British Cycling Skipton Grand Prix
Jon Mould outsprinted Harry Tanfield to win the Skipton Grand Prix as his JLT Condor teammate Matthew Gibson finished the evening top of the HSBC National Circuit Series, the second round of the series saw racing remain in Yorkshire, but this time on a sunny evening instead of last week’s rain-drenched event in Otley.
The race was dominated by JLT Condor as they took four of the top five placings in the race, with just BIKE Channel Canyon’s Harry Tanfield breaking up the party and almost getting himself the win, before finally finishing second.
The pace was frantic at the start with the field lapping the Skipton circuit in around one minute 20 seconds, meaning any attacks were quickly closed down. That was the case for JCT Condor’s Tom Moses who made an early move but was quickly swallowed up.
Following a crash Tanfield went to the front, before Mould took a turn driving the pace as it became clear that JLT Condor were plotting an attack. It was Mould who initially launched the telling move pushing on solo having taken the intermediate sprint prize.
Just as Mould appeared to be slowing he was joined by teammate Moses as the pair formed a formidable duo at the head of the race. Frustrated by a slowing bunch it was Tanfield who took it upon himself to bridge the gap to the race leaders, however he was not aware that Matt Gibson went with him to leave Tanfield outnumbered three to one by the JLT Condor riders.
The quartet worked well together to keep the leaders in front as counter attack break aways from the chasing group were few and far between. As the front four increased their lead to almost a minute in the closing stages of the race it was clear the winner would come from their group.
As the race entered the final straight to the finish line on the High Street it was Harry Tanfield who lead the race, but Jonathan Mould picked him off in the sprint for the line leaving Matthew Gibson to roll home five seconds behind for the final podium spot.
When the odd one out reeled him in he found himself on the front, where he didn’t want to be, and allowed Mould to pick him off in the sprint and leave Gibson to roll home five seconds behind for the final spot on the podium.
The night’s events leave Gibson at the top of the individual standings with 54 points, followed by 2016 series champion Sebastian Mora Vedri (Raleigh GAC) and JLT Condor teammate Graham Briggs tied for second place on 44 points.
| Rank | Name | Team | Points |
| 1 | Matthew Gibson | JLT Condor | 54 |
| 2 | Sebastian Mora Vedri | Raleigh GAC | 44 |
| 3 | Graham Briggs | JLT Condor | 44 |
| 4 | Brenton Jones | JLT Condor | 36 |
| 5 | Ethan Hayter | 100% ME | 34 |
| 6 | Christopher Lawless | Axeon Hagens Berman CT | 30 |
| 7 | Jonathan Mould | JLT Condor | 30 |
| 8 | Harry Tanfield | BIKE Channel Canyon | 28 |
| 9 | Thomas Moses | JLT Condor | 24 |
| 10 | Robert Scott | Team Wiggins | 22 |
The National Circuit Series now moves onto Wales for the Third Round, which will take place this Friday 7th July 2017.
