More from Cycling News here

Tonight's Manx Telecom 10 is on the Ballamoar course. Signing on will take place at the Cronk

Pinarello RT's Andrew Roche clocked an amazing 52 minutes 56 seconds to win the Ramsey Bakery White & Healthy sponsored 25 Mile time trial championships. The course had two dead turns as well as blustery wind conditions making Rochie's time all the more impressive! Second place went to Greame Hatcher (MVW) 56.07 and Gianni Epifani (MVW) 57.41, Tom Black (MRC) won the Junior prize, Christine Barwell (MVW) the Women's and Adam Johnson (TSP) took the Youth award. Results here

British Talent Team member Tim Kennaugh's good form continued on Saturday with a win and a second in the Bristol Cycling races. He won the third and fourth category senior race after breaking away towards the end of the race then no sooner had he finished he lined up for the National Youth round event where he took an impressive second after he broke clear with series leader Tom Walker (Border City). Chris Nicholson (TSP) also had a good ride to finish fifth. More results and reports later. On Thursday the Pinarello RT Sport Aid recipient finished third in a race at Castle Coombe. Tim is currently training with the Talent Team with Nicholson. Next week they compete in the Kerry Youth Tour then it's straight back to Manchester Velodrome for more training on the boards. Kennaugh then travels down to Newport for more training in preparation for the forthcoming National Youth and Junior Track Championships where he and Chris hope to perform well.

After his success in the Youth Olympics Chris Whorrall (MRC) competes for Great Britain in the Assen Youth Tour. We will have more on this later

The Manx Viking Wheelers are promoting the 3up 25 Mile Time Trial Championships on Thursday, August 9. Signing on will be at the Wildlife Park Car Park from 18:15, with the start at Ballaugh from 19:00. Entries should be sent to Peter O'Shea, Hillside, Strang Road, Union Mills IM4 4NW, with entry fee for each rider as per the IOM Calendar, by Monday, August 6, 2007. Please note only postal entries will be accepted.

Chris Whorrall finished an excellent fifth in the YO road race, the Manx Road Club Sport Aid rider overcame the challenge of a steep hill every lap to remain near the front of the bunch and take second in the group sprint, as three riders had clipped off the front earlier. More from the Olympic site

Glendene's Mark Christian finished alone after breaking clear in the latter stages of the latest round of the Bikestyle Series. Second was Pinarello's Peter Kennaugh with Peter Gage (MRC) in third.

Conditions were very windy, strong headwind down the coast and a tailwind along the Ballamoar Straight leading to the bunch traveling at speeds of 36 miles per hour! These conditions combined with that tortuous Col more commonly know as the Pill Box Road (total ascent 30ft) combined to produce the longest list of retirees this season. Yellow jersey holder Steve Williams abandoned quoting ¡°pins and needles¡±, other notable problems included ¡°sore hamstring¡± (when rider was asked which one he responded ¡°the one that hurts¡±), and at least 3 cases of undefined ¡®bad back¡¯ (sick note) syndrome!

The race itself was pretty hard held over the shorter Jurby South circuit. The strong scratch group got their heads down and immediately began to bring back the longer markers. The long marker groups seemed more intent on attacking each other rather than working together which made the scratch men¡¯s job easier. Mark Christian won the gallop from Peter Kennaugh Jnr and evergreen veteran Peter Gage. Warren Flynn, Colum O¡¯Shea and visiting Junior Craig Eden made up the top six. Good to see 5 out of the top 6 places filled by riders under the age 20. A man getting stronger as the season progresses is Steve Hull in 7th. Steve¡¯s time trialling is improving as well. Results

The 25-mile Time Trial Championships, organised by The Manx Road Club on July 29 has, due to a road closure at the prison been forced to change the course.

Signing on is now at The Wildlife Park from 8am. Starting at 9.01. The course now starts at Ballaugh Bridge and follows the T.T. Course to Sulby Bridge where it turns left and proceeds to St Judes X Roads whereupon it turns left again and proceeds to The Cronk. Turn right and proceed as far as the Killane ¡?¡± finish where there¡¯s a ¡°dead¡± turn. Retrace the course through the Cronk, along the Ballamoar straight and towards Ramsey. At the Ramsey ¡?¡± start there¡¯s another ¡°dead¡± turn. Retrace the route back to the Cronk for the third time. At The Cronk turn left and proceed to the finish.

Great Britains Chris Whorrall had a great ride to finish 11th in the YO Criterium in Belgrade on Wednesday evening. George Atkins secured GB's first gold medal when he broke clear towards the end of the event.

¡°This was the most mental race I have ever done, to be honest. There are just so many good riders from all the different countries. It was just mad at that last corner ¨C it was just so fast and to get in the top three of that was good but these big Germans are just too fast for me. There were about ten crashes I think and you do well just to not crash in the race.¡± Whorrall said afterwards

Mark Cavendish was on record breaking form with a super fast time of 20 minutes 10 seconds at round13 of the Manx Telecom 10 series

Manx Sport Aid recipient Chris Whorrall's problems continued in Belgrade after the Manx Road Club rider had to borrow a bike, shoes and pedals to compete in the time trial, the opening event in the cycling programme of the Youth Olympics. Apparently his bike and kit bags were held up in Paris. Whorrall's problems didn't stop there either, as he was about to start one of his pedal cleats broke then not sure if he was allowed a restart he was given 10 seconds advanced warning for his new start position, not ideal preparation which was reflected in his finish position of 67th. His Great Britain team mates faired better, George Atkins finished an impressive seventh and Daniel McLay was 21st

Chris Whorrall and his two GB team mates should by now be in Belgrade for the bi-annual Youth Olympics. Team GB has had all sorts of problems with their travel. The first event is the time trial this evening (Tuesday) followed by the points race on Wednesday and finishing off with a road race on Thursday evening. British Cycling has more info here

Due to impending road works at the Prison the next three rounds of the Manx Telecom 10 league will be at Ramsey. Also due to complaints received by the organiser at the Ramsey start from local residents, the board will now be situated at the Whitebridge (Ramsey) car park by the Sulby river. Organisers are trying to design a fourth course to compete on

T-Mobile's Mark Cavendish won the Ramsey Bakery sponsored Fred Kelly Memorial Road Race on Sunday. Pinarello's Andrew Roche finished secong with Junior rider Mark Christian (Glendene CC) third. Tim Kennaugh (Pinarello RT) was the leading Youth rider in fifth and Peter Gage (MRC) took the Veteran prize in seventh.

The 'B' event started off at a sedate pace. When the pace did increase, Mark Stewart (MVW) and Island Games rider Caroline O'Neill (MRC) were the first riders to loose contact, the latter rider lost contact after her shoe became detached from her pedal, after that the remaining riders would remain intact until the Tholt-y-Will climb. Once on the climb Chris Nicholson (TSP) took off with Elliot Moore (MVW) Steven Hull (MVW) and young Jonathan Cregeen (MRC) in hot pursuit. Further behind were Russell Collister and Dave Bell (both EV) then the road club trio of James Smetten, a puncture victim at Ballaugh earlier, Natalie Arrowsmith and Peter Kennaugh snr. At the finish Chris Nicholson (TSP) took the win almost two minutes ahead of Elliot Moore (MVW) and Steven Hull in third. Natalie Arrowsmith (MRC) continues to show her potential as leading woman in seventh.

Event organisers would like to thank all marshals and police special constables who made the event a success

As from this Wednesday once again due to the roadwork¡¯s at the Prison the Manx Telecom sponsored ¡?¡± mile T.T. league will be from the Ramsey start, although myself and Alec Coward are working on a 4th course. The board for Wednesday has also been moved from King¡¯s Reach to the car park at the Sulby river.

It is also hoped to run the Colin Nelson Memorial Mountain T.T. on August 19. This will be a 7am start. Watch this space.

Peter Kennaugh finished 19th in the European Junior Time Trial in Bulgaria. The Service Tech Sport Aid recipient finished in the bunch in the 140km road race.

Andrew Beattie held of the likes of Mark Cavendish to win the latest round of the Bikestyle Series. Results on results page

The Fred Kelly Memorial Road Race takes place this Sunday. Assumed as the toughest of Manx classics the race takes in the tough Tholt-y-Will climb. Signing on is from 7.15am for a 9am start at the TT Grandstand

Colin Whiteway is recovering after his spill in last Thursday's Bikestyle. After spending a few days in hospital Colin is now back at home nursing his injuries that included broken ribs, collarbone and pelvis plus a punctured lung!

There was a large Manx contingent at the recent Blackpool Crits. British Cycling has reports, pictures and results here

Manx Road Club riders Jonathan Bellis and Peter Kennaugh were in blistering form winning five medals between them at the European Track Championships in Cottbus in the former East Germany.

Kennaugh's first gold came in the Junior Team Pursuit where the Service Tech Sports Aid recipient plus Adam Blythe,Luke Rowe and Mark McNally powered around the 300 metre concrete open air track to beat the French in the final. Next came the surprise call up to compete in the GB U23 team due to one of their riders becomong ill. Kennaugh lined up with Bellis, Stephen Burke and Ben Swift where they demolished the Russian team

Bellis then took gold in the U23 Scratch Race in stunning style after a perfect lead out by Ben Swift. Kennaugh also took silver in the Junior Scratch Race unable to close a gap on the Dutch winner who escaped with four laps remaining.

