The National Youth Omnium Series event at the Lyme Valley Stadium in Newcastle-under-Lyme in May saw ESV Manchester represented by its largest-ever contingent of riders. 20 boys and girls wore the club’s colours across the three age groups – under 12s, under 14s and under 16s with many getting their first experience of racing at a national level. Those without their own bikes rode bikes provided by ESV after a number of our coaches spent the weekend putting them together so everyone who wanted to could race.

The event was run by the Newcastle Track Cycling Track Association. They are based in Newcastle-Under-Lyme and host many events at their outdoor velodrome including the Youth Omnium Series. There is a great write-up of the event from the organisers on the official British Cycling event website however ours will be even better as it’s unashamedly biased towards our ESV riders.

The event covered Youth A Open and Girls and Youth B, Open and Girls plus Youth C Under 12’s (who are not part of the omnium series but can still have a fun days racing!). There was a huge number of entries, 6 in the C Girls, 12 in the C boys (5 ESV), 17 in Female B (2 ESV), 28 in B Open (11 ESV), 12 in A Female and 36 in A Open (3 ESV).

The day started at 8:15am with sign-on and bike / gear check (more information). Everyone got the chance to do an on-track warmup then the racing started at 10am. The schedule was Time Trial, Scratch Race, Elimination, Sprint and Points race. After a hard days racing ESV definitely made an impact on the scoring, our results are as follows..

Youth C Boys

Harrison Phillips led the ESV pack with 146 points, finishing 6th overall. Daniel Zuzanik and Miles Gilmore weren’t far behind, finishing 7th and 8th respectively. Aaron Dumbill completed a solid effort in 9th with 116 points.

Youth B Girls

Isla Bestwick finished 15th overall doing best in the sprint whilst Philippa Irving participated in fewer events but gained valuable race-day experience that will be of great help as she progresses.

Youth B Open

Dexter Murphy had a cracking day finishing 2nd with 166 points taking him to 3rd overall in the Youth B Omnium Standings and guaranteeing his place in July’s finals at London 2012 Olympic Velodrome. Rory Wyeth finished 10th with a solid performances in the scratch and sprint races. Eamonn Postlethwaite, Isaac Matley, and others placed from 12th downward, often scoring in the sprints and time trials.

Youth A Open

In the Finalists group, ESV did not have any top 24 scorers, but in the Runners-Up race, several ESV riders took part and gained important race time. Rocco Wilde, Oliver Holt, and Jacob Holsgrove all scored in the sprint — finishing 2nd, 4th, and 8th respectively in the runners-up category with Rocco led the ESV trio with 17 points.

The next round is on Sunday 8th June with lots of ESV’ers signed up already.