Bellis and Kennaugh finished out of the medals in the Points and Madison respectfuly

Several club members have been or are going to watch the Tour de France. Anyone wishing to share their action shots can send them to mrc.com Ged Power and Stephen Cregeen have been out with their camera's, check their photos out here

Signing on for Sunday's handicap road race is now at Ayre United football club house in Andreas. Signing on commences at 8.15am with racing at 9am. Organisers could do with two more marshalls to help run the event. Please contact Ollie on 456146 if you can help
Start sheet here

Mark Cavendish was featured on TV during the Tour de France presentation in Trafalgar Square. Manx flags were evident as Cav received one of the biggest cheers as teams were introduced and interviewed by Hugh Porter. Cav (T-Mobile), Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis), Geraint Thomas (Barloworld), Dave Millar and Charly Wegelius (Liquigas) lead their teams onto the specially constructed stage next to the National Gallery and then received the biggest cheer on the ride up and down Whitehall. Link to British Cycling report here

There was an excellent centre page feature of Mark Cavendish in Friday's Guardian newspaper including a large colour photo taken from the dizzy heights of the London Eye. If you missed it read the article here

The Manx Road Club promote Sunday's 35 mile handicap road race. Due to road works the course has been switched from Braaid to Bride with the start and finish on the Burmah Road. Signing on is from 8.15 am with a 9am start. Event organiser Ollie Last will take entries by email or give Ollie a call on 456146 by Friday tea time

Manx Road Club member Ivan Sharpe soon sets of on a cycling and camping tour of epic proportions. Ivan who is often seen out on his bike or trike and always marshalls in all weather conditions sets off this Sunday by cycling to Newcastle where he picks up a ferry to Norway. From Bergen the bearded warrior heads north via the fiords and coastal islands to Trodhiem. From there he heads east to Sweeden and hopefully Finland.
Ivan intends to head south before the snows arrive and make his way back to the Island

The Manx Road Club promote Sunday's 35 mile handicap road race. Due to road works the course has been switched from Braaid to Bride with the start and finish on the Burmah Road. Signing on is from 8.15 am with a 9am start. Event organiser Ollie Last will be at the 10 on Wednesday night to take entries, otherwise enter by email or give Ollie a call on 456146

Junior riders Scott Flynn, Tom Black, Collum O'Shea and Robin Garry all performed well in the Ras de Cymru in Wales
Results here

It has been announced that Mark Cavendish will ride the Tour de France that starts in London a week on Saturday. . Cav has had plenty of media coverage lately, including a 10 minute slot on the Radio 2 evening show with Chris Evans and Sally 'Traffic'

Tonight's Bikestyle Handicap has been cancelled due to heavy rain. It will be rescheduled later in the Summer

Gianni Epifani (Manx Viking Wheelers) took part in Burton and District Cycling Alliance 100 mile Time Trial on Saturday 23 June near Stoke on Trent. Gianni finished 23rd in a time of 4.01.37, there were 91 finishers. The event was won by Kevin Dawson (Pinarello RT) a team mate of Andrew Roche and Peter Kennaugh in 3.32.18 averaging over 27 mph.

The National Road Championships in Beverly have been cancelled following the exceptional rainfall in the area earlier this week and the pressure put on the Police due to the floodings. More from British Cycling

There is an indepth with T-Mobile sensation Mark Cavendish with Cycling News. More here

Belgian cycling legend Johan Museeuw was quoted on BBC Sport's website as saying "British cycling needs a star to take it to the next level - like Lance Armstrong in America. Cavendish can be that star. He is ready." Museeuw went on to say " "But now British cycling is much stronger and Cavendish is at the front of that. He could be Britain's (Tom) Boonen." High praise indeed! - Read in full here

Elliott Baxter, Tom Black, Chris Whorrall, Peter Gage and Natalie Arrowsmith were crowned as Isle of Man Road Race Champions on Sunday. Results of the John Hamer race are here

29 Riders from a variety of categories rolled away neutralised from Marown School at 9 o’clock and 9.03 respectively to Ballacraine in very inclement weather.

The A Race consisting of 14 cyclists headed towards The Hope and St John’s on the way to Patrick with the B Race starting three minutes later. From Patrick the race went south taking in Glen Maye and Dalby before tackling the climb up onto South Barrule. It was on the sharp climb out from the Ballacallin Hotel that the A race started to show signs of splitting up, with Peter Gage (MRC) and Aaron Livsey (EVCC) taking the initiative. The B group fared somewhat better, staying together until well after The Ballacallin although Steve Hull (MVW) did try and get away on the climb out of Glen Maye. Back at the sharp end Gage and Livsey’s I minute break was beginning to falter as Elliot Baxter was dragging the rest of the group back to the leaders. By the time the group reached Eairy Cushlen Baxter had replaced Gage at the head of the race and by South Barrule the lead was growing due to the pressure that both these mountain bike men were exerting. The rest of the A race was now split into small groups consisting of Colum O’Shea, Warren and Scott Flynn, Peter Gage and Tom Black, Chris Whorrall, Tim Carpenter and Tim Kennaugh, Trevor Kirkwood and Gavin Quayle, and bringing up the rear were Neil Bellhouse and Tony Varley. Meanwhile back in the supporting race and also onto the shoulder road it was somewhat of a surprise to see the juveniles Chris Nicholson and Adam Johnson (both MVW) heading their race with all the other riders strung out in their wake.

The fast (wet) section going past the South Barrule Plantation on the way to the main Foxdale road was negotiated by all the competitors with the exception of Steve (Bubs) Williams who decided to do a bit off road cycle cross and found himself in the plantation. I am pleased to say that Steve was none the worse for his escapade but was unable to continue due to having no brakes left on the bike.

The races were now progressing down the Ballamodha Straight and the Phildraw road with all riders maintaining station. Then came the sharp left handed corner out of Ballasalla and onto the short steep climb of the Black Hill and both Livsey and Baxter extended their lead to 90 seconds on Black, Whorrall, O’Shea, Gage, Kennaugh and the Flynn brothers, with the rest of the A race somewhat struggling at this stage.

At this same stage the B race was still mostly together with the exception of Marty Warren, and the 2 lady competitors Natalie Arrowsmith and Jaqui Fletcher. And so through St Marks X roads past Bridge Nursery and on to the finishing straight at Stuggadhoo, the A race had 5 laps of the Stuggadhoo course to complete, the B race, just the bell and a mere 6 miles to go. After 33 miles and 1hr and 32 minutes of racing the B race honours went to Adam Johnson who out sprinted Chris Nicholson (2nd) and Steve Hull (3rd). The B race also encompassed the Ladies Championship race as there were no Ladies in the A race and Natalie Arrowsmith claimed the title by beating Jaqui Fletcher.

Meanwhile back in the A race both the leaders, with 4 laps to go were steadily increasing their lead over the chasing 7 riders. With 2 laps to go the only other incident in the race took place when Peter Gage had a punctured in his rear tyre and lost time getting a new wheel from neutral service. At the bell the race was up for the chasing group as the leaders had a 5-minute lead, and at the finish it was ex professional Elliott Baxter who became the IOM Road Race Champion by narrowly out sprinting Aaron Livsey. In third place and the Junior Champion was Tom Black, 7 minutes behind. In 4th place Christopher Whorrall became the Juvenile champion a further 2 minutes back and at 12 minutes behind the winner the game and lonely Peter Gage came home to become the Veterans Champion.

Special thanks to the marshals and everyone who helped out and made this Championship Race a great success plus Steve Williams at Elite Cars for supplying the Safety Officers car

The Isle of Man Road Race Championships take place this Sunday over the tough John Hamer course. The 100km course includes the leg sapping Dalby climb followed by laps around the Stugadhoo circuit. The Manx Road Club promotion will also include a 'B' event held over a shorter distance.
Signing on takes place at Marown School from 8.15am with a race start at 9am prompt. Please remember to bring your race numbers

The European Track Championships take place in Cottbus, Germany and the Road championships are in Bulgaria. The team includes Jonathan Bellis who is competing in the under 23 championship and Peter Kennaugh who takes part in the Jinior events. More from British Cycling here

Mark Cavendish has been selected in a 13 man squad for the forthcoming Tour de France. Of the 13 riders there will be a final cut of nine for the Tour depart in London. More from British Cycling here

At the latest CA Meeting it was noted that a number of riders are not wearing cycling helmets when on training rides. The CA strongly recommend that all riders should wear cycling helmets at all times when riding. Wearing a helmet not only sets a good example to our young cyclists but can save your life!

Mark Christian won Wednesday's 10 mile time trial on the Ramsey course. results here

T-Mobile's Mark Cavendish finished an impressive fourth in stage one of the Ster Elektrotoer, in Holland. The stage was won by Belgian rider Wouter Weylandt of the Quickstep-Innergetic team. Cycling News has more

The Isle of Man Road Race Championships take place this Sunday over the tough John Hamer course. The 100km course includes the leg sapping Dalby climb followed by laps around the Stugadhoo circuit. The Manx Road Club promotion will also include a 'B' event held over a shorter distance.
Signing on takes place at Marown School from 8.15am with a race start at 9am prompt

Peter Kennaugh notched up another Junior National Series win on Saturday at Curborough, Staffordshire.The race was the final event of a busy day of racing that included the National Youth Circuit Championships. After about quarter distance a break of five riders formed that included Kennaugh, Andrew Williams (Cwmcarn Paragon RC) and the Liverpool Mercury Trio of Rhys Lloyd, Mark McNally and Richard Meadows. Despite numerous attempts from the bunch, no riders were able to bridge the gap to the leaders who were by now working hard to stay in front. Despite the strength in numbers of the Mercury team in the break, Kennaugh also won all the primes as well as all the points on offer. The Service Tech World Champion still had enough strength to take the win at the checkered flag from McNally and Lloyd. Kennaugh has this year won three rounds of the National Junior Road Series and has finished fourth on two occasions.

There was a large entry of 80 plus riders for the Under 16 category resulting in two 20 minute heats to qualify for the final. In the final Manx Road Club rider Chris Whorrall was disappointed to finish 11th after being in many of the moves during the one hour event held in slippery conditions. Tim Kennaugh (Pinarello RT) finished 23rd and Chris Nicholson was the most unfortunate rider, after riding very strongly during the race only to be hit from behind with less than five laps remaining causing his wheel to come out, he did however remount to finish 32nd

Mark Cavendish competes in the five-day ‘Ster Elektotoer’ race in the Netherlands this week. The race commences with a prologue on Tuesday. More from British Cycling here

Manx Road Club's Natalie Arrowsmith and Caroline O'Neill limbered up for the forthcoming Island Games by taking part in two races in the North of England. On Friday they competed in the Newcastle Leazes Criteriums in wet conditions then on Sunday they took part in the Capernwray Women's Road Race, part of the National Women's Series Natalie finished 29th and Caroline 36th

Results: Newcastle Leazes Criteriums and Beaumont Trophy here
Results: Capernwray Women's Road Race here

There were some excellent times in the White & Healthy, Ramsey Bakery sponsored 15 mile Time Trial on Sunday. Mark Christian (Glendene CC) clocked an impressive 33 minutes 21seconds to win in a new Manx record. There was also a new team record set by the Manx Road Club trio of Tom Black, Trevor Kirkwood and Peter Gage in 1 hour 44 minutes 43 seconds. (both records have to be ratified) Results here

The Colin Nelson Memorial Mountain Time Trial has been cancelled due to policing problems. In it's place will be a 15 Mile Time Trial Starting from Kings Reach the Ramsey '10' Start. Signing on at Ramsey Baths from 08:15

Chris Whorrall will start out as one of the favorites at the National Youth Circuit Championships at Curborough motor circuit this weekend. Tim Kennaugh will also be competing. At the same venue Peter Kennaugh will be take part in the next round of the Peter Buckley series.
More Manx Road Club riders in the shape of Natalie Arrowsmith and Caroline O'Neill compete in the Newcastle Leazes Criteriums on Friday

Shrops Tri

Juan Kinley, Anthony Bell-Scott and Paul Cubbon are yet more MRC members who performed well in the recent Shropshire Triathlon

T-Mobile's Mark Cavendish finished sixth in the final event of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown. More from T-Mobile

Manx Road Club riders Peter and Tim Kennaugh, who race off Island in Pinarello RT colours, competed at Hillingdon, a counting round of the National Elite Circuit Series, Peter, a Service Tech Sport Aid recipient was in a 10 man break that dominated the second half of the race, however they were caught in the final kilometre, only Rob Hayles managed to hold of the chasing pack to take the win. Tim was in a top six position going into the final bend in the Youth event only to get caught up in a crash in the finishing straight and end up on the grass. Tim competed in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th category event immediately after the Youth event where he finished in the middle of the 80 rider bunch. Report and pictures here

Peter Kennaugh finished fourth behind winner Adam Blythe in the latest round of the Junior Road Series at Brentwood on Sunday, Report here. Later the Manx Road Club rider who competes off Island for Pinarello RT competed in the Elite criterium but withdrew near the end. Brother Tim Kennaugh competed in the Junior event before lining up for the Youth race held over the same one kilometer course, Such was the pace, only 11 riders remained unlapped in the Junior event, Tim was withdrawn during the event and but finished 13th in the Youth event

Due to a big influx of new members the current stock of club kit is selling fast, however, don't worry, the club are soon placing a new order. Anyone wishing to purchase the impressive looking new kit please send their requirements here. View the kit here

The rescheduled "King of the Mountains" cycle challenge will take place on Sunday 10th June around a revised 108km course (with an optional short course at 91km). This is a new kind of event for the IOM and is based on similar (and very popular) events in the UK - such as the Fred Whitton (Cumbria) and Etape du Dales (Yorkshire Dales). Electronic tagging devices are used to record visits to 10 checkpoints around a tough but enjoyable course. But this is a challenge with a difference - in that there are two optional cafe stops built into the route - where riders may take time out for refreshments without losing overall time! The start will be from outside the Terminus Tavern on Douglas promenade anytime between 9am and 10am. The finish will be at the Ard Jerkyll cafe near Foxdale. Entries will be taken on the day, but to reserve a place, there are registration forms at both Bike Style and Eurocycles. Entry fee is £10. Full details may be found on www.kotm.manxtimingsolutions.com. Results will be posted on the web and a trophy will be presented to the rider posting the quickest time.

Number 33 on the Manx Road Club Bonus Ball is available. If you fancy your chances at winning £30 every week then click on the Bonus Ball page for more information and application forms. Applications will be on a first come first served basis, so get your form in quick. Remember, if you're not in it...you can't win it!

Russell Downing (HealthNet-Maxxis) was the winner of the Richmond Grand Prix on Sunday. Andy Roche finished 12th in the Premier Calendar event. British Cycling has more

Following the amazing success story of the Manx Road Club over recent months, there has been an upsurge of new members and supporters from on and off Island resulting in demand for the impressive new design kit (pictured above on Chris Whorrall story)

The club that produced champions such as Cavendish, Bellis and Kennaugh now has kit available to both members and non members. Click here for more details

Pinarello RT rider Andy Roche takes part in the Richmond GP, a round of the Premier Calendar, this Sunday. More details from British Cycling
Meanwhile, Peter Kennaugh has been sidelined with a throat infection for this weekends four stage Tour of Sussex. Preview from British Cycling here

Mountain biker Paul Renshaw pulled the wool over the handicappers eyes by winning round two of the Bikestyle series at a wet and windy Jurby. Despite the horrible conditions over 50 riders lined up for the event. Second place went to Rob Cormode and his Manx Road Club team mate, Jonathan Cregeen took third. Results here

Secretary of the Cycling Association, Ian Brand was riding past the 10 start on the Ballamoar straight this morning, during one of his five hour training rides and picked the following up in the hedge:
Ron Hill sleeveless grey jacket with a black mesh back and green stitching and a GT top in blue Lycra.

Brandy can be contacted on 842891 so the owners can arrange collection.

Dave Kneen of Manx Photos Online was out on Killane snapping competitors. Click here to view

There is an hour screening of the Isle of Man Youth Tour on TV commencing tomorrow (Thursday) at the following times:

The second round of the Bikestyle series takes place this Thursday. Please sign on at the Parade Ground, Jurby by 6.40pm to enable a 7pm start. Start sheet (updated) and Marshall rota (updated)

Chris Whorrall had a good day at Crawley on Sunday, the Manx Road Club rider won the Youth race then rode the second and third senior category race to finish a creditable second. More from British Cycling

Adam Blythe won the Tour of Axel after winning the last stage in a bunch sprint, Peter Kennaugh finished fifth in the UCI World Cup event, such was Blythe's dominance, he won the Points jersey (Kennaugh seventh), the Sprint jersey (Kennaugh third), second in the Pave jersey (Kennaugh third, Andrew Fenn ninth) the Combine jersey (Kennaugh fourth), third in the Climber competition (Kennaugh sixth), also Fenn finished fifth in the Young rider competition and on top of that Great Britain won the Team competition. Other British placing were Mark McNally 24th, Andrew Fenn 27th and Jonny McEvoy 40th. Full Results here

Adam Blythe extended his overall lead in the Tour of Axel after Saturdays third stage. After some excellent team work Blythe finished second and the GB team remain on top in the team classification. Such is the dominance of the GB team that Blythe also holds the Points and combine jersey whereas Kennaugh holds the Pave jersey as best rider on the cobbled sections. Sunday's final stage over many tough cobbled climbs that some riders have to get off and walk will prove to be the decisive day of the Tour. Results here

Adam Blythe remains in yellow after the second stage of the Tour of Axel. Peter Kennaugh finished fifth in the 8km Individual Time Trial and Blythe was eighth. Overall Blythe leads the tour and Kennaugh has moved up to fifth, 15 seconds behind his team mate. The GB team, consisting of Blythe, Kennaugh plus Mark McNally, Rhys Lloyd, Andrew Fenn and Jonathan McAvoy, have extended their lead in the team classification, and Blythe and Kennaugh hold onto fourth and fifth respectfully in the Points competition. Results here

Adam Blythe won the opening stage of the Tour of Axel. Blythe won an eleven man sprint after they broke clear from the main peleton by almost one and a half minutes. Team mate Peter Kennaugh came in at the back of the break in 10th place. GB also lead the team classification. On Saturday morning they compete in an eight kilometre individual time trial followed by a 105 km road race on Sunday. Results page here

The ever improving Robin Garry took the sprint of the opening round of the Bikestyle handicap series held in warm but windy conditions at Jurby on Thursday evening. Going into the final lap of the four lap race it became clear that two main groups would emerge on the final run in. Garry took the sprint by a clear bike length from comeback man Steve Williams with Elliott Moore in third. There were other notable rides from Chris Nicholson (fourth) James Smetton and Jonathan Cregeen who were sixth and seventh respectfully. Mark Christian broke clear from the scratch group in the final mile to come in ahead of Peter Gage and Chris Whorrall. Results

Sky TV will run an hour long programme on the recent Youth Tour. There will be 10 screenings in total. Details here

Would all Team IOM members who still have race kit please return it as soon as possible to Gary Hinds at Bikestyle, the 10 on Wednesday or Bikestyle race on Thursday

Local cyclists, Peter Gage, Peter Doyle ( Manx Road Club ), Gianni Epifani ( Manx Viking Wheelers ) and Tony Varley ( MMTB ) took part in a couple of time trial in the North Midland area during the 5th + 6th May.
The first event on Saturday 5th May was a 10 TT organised by Thurcroft CC, on an out and back, fairly fast circuit, Peter Gage finished 8th out of a field of 110 starters in 22mins 08 secs. Gianni Epifani finished 10th in 22mins 16 seconds, Peter Doyle and Tony Varley recorded times of 23mins 50secs + 24mins 35secs respectively, to finish in the top half of the field
The second event was the fourth round of the Rudy Project National TT series, in the veterans event Peter Gage finished a very good sixth in a strong field. Peter covered the hilly 13 mile circuit in a rapid 29mins 54secs averaging well over 25 mph. Peter Doyle and Tony Varley had solid rides again to finish in the top half of the field. Gianni Epifani completed in the senior event which was two and a bit laps of the 13 mile circuit, Gianni finished 12th in a time of 1hour 3mins 40 secs, to average over 25 mph for the 26.5 mile circuit. The event was won by current National 25 mile TT champion Jason MacIntyre in 55mins 38 seconds ( The Edge RT ), a massive three and half minutes clear of the second place rider.

May 13

Andy Roche finished 11th in the Lincoln GP. The classic was won by Rapha Condor's Dean Downing. More from British Cycling

The Bikestyle series marshal rota can be viewed here. Any problems please contact Steve Shimmin 621430

May 10

Not content with finishing third 24 hours earlier, Mark Cavendish won the third stage of the Four Days of Dunkurque from Saint-Amand les Eaux to Caudry a total of 184 km. Gert Steegmans the Belgian Quickstep rider came second. Frenchman David Boucher leads overall and Cav leads the Points Competition. More from T-Mobile Results from Cycling News

Third For Cav

Mark Cavendish took the bunch sprint for third place on stage two of the Four Day's of Dunkerque stage race. More from T-Mobile

iomonline have some excellent footage of the recent CiCle Classic with interviews with Andrew Roche and Mark Cavendish. Check it out here

Entries for the Bikestyle Series will close on May 10 . Entry forms are available from Bikestyle. Please send to Steve Shimmin, 55 Devonshire Road, Douglas IM3 2RA.

Pinarello RT rider Peter Kennaugh who is competing for his native Isle of Man won the opening stage of the Isle of Man Youth Tour. The electronic timing system used by the race organisers proved it's worth as second placed rider Adam Blythe (Trek SIS) finished just two hundredths of a second behind Kennaugh. Toby Meadows (Glendene Biketrax) was third one second behind the leaders.
Jasper Bovenhuis (Team Lorini) won the hotly contested Youth A event. More from IOM online
Stage one results here

Manx Road Club rider Chris Whorrall christened his clubs stylish new kit in the best possible way by lapping the field on the way to winning the North West Youth Championship at a sunny Southport on Saturday. Whorrall's Talent Team mate Chris Nicholson finished a very creditable third in the 45 km event. Less fortunate was Tim Kennaugh, the Road Club rider who competes off Island for Pinarello RT crashed in spectacular fashion taking a corner when in a safe second place, Kennaugh may now miss the Youth Tour due to his injuries.Thomas Mazzone also had an impressive win in the U14's

Britain's own version of the Paris Roubaix was won by Malcolm Elliott (Pinarello RT) his team mate finished 15th after aparently puncturing. More from British Cycling here

If you don't have access to German TV or missed it on Eurosport, you can see Mark Cavendish's great win in the Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen here

There is a feature on the Isle of Man Today website about the forthcoming Youth Tour. The article also features an interview with Race Director Ollie Last. More here

The long awaited Manx Road Club team clothing has arrived. Clothing can be collected from 36 Copse Hill, Douglas, with full payment of course!

There is a handicap road race this coming Thursday (April 26) If you are quick you may enter at Bikestyle

Andrew Roche finished an impressive third in the prestigious Shay Elliott classic in Ireland, furthermore his Pinarello RT team mate Malcolm Elliott won the event. Report and pictures from Irish Cycling

Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) won today's Roy Killey Memorial Road Race over tough Bride circuit. Second place went to Peter Kennaugh (Pinarello RT) after the recent Sports Award winners broke clear on Bride Hill on the penultimate lap of the seven lap event.Warren Flynn led the bunch over the line for third. Chris Nicholson won the B event and Robert Dooley holds onto his overall lead, only just, in the Alexander Forbes sponsored series

Results here, some photo's (sorry for the quality as they were taken with a mobile phone!) here

This Sunday sees the Roy Killey road race take place over the tough Bride course. Rob Dooley will be there in his yellow jersey... and shorts...and shoes...and helmet hoping to defend his lead, he will however have a tough day on the 64 mile circuit that includes the Bride climb no fewer than seven times. All the big hitters will be home with the exception of Andrew Roche who is in Ireland competing in the prestigious Shay Elliott as defending champion and Glenden's Mark Christian will also be off Island at the latest Junior National road race.
Peter Kennaugh (Pinarello RT) will be in with a shout as will Greame Hatcher (MVW). Also hoping for a top six finish will be Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) if he can get rid of Dooley!!

The Youth Tour looks set to be a cracker with such a top class field including World, European, British and Dutch champions. There will also be a national Isle of Man team in the Junior event and the Youith A race. It has been quite a long time since an Isle of Man team has been represented in Youth category
The Youth Tour entry list can be viewed here and the starting order for the Prologue stage on Douglas Promenade can be viewed here

There were some excellent times in the opening round of the Manx Telecom 10 League. Results here

A reminder to all potential Natwest Island Games competitors and team managers, as well as Manx Sports Aid recipients, that the Isle of Man Sports Council are hosting a seminar on Tuesday 24th April in the Promenade Suite of the Villa Marina, starting at 19.00.
Speakers will include Anton de Villiers, Education Co-ordinator for UK Sport’s “Drug Free Sport” programme and Nik Diaper, a Performance Profiler in the Physiology Department of the English Institute of Sport at Loughborough. Anton will be talking, amongst other things, about drugs testing procedures and how to make sure competitors do not inadvertently break the rules, whilst Nik will include advice on acclimatisation and competing in hot weather conditions
With the Games just over two months away, this should be essential listening for all those with aspirations to be competing in Rhodes.

For more information please contact Chris Quine on 688595 or E-mail - chris.quine2@gov.im

April 18

Mark Cavendish won the Belgian classic Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen. It was a brillian win for the T-Mobile rider beating riders such as Robbie McEwan and Eric Zabel.
Three riders broke clear early on to be caught with around 10 km remaining setting up big sprint teams such as Milram, Lotto and Quick-Step.
Into the final dash for the line it was McEwan who went for a long one, some 350 metres out, Cav picked off Zabel and came the long way round to beat McEwan on the line.

Photo:Luc Claessen/www.ctm-images.com

Result
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T-Mobile Team
2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Predictor-Lotto
3 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quickstep-Innergetic
4 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quickstep-Innergetic
5 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
6 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
7 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.com
8 Daniel Musiol (Ger) Team Wiesenhof-Felt
9 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport
10 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld

April 16

The Bikestyle Handicap series entry forms are available from Bikestyle. Steve Shimmin will be distributing forms at the 10 league opener on the Ramsey course.

Ollie Last has details of the Manx Youth Tour marshals situation. Please read the following and please help out if you possibly can:

The times for marshaling are as follows:
Friday 4 May 6.15pm till 9pm (Douglas Prom)
Saturday 5 May 8.15am till 12pm (Peel)
Saturday 5 May 1.15pm till 4.30pm (Marown)
Saturday 5 May 6pm till 9.15pm
Sunday 6 May 8.30am till 4pm
It is really importent we get as many marshals as posible for this event to make it a success. It is appreciated it will be taking up people's weekend, however it is one weekend of the year for a major Road Cycling event.
Please can you try and collate as may helpers as possible and let me know names and contact details. Ollie Last

Andy Roche (Pinarello RT) has a stormer of a ride to finish third in the Archer Grand Prix . Held in very warm and sunny conditions, race winner was Simon Gaywood (PCA/Evans) who finished ahead of Matt Talbot (Rapha Condor) and Rochie after an exciting race in the Chiltern Hills.

British Cycling has more here

Mark Christian (Glendene CC) was fastest overall and fastest Junior in Sunday's Melrose 25 in an impressive time of 57 minutes 25 seconds, Gianni Epifani (MVW) came second with a 58:07 and Peter Gage (MRC) was third in 58:16. Fastest Juvenile was Tim Kennaugh (MRC) who clocked 1:01:08, Catrina Dryden (EV) was leading lady in 1:11:10
Results

Great Britain rider Peter Kennaugh climbed off during Sunday's Paris Roubaix. He was in the top six on entering the first section of cobbles after 40 km however the severs pounding caused his hands to swell to such an extent that he had no choice but to retire. Team mate Adam Blythe had an impressive ride to finish sixth, the only other GB finisher was Mark McNally who finished in the thirties.

The closing date for entries for the Youth Tour has now passed.For the latest list of entries and start sheet for the prologue click here

The time trial was delayed due to one of the German girls riding up the road wrong way and going through the windscreen of a car. The stage was then cut short and also the route was changed so they had to do several dead turns. Cayley Ennett was fourth, Natalie Arrowsmith 13th and Caroline O'Neill 16th.

Friday's 70km road race was difficult as the elite men were put in the same race as the women so the stronger women prevailed but the results are unconfirmed at present.

Saturday's stage was 45km and very hilly, it is believed Cayley was ninth with Natalie 14th and Caroline 16th.

There are road works and traffic lights at the cross roads by the new prison, therefore the venue for round one this Wednesday is Ramsey and not Jurby.

9am start with signing on from 8.15.
Please park at the bottom part of the car park.
If you require a day membership,to save time please download one from http://theleagueinternational.com complete it and bring it with you on sunday. Please bring your licences.
There are road works at West Nappin ( the west end of the Pill Box road junction) and so the course has been slightly amended. The start, Ramsey turn and finish remain the same.There will be a dead turn on the coast road .87 of a mile NE of the Cronk and you will retrace to the Summerhill road (where you would have joined the A3Jurby road) and continue as normal. I will have a map at the signing on.

Manx Road Club girls, Natalie Arrowsmith and Caroline O'Neill, together with Ellan Vannins Cayley Ennett, left the Island today to compete in the Tour of Malta. The tour commences on Thursday with a time trial followed by two days of road racing, finishing on Saturday.Sunday's planned stage had to be cancelled due to ongoing road works
The girls line up in Team Isle of Man colours and are against womens teams from Germany, Siciliy, Holland, Ireland, England and hosts Malta.

Team Isle of Man's Scott Flynn ended the Gorey Three Day in fine style by finishing third on the final stage. Full results can be found here

Mark Christian finished an impressive 12th overall in the Ster van Zuid-Limbourg stage race in Belgium. Mark finished seventh on the final stage. More here

Andy Roche finished an impressive third in the final stage of the Girvan moving him up to ninth overall. Rochies Pinarello Team ended the tough three day stage race as winning team.
Full results here

There was another good result for the Pinarello Team with Peter Kennaugh winning the Waarschoot Open Omloop
in Belgium. The GB teamster and Sport Aid recipient attacked from a breakaway group with 10 km remaining to ride alone to victory.This followsa fine sixth place two days earleir in the Nieuwkerken-Waas road race. Kennaugh remains in Belgium next week to prepare for next Sunday's Paris Roubaix, one of Europes biggest one day classics.

There is a large amount of local cyclists competing off Island over the Easter weekend. Junior riders Peter Kennaugh and Mark Christian are training and racing in Belgium, Andy Roche is competing in the tough Girvan stage race in Scotland plus there is a Manx contingent competing the the Gorey Three Day in Ireland
Kennaugh finished sixth in a 80km Kermesse on Saturday, in another part of Belgium Christian is currently lying in 17th place overall in the Ster van Zuid-Limbourg stage race as part of the Glendene team.
Up in Scotland Roche is currently lying in 26th place after two stages of the Girvan
Pictures and brief results of the Gorey can be found on Irish Cycling here

Manx Road Club stars Chris Whorrall and Tim Kennaugh spend next week with the cream of British Youth riders as they take part with the British Endurance Squad, although mainly track based, they will compete in both track and road races in what will be an intensive week of training

Such is the high profile of cycling on the Isle of Man, with current World, Commonwealth, European and British champions, Isle of Man Newspapers are producing a souvenir publication via their Outlook magazine, on the forthcoming Isle of Man Youth Tour that will go to every household on the Island. It will feature interviews and articles about some of the star riders, pictures of the Isle of Man national Junior and Youth Teams, plus there will be information on all the stages as well as a race programme.

" It's becoming a bit like Belgium over here thanks to the media coverage we get (said Youth Tour Press Officer Peter Kennaugh) Where else would you get full page newspaper headlines and our champions achievements broadcast on the radio news headlines, everyone on the Island knows about our champion cyclists (Cavendish, Kennaugh and Bellis,) two of whom have come through the Isle of Man Youth Tour. We are expecting even larger crowds thanks to the all Island distribution of the race information pack by Isle of Man Newspapers, plus the excellent coverage from our national radio station, Manx Radio. The race will also go out to the world as Greenlight TV are filming the whole event to be screened on Sky Sports in mid May"

Marshals and helpers are required for the IoM Youth Tour which takes place 4-6 May. Over 280 entries have been received for the event which is set to be a real classic. Anyone who can help please contact Ollie Last on 456146 or via email . Anyone who assists on Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th all day will be watered and fed free of charge. This is a great opportunity to get involved with a major event and help support up and coming stars of the future. Stage details and times can be found on www.youthtour.co.uk

Andrew Roche (Pinarello RT) had a great ride to finish fifth in the Tour of the Reservoir. More from British Cycling here

Chris Whorrall (Manx RC) finished fourth in the opening round of the National Youth Series at Hetton near Sunderland on Sunday afternoon. Tim Kennaugh (MRC) made a brave solo bit for victory three laps from the finish but was caught with one lap remaining to finish in the bunch. The Road Club duo were always in the action and were never far from the front of the race. Talent Team member Chris Nicholson also finished in the bunch. No official results as yet.

Peter Kennaugh (Pinarello RT) won Sunday's Tour of the Middle road race. Paul Renshaw took the win in the 'B' event over a shorter distance. Rob Dooley retains his overall lead
Results (updated) here
Photos from Isle of Man Newspapers here

In what proved to be a race of two halves, Jonathan Bellis finished 14th in the World Scratch Race after being in most of the action. The first half of the race hardly saw any action but the second half proved otherwise. Bellis rode well and was involved in many of the moves but Kam Po Wong (Hong Kong) surprised all by breaking clear during a lull with 10 laps remaining. Wong rode to victory after a crash towards the end took took the sting out of the chasing bunch as well as some of the pre race favorites
Result

If you can spare any time over the Easter weekend to help marshal this years Easter Athletic Festival please contact Gianni Epifani on 482942. Saturday afternoons event the Hill Race in Peel, is proving difficult to find adequate marshal cover, any help would be greatly appreciated. Visit www.easterfestival.info for more details about the event.

March 29

Jonathan Bellis (pictured left) finished an impressive eighth in the World Omnium Championships in Majorca today. In the opening event, the 200 metre time trial, Bellis finished a good seventh. In the Scratch Race the Great Britain rider was less fortunate to finish 16th but he made up for this in the Pursuit where he rode superbly to claim third, putting him seventh overall. The Points race saw Bellis take 10th followed by an impressive sixth in the Kilometre.
It was a sucessful opening day for the Brits with two golds and a silver.
British Cycling has full reports here

The UCI World Track Championships are under way in Majorca, Spain. Jonathan Bellis competes in the Omnium event, a new event for the championships consisting of a 200 metre time trial, scratch race, individual pursuit, points race and finishes of with a kilometre time trial, all in one day!
Worlds website here
Up to date results here

The Manx Road Club team kit should be in the UK this week. mrc.com will announce when it arrives on the Island

The Pinarello Racing Team which includes Andrew Roche and Peter Kennaugh on it's roster has launched their website. View it here

Peter Kennaugh (Pinarello RT) finished a good fourth place in the opening round of the Peter Buckley National Series in Wales on Saturday. Top 10 finishers here

Gianni Epifani and Elliot Baxter won Sunday's 2 Up 25 mile time trial. Manx Road Club's Dave Taylor and Tom Black were second with Mike Kelly and Ashley Whipp (MRC) third. Results here

Despite atrocious weather and tough terrain the Isle of Man Team managed to get through the Tour of Montenegro. Results here

The Manx King of the Mountains is an open challenge based around a fixed 112km course, taking in some of the best climbs around the Isle of Man. The course may be completed at any time over a 10 day period (28th April - 7th May) and can even be done several times (half price entry for multiple runs). Proof of visit is achieved by use of a sophisticated electronic tagging system and riders must visit around 10 checkpoints in the correct sequence to qualify. Riders will be issued with a route card and full instructions. Entry includes a free tea at the finish - and riders can also break the route at optional cafe stops around the course. Whilst at the cafe, the clock is stopped - thus allowing the route to be attempted as a relaxed tour.
For details, please check at www.kotm.manxtimingsolutions.com and/or pick up an information leaflet at one of the Douglas bike shops.

MVW 2 Up 25

This Sunday's 2 Up 25 mile time trial is in danger of being cancelled unless more marshals volunteer. If anyone can help please contact Gavin on 673576 or pop in to see him at Bikestyle.

Team Isle of Man start the tough Tour of Montenegro on Wednesday. Follow their progress here

Peter Kennaugh (Pinarello RT) and Mark Christian (Glendene CC) take part in the opening round of the Peter Buckley national Junior series on Saturday. The Martyn Ashfield is run over 107 km on some of the toughest Welsh hills. Kennaugh remains in Wales for The Betty Pharoah Memorial Legstretchers Road Race
Preview from British Cycling here

Tim Kennaugh and Chris Nicholson compete in the Track League at Manchester on Friday evening, on Saturday the compete in the Dolan Criteriums before returning to Manchester for track sessions on Saturday afternoon and Sunday

It will be a busy three weeks as Chris Whorrall will join Kennaugh and Nicholson for the opening round of the National Youth Series at Hetton in Durham. One week later Whorrall and Kennaugh take part in a week long training camp with the National Endurance Squad

The popular Manx Telecom 10 League commences in just under a month's time with round one taking place on the Jurby course on April 18. The marshall rota for the 2007 series can be found here

Jonathan Bellis will ride for Great Britain in the Omnium race at the forthcoming World Track Championships that take place in Majorca from March 29 to April 1. The Omnium, in the World Track Championship programme for the first time, comprises of a 200m TT, Individual Pursuit, Scratch race, Points race, and Kilometre.
British Cycling has an indepth interview with Jonny here

The Isle of Man Youth Tour (May 4 - 6) has been named as one of three qualifying events for the Youth Olympics that take place in Belgrade from July 21 - 28. This is fantastic news for the Youth Tour organisers and come on the back of the recent announcement that the Youth Tour will once again be featured on Sky TV. Two of the Islands up and coming stars, Chris Whorrall and Tim Kennaugh will be aiming for selection for the bi-annual Youth Olympics. Peter Kennaugh, Mark Kelly and Anthony Aspell are all past cycling Youth Olympians.

Mark Cavendish and Adam Hansen were the only T-Mobile riders to finish the final stage after a stomach virus forced their five team mates to abandon the previous morning. The Cav and his Australian team mate finished yesterday’s 183 km stage in the main bunch, despite both crashing at different points on the cobbled Flemish roads. Cav hit the deck in the closing kilometres but was able to regain contact with the bunch, but had lost his chance of getting to the front where he could challenge the sprinters.

Robert Dooley (MVW) won Sunday's Ramsey Bakery sponsored Teare Trophy road race, the opening round of the Alexander Forbes Series. The decisive move in the 57 mile A race came when Dooley, Tim Kennaugh, Chris Whorrall, Peter Gage (all MRC) and Gianni Epifani (MVW) broke clear with three laps remaining. Dooley who never missed a turn in the very windy conditions took the sprint from Gage with Whorrall third, Epifani fourth and Kennaugh fifth. There were numerous breaks during the race, the first action came from Trevor Kirkwood (MRC) and Gavin Quayle (MVW), they gained almost one minute 30 seconds at one point before being caught. With three laps remaining Peter Doyle (MRC) made a brave solo bid that looked likely to succeed as he had two minutes at one point, but this move was also reeled in. During the final lap Kennaugh and Epifani made a bid for glory but this too was brought back. It was promising to see the Youth riders riding so well against Junior and Senior opposition, this bodes well for the future

Dave Bell (EV) won the four up sprint in the 42 mile B race from Chris Nicholson (TSP) with James Smetton (MRC) third and one of the rides of the day, Natalie Arrowsmith (MRC) in fourth. The race split at about mid distance when the leading four broke clear

Peter Kennaugh (Pinarello RT) won Sunday's Ye Olde Abergavenny Handicap. Starting in the scratch group that included the Great Britain ODP team the Isle of Man Bank scolarship reciepient formed a break of four riders. The was a slight up hill finish where Kennaugh attacked with 500 metres to go to take the win
Results

Chris Newton won Sunday's Bike Line Two Day, the opening round of the Premier Calendar series. An Isle of Man team also took part, but no results are available at present
British Cycling has a report and brief results here

David Millar is in the leaders jersey after victory in Sunday's Paris-Nice Prologue. The Saunier Duval-Prodir pro beat former Junior world champion Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas).
Cycling News has the results and report here

The Manx Road Club promote the Ramsey Bakery Teare Trophy on Sunday, the opening round of the Alexander Forbes sponsored Road Race and Future Stars series. Signing on is at the Wildlife Park from 8.15am with racing at 9am. More details soon

Mark Cavendish finished in the main bunch of the opening stage of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. Cycling News has more here

An Isle of Man team compete in this weekends Bike Line 2 Day, the opening round of the Premier Calendar

New Pinarello signings Peter Kennaugh and Andrew Roche traveled to Yellow ltd's headquarters in Staffordshire today for their team launch

Cycling stars Jonny Bellis and Peter Kennaugh helped Isle of Man Bank staff clock up the miles to raise cash for charity. The teenage track racers turned up to encourage Isle of Man Bank employees in a cyclothon at the National Sports Centre's gym recently. Six staff members took part riding exercise bikes with money raised going to the Oskar's Dreams charity. Bellis and Kennaugh were supported by the bank last year through its sports aid scheme.
Read the full story on British Cycling here

March 6

Over 160 entries have been received so far for the Manx Telecom 10 League. Entries are now closed. View entries here

Former World Champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step) won Sunday's 60th edition of the Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne from
Marcel Sieberg (Milram) and Six Day specialist Iljo Keisse (Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen). Mark Cavendish was hopeing to ride before being struck down with a virus. More from Cycling News here

Fletcher Trophy

Andrew Roche was in dominant form to win the Fletcher Trophy Time Trail. Tim Kennaugh comfortably won the Youth event.
Pinarello RT rider Roche stormed around two lap 23 mile course in an amazing time of 58 minutes 07 seconds. Another impressive ride came from Graeme Hatcher (MVW) who clocked 1 hour and 58 seconds. Elliott Baxter (MVW) was third with a time of 1.02 .21 seconds. Fourth was Gianni Epifani with 1.06 .37 seconds. Peter Kennaugh (Pinarello RT) was fifth with 1.07.12 and sixth was Peter Gage (MRC) in 1.07.24.

Natalie Arrowsmith (MRC) and Jacqui Fletcher (EV) were the only women competitors to take part in the horrendous conditions with Natalie coming out on top with a time of 1.18.21 compared to Jacqui's 1.20.00

There was a small entry in the Youth time trial which covered one lap of the senior course. It was a one - two for the Manx Road Club with the ever improving Tim Kennaugh winning in a time of 30.56 with Chris Whorrall clocking 32.31. Chris Nicholson (TSP) made it a clean sweep for Olympic Talent riders to take third spot in 33.43

The Manx Road Club promote the Ramsey Bakery Teare Trophy next Sunday, the opening round of the Alexander Forbes sponsored Road Race and Future Stars series. Signing on is at the Wildlife Park from 8.15am with racing at 9. More details soon

Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas won today's Het Volk from Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Rabobank and
Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep-Innergetic. Report from Cycling News

Peter Kennaugh finished 58th in the Eddie Soens Handicap at Aintree on Saturday. Despite being in some of the earlier moves the Pinarello RT rider missed the vital move. Kennaugh put in a hard last lap swinging off in the last 500 metres to help team mate Malcolm Elliott take the bunch sprint for 9th place. Race winner was Ian Stannard (100% ME) Results

Manx Road Club's Caroline O’Neill flew the Manx flag at the Division One Regional Track League at Manchester Velodrome on Friday night. Competing in a group of 29 men, women and juniors, Caroline acquitted herself exceptionally well in all her five events. The 16 lap scratch race proved to be quite eventful, Caroline looked certain for a top five placing when a crash involving three other riders forced the race to be neutralised. During this period Caroline lost a little ground but nevertheless finished a good eighth.
In the Devil takes the hindmost, Caroline produced a great ride to contest the three way sprint, just being pipped at the post by half a wheel by Bob Duckworth (Bury Clarion). The 1Km scratch race was fiercely contested with a four lap sprint from the gun, Caroline got slightly boxed in but still managed a fine sixth place. The penultimate race, a 16 lap Points Race, went at full speed from the gun with Caroline again in the frame with an excellent fifth place. The last race, the Course de Primes, proved to be Caroline’s best race of the night, taking a flyer on laps seven and eight and picking up valuable points in the process, to finish a fantastic fourth place.

March 2

Sunday sees the opening event of the Isle of Man road season, the testing Fletcher Trophy over the St Johns, Kirk Michael Switchback circuit. Pre race favorites include Andrew Roche, Elliott Baxter and Peter Kennaugh if he get's back from Saturday's Eddie Soens, plus Graeme Hatcher, Aaron Livsey and Warren Flynn can't be ruled out either. Organisers have asked that riders get there as early as possible as some form filling may be required. Also don't forget your TLI licences or you will require a day licence.
Race headquarters is at the Tynwald Mills with signing on at 9.15

Start sheet and race information here
Fletcher Trophy results over the past four years here

The British Teams were on impressive form at the second day of the World Cup at Manchester Velodrome on Saturday evening, none more so than the 100% Me team that includes Jonathan Bellis. They rode a fantastic ride against the Spanish team to win Bronze in an awesome time of 4minutes 5.554 seconds. The Under 23 Academy team members were Bellis, Stephen Burke, Ben Swift and Andy Tennant. Great Britain won the event when they caught the Russians clocking 4 minutes .296seconds.They clocked a fast 3 59.876 in qualifying. More from British Cycling

The entry list for this years Youth Tour boasts a World champion, two European champions, several British champions and British record holders. 2006 Junior Youth Tour winner Pim Lithgard (Holland) finished an impressive sixth in the Scratch Race at the Manchester World Cup. There will be Isle of Man national teams in the Junior and Youth A categories, this will be an ideal opportunity to gain valuable experience in their future cycling careers. Junior and Youth A Boy categories are now full

Eurosport has an amazing three hours of coverage of the Manchester World Cup tonight. Tune in from 6.30pm

Despite the Shoprite Challenge taking place, there will be a fast group ride this Sunday departing the NSC gates at 9am (not 9.15)

The UCI World Cup hits Manchester this weekend, with only a month until the World Championships in Majorca all eyes will be on who is and who isn't performing. British Cycling will have full coverage of the events over the weekend

World, Commonwealth, European and British cycling champions have been nominated for the Sport Council Awards. The winners will be named at the Sports Awards evening at the Villa Marina on Thursday 12th April, where the Guest of Honour will be golfer Ronan Rafferty.

Cycling has half of the nominations for the Sportsman of the year award and they are Commonwealth Champion and T-Mobile professional Mark Cavendish, Peter Kennaugh the World, European and British Junior Champion and European and British Junior Champion Jonathan Bellis
Kennaugh and Bellis are also nominated in the Under 21 Sportsman award
Nominations in the Ambassador category go to Cavendish and the Islands most successful Island Games gold medallist Andrew Roche
Again Cycling fairs well in the Coach category with two nominations, Mike Doyle who coaches some of the Island's up and coming cyclists including the Olympic Talent Team's Mark Christian, Doyle was instrumental in his nephew Jonathon Bellis's progression to the Olympic Development Programme
Also nominated is Peter Kennaugh snr. who also coached Kennaugh jnr. prior to the ODP and now coaches three members of the Olympic Talent Team (Chris Whorrall, Chris Nicholson and Tim Kennaugh) amongst others, Kennaugh snr. also runs the successful Coaching Academy.
Gary Hinds is nominated for the Clubman/Official award, Hinds was in charge of the successful Commonwealth Games cycling team and is instrumental in organising many off Island trips for the senior teams.

Manchester Velodrome will be buzzing with the worlds best track cyclists this weekend. The World Cup commences on Friday and all eyes will be on the GB Team Pursuit team to see if they can dip under four minutes for the four kilometre event. Jon Bellis will be competing for 100% Me team. British Cycling has a preview here

Over 130 entries have been received so far with approximately another 30 remaining. View entries received so far here

Elliott Baxter won the first of two Island Games selection races at a tough course in the Cringle Plantation area on Sunday. Such was Baxter's dominance all interest was on the rest of the field. Aaron Livsey put his cards on the table with an impressive ride to take the second spot with scrap of the day coming from Paul Kneen and young Chris Whorrall, who produced one of the rides of the day to finish fourth. Another top performance came from former World Super Bike champion Neil Hodgson who placed sixth

Click here to view some photographs (apologies for the quality as I snaped them with my phone!)
Results from Manx Timing Solutions here

Please note that all Ellan Vannin CC event entries and RR series individual event entries should be sent to Ian Brand 19 Close Quane, Peel IM5 1PZ, on the standard TLI entry form on the usual timescales ie, entries by Wednesday pm. for Sunday events and Sunday pm for a Thursday events I also attach a blank entry form if you need on. Entry forms can be obtained from Ian by email or from the TLI website

The Manx Cycling Forum has 300 users, did you know you can be permanently logged on by clicking 'for ever' when you log on

T-Mobile sprinter André Greipel did not make the starting line-up in Cendras on Friday. A nasty stomach infection ruled him out for the rest of the Etoile de Bessèges .
The same fate also hit Mark Cavendish. Cav had to give up during the stage after coming down with the same virus symptoms as Greipel.

Mark Cavendish is currently lying in fourth place overall after finishing with the main pack on stage two of the Etoile de Bessèges stage race, a 149 km ride from Nimes to Saint Ambroix. The stage was won by Baden Cooke (Unibet.com) Results here

Olympic Talent Team members Chris Whorrall, Tim Kennaugh and Chris Nicholson take part in a tough road camp in the Middlesbrough area commencing this weekend. The camp starts with track racing at Manchester Velodrome on Friday evening followed by a three hour road ride on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday they ride for four hours with further road rides on Monday and Tuesday

Mark Cavendish got his season of to a fantastic start with a brilliant second place in the opening stage of the Etoile de Bessèges. Cav finished a close second behind Italian Angelo Furlan (Credit Agricole). After 126 km around the French city of Marseille Furlan held off the Cav's challenge in the final sprint.
Another Italian Ruggero Marzoli (Tinkoff) finished in third place.

Thursday’s 149 km second stage takes the peloton from Nimes to Saint Ambroix.
T-Mobile

Don't forget that entries for the Isle of Man Road Race Series close next Sunday, February 11. Please also note that riders have to only compete in five of the seven rounds to qualify

New professional Mark Cavendish rides his first race in T-Mobile colours today. Cav competes in the Grand Prix La Marseillaise, the traditional opener to the French road season. The next day Cav competes in the five-day Etoile de Bessèges.
On the T-Mobile website Cav spoke of his forthcoming debut: “It is really exciting to get my first opportunity to race as a full T-Mobile Team rider this week. I have trained really hard over the winter and can’t wait to begin competition. Roger has been a fantastic mentor to me over the past few months and it is great that we both get to make our debuts in the same event. We are both obviously very keen to impress in France this week ahead of the start of the ProTour in March.”
Director of Racing Allan Peiper said: “Mark is really fast. I was watching him during sprint training on Mallorca, and the way he sprints is very aggressive. Roger can help him adapt and take advantage of that”. T-Mobile Cycling Team here

Youth Tour on Sky TV

Entries for the 2007 Isle of Man Youth & Junior Tour have been flooding in with over 150 received to date.
Organisers have today arranged additional accommodation with title sponsors Sleepwell Hotels for the event in order to keep up with the high demand.
The stage race, which takes place over the May Bank Holiday weekend is set to be the best yet.
The Youth Tour is open to all Youth & Junior competitors and is being filmed once again for Sky Sports.
As usual there will be a high prize fund, leaders & points jerseys, trophies and is a counting round for the British Cycling National Youth Circuit Race Series and National Junior Road Race Series.
For more information on the event, along with details of accommodation & travel special offers, go to www.youthtour.co.uk

Cold but sunny conditions greeted a large turnout for the Manx Road Club social ride. After a 90 minute ride the group ended up at the Mill Cafe, St. Johns for well deserved refreshments and a chat. Further orders were taken for club clothing as the original order sold out due to high demand

The ever popular Manx Telecom sponsored "10" mile time trial league is only 11 weeks away and entry forms are available from the following retail outlets from Monday 5th Feb.
Bikestyle - Douglas.
Eurocycles - Douglas.
Looneys of Ramsey - Ramsey.
Pedal Power - Peel.
Erin News - Port Erin.

The Manx Road Club are holding a social ride to welcome their new and current members on Saturday February 3 departing from the NSC gates at 9.30. The ride will head to a cafe where refreshments will be provided. Club signing on forms will be available on the day

January 29

So far over 150 entries have been received for the Isle of Man Youth Tour (May 4-6) and that's with 11 weeks remaining until entries officially close! Due to the high interest, Youth Tour organisers have been busy sourcing extra accommodation after event sponsors Sleepwell Hotels have booked out all their hotels to competitors and their support staff. There have been several enquiries from continental teams with Holland and Bermuda already signed up and this year the tour will have at least one World Champion, plus two European Champions on the start list. The Tour is a counting round of the National Youth and Junior circuit and road series.

Youth Tour entries have been rolling in thick and fast. Click on the Youth Tour web site to view

Anyone Senior or Junior riders interested in taking part in this years Gorey Three Day that takes place over the Easter weekend (April 7-9) please attend a meeting at the NSC on Thursday February 8 at 6.30pm to discuss travel, accommodation and cost.

Don't forget the Social Night tonight at the Rovers Return from 7.30pm all cyclists welcome

British Cycling Olympic Talent Team members Tim Kennaugh and Chris Nicholson are attending a coach led racing camp this weekend. Chris will compete in Friday evening's Manchester Track League before the duo set off for Newport Velodrome for some intensive training

The 2007 IOM CA Events Calendar has now been produced and a free copy can be obtained at either Bikestyle or Eurocycles. The new format calendar features all road, circuit, mountain bike & BMX events scheduled for the 2007 season.

Mark Cavendish features on the British Cycling website and talkes about the road ahead with T-Mobile. More

The Manx Road Club are holding another of their popular social evening this coming Friday January 26 at the Rovers Return commencing at 7.30pm. The evening is open to members of all cycling clubs age 18 and over. Local road racing entry forms will also be available

The Manx Road Club Bonus Ball will be one year old this Saturday. The club has paid out £1560 in prizes so far.
If you fancy being one of those lucky winners then click here or ask for a form at the Social evening on Friday evening

There has been some confusion regarding insurance cover for the Training Nights at the NSC run by the MVW. It has now been resolved.
To take part in the training evenings cyclists must be a member of a cycling club that is affiliated to British Cycling. Also Tri athletes must be affiliated to the British Triathlon Association

A deposit of £10 will be required for club clothing. Anyone who has ordered clothing but not paid a deposit, or anyone wishing to order clothing can do so at either the Social evening this coming Friday at the Rovers Return or on the social ride on Saturday February 3

The Manx Road Club are also holding a social ride to welcome their new and current members on Saturday February 3 departing from the NSC gates at 9.30. The ride will head to a cafe where refreshments will be provided. Signing on will be available at both social events

T-Mobile's Mark Cavendish made a welcome return to the final round of the Revolution series at Manchester Velodrome on Saturday evening. Cav won the Scratch race and was third in the Madison Kilo partnered with Ed Clancey and took third in the Points race
In the Future Stars series all eyes would be on Mark Christian to see if he could hold on to his slender lead he held going into the final round. Luck would run out however, as Andrew Fenn and Tom Scubala both leapfrogged Christian for Fenn to take the overall series. Chris Whrorrall form continues to improve by taking fourth in the Future Stars Scratch race. Report from British Cycling here

There was strong representation from Manx riders at the latest round of the Manchester Track League. Tim Kennaugh (Manx Road Club) who despite being promoted to the top group showed his continued improvement with wins in the Points Race and the Devil event. Chris Nicholson (TSP) won the Course de primes, Tom Black and Caroline O'Neil both Manx Road Club and Colom O'Shea (Manx Viking Wheelers) all had podium placing's in their respective groups. Adam Johnson, Jack Wolsencroft and Robin Garry also proved they can handle track racing with plucky rides during the night. Results

Friday night track league organiser Peter Lickfold recently offered Manx riders the privilege of entering on the line. To save disappointment due to a full field Peter asked if riders would contact him via email, at least one week in advance to let him know you are coming over.

There is a poll on iomonline asking if the Onchan Commissioners made the correct decision, check it out here

British Cycling is running an updated version of the T-Mobile report. View it here

Mark Christian spent the weekend in Holland competing in the Interland competition, although we have no official results as yet we do know that Christian came a real cropper whilst racing on the boards at about the same time Peter Kennaugh crashed in Bremen, fortunately for Christian he suffered cuts, grazes and a bang on the head but was able to continue unlike his fellow countryman over the border who suffered a broken collar bone

Junior World Champion Peter Kennaugh will be out of action for at least six weeks after crashing out of the Bremen Six on Saturday afternoon. The Isle of Man Bank scholarship recipient was taken to hospital where a broken collar bone was diagnosed

British Cycling has an article about Mark Cavendish's preparations for his first season with T-Mobile...more

Training nights at the NSC commence next Tuesday (weather permitting) from 6.30 to 8 p.m. Cost is £3.00 senior and £2.00 junior and juvenile. Please, strictly only competent riders over 12 years of age. Helmets MUST be worn. Any profits will go to Island Games Ladies Team.

Manx Road Club.com has undergone bit of a revamp. We have kept most of the navigation the same but now will soon offer the facility of reporters being able to submit reports of their own, whatever club they are in. Also Joining the club are are two major players in the cycling trade. Keeping up the club's Italian links are Italy's most respected bicycle manufacturer Pinarello and Rudy Project who are famous for their helmets and eyewear. We will have more on this story soon.

Isle of Man riders figure strongly in the build up to next Saturday's final Revolution event of the Winter. Competing in the Elite events will be Commonwealth Scratch Champion and T- Mobile professional Mark Cavendish and World Junior Scratch Champion Peter Kennaugh who has recently signed for the all new Pinarello Most team. In fact there would have been a stronger Manx presence if Johnny Bellis was taking part, Bellis will be in Los Angelais preparing for the forthcoming World Cup.
Glendene's Mark Christian will hopefully take the Future Stars competition and Chris Whorrall (Manx Road Club - Pinarello - Rudy Project) will be gunning for a top five overall. More on the Revolution web site here

Two more Manx riders have been selected to join British Cycling's Olympic Academy program. Tim Kennaugh (Manx Road Club - Pinarello - Rudy Project) and Chris Nicholson (Team Scottish Provident) will endeavor to follow in the footsteps of Cavendish, Bellis and Kennaugh by being put through the British Cycling regime. The duo have already taken part in Talent camps and have progressed well. Their next camp will commence immediately after the Friday night track league next week at Manchester Velodrome followed one week later by a coach led racing session at Newport Velodrome.

Entries for this years Youth Tour continue to flood in, with over three months until entries close approximately 60 have entered so far...Link

Manx cycling were shocked to learn that their bid was unsuccessful to secure the much needed Onchan track facility. Instead Onchan Raceway will continue to run stock car events in the Nivison Stadium. .

Press release from the Isle of Man Cycling Association dated January 11 2007

Onchan Commissioners have informed us that we have been unsuccessful in our bid to secure the future of Onchan Stadium as a venue for cycling based activities.

We are extremely disappointed with this decision however congratulate the successful applicant; their proposal must have been very strong to convince the Commissioners that the future of the Stadium was best secured as a venue for Stock Car Racing. We are sure there must be many new initiatives contained within their proposal that will invigorate the Stadium complex and prove beneficial to the wider community.

Over the past two years we have worked extremely hard with a number of partners such as the Isle of Man Sports Council, Manx Sport & Recreation and British Cycling. Many hours were spent formulating our proposals which were forward thinking and ambitious.

We believe that Onchan Commissioners have missed out on a once in a lifetime opportunity to revitalise the Onchan Park area as a community health and recreation facility. This could be considered to be a snub to providing health based activities by a local authority. What message does this send to the community at large?

This decision does not send out a very positive message to the young people of Onchan and further a field.

It appears that Onchan Commissioners have shown little faith in or commitment to the youth of the Isle of Man, those already involved in cycle sport, the IOM CA and IOM Sports Council. Furthermore they have neglected the knock on benefits to health in the community that were included in our proposals.

Apart from these benefits the Commissioners have also turned down what would have been a substantial capital investment in their facilities with no requirement to contribute themselves. This capital investment would have been approximately £100,000 in the first year of operation increasing to close to £500,000 within five years.

The Stadium would have been operational on a year round basis attracting a wide range of users who would bring associated trade to the other tenants of the complex as well as securing the use of the football pitch on a permanent basis for Onchan AFC.

Whilst we are severely disappointed by this decision we will not be put off in our quest to secure adequate facilities for cyclists. The Isle of Man continues to produce cyclists who are successful at the very highest levels and continue to attract wide media attention to the Isle of Man for the most positive reasons.

We must emphasis this success has been achieved without the use of a purpose built cycling facility on the Isle of Man whilst most other sports have secured first class venues to operate from. We are being put under severe pressure when riding on the roads and indeed have been forced away from what were traditional road circuits due to the increase in traffic use. Traffic use will no doubt continue to increase; therefore we consider that a dedicated cycling venue is of paramount importance to securing the future of our sport, to ensure that we can continue to produce world class athletes and to extend the joy of cycling to a wider audience.

Under these circumstances we would appeal to Government to give serious consideration to our circumstances and make every effort to assist us in the location of a suitable parcel of land in order that we may continue this project.

It is expected that the club will be affiliated by mid January and membership forms and a news letter will be sent out to members shortly
New members may join here

The new design club clothing has been ordered and is expected to arrive late February /early March. The cost of the kit will be made available shortly

There is a busy time ahead for some of our local stars, Peter Kennaugh will be joined by guest riders Chris Whorrall and Mark Christian at this weekends Coach Led Racing session at Manchester Velodrome. These sessions usually include guest Talent Team riders as well as Olympic Development Program and Under 23 Academy riders. Chris Whorrall and Mark Christian will attend as invited guests
One week later Kennaugh partners ODP team mate Adam Blythe to compete in the Bremen Six. The Junior pairing are in at the deep end as they compete in the UIV competition for riders under 25 years of age
The following week Whorrall and Christian will join Kennaugh at the final round of the Revolution Series, Christian will be out to defend his overall lead in the Future Stars competition and Jonny Bellis competes with the big boys at the LA and Manchester World Cup rounds

2007 should be as, if not more exciting than last year for Manx cycling. We have the possibility of having a cycling track of our own, the exploits of Mark Cavendish competing in his first full year in T- Mobile colours, the Island Games in Rhodes and the ' will they or won't they' of Cavendish, Kennaugh and Bellis being released from their respective team duties to take part in the Games will continue. There will be new faces in new teams also, Andrew Roche and Peter Kennaugh have both signed for a new soon to be announced British team and Mark Christian follows in the wheel tracks of Bellis and Kennaugh by joining the London based Glendene junior team
New kids on the block Tim Kennaugh and Chris Nicholson look set to follow Mark Christian and Chris Whorrall by joining the Olympic Talent Team in the new year and no doubt more talent will follow, especially if the much talked about cycling track appears
The local racing calendar also has a revamp which should result in a more interesting racing format, the first road event of the new season is the Fletcher trophy 25 over the tough Tosaby course on Sunday March 4, followed one week later by the Teare Trophy road race (Sunday March 11)
From a club point of view, the Manx Road Club have signed a new kit deal, the new design as featured last month, retains the club colours and gains two soon to be anounced kit sponsors. The popular website will under go a revamp and include more national as well as local material

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