Rory Townsend grabbed fourth spot but it was another Tour Series race to forget for BIKE Channel Canyon in Croydon.
JLT Condor’s Graham Briggs got the better of ONE Pro Cycling’s George Harper and Tobyn Horton, of Madison Genesis, as the trio attacked late in the rain-drenched fifth round.
Townsend led the rest of the bunch over the line, clocking the fastest lap of 1min 47.735sec in the process, while James Lowsley-Williams continued his good form with 10th position.
However, a mixture of bad luck and mechanicals had seen the remainder of Tim Elverson’s troops distanced much earlier in the contest as they were unable to bounce back from Wembley on Tuesday and lost further ground on the series leaders.
Briggs’ JLT team clinched maximum points once again to stretch their advantage at the top of the standings on second-placed Madison.
JLT had hit the front as soon as the flag dropped, determined to dictate their own rhythm and protect the leaders’ jerseys amid slippery conditions in the capital.
The remainder of the peloton were content to let the quartet of Ed Clancy, Brenton Jones, Briggs and Ali Slater get on with it as the rain continued to fall on the Croydon circuit.
Apart from Team Raleigh’s Sebastian Mora scooping the opening Wiggle sprint of the night to extend his lead in the standings, John Herety’s men were in control of the opening half hour of racing.
With the pace gradually cranking up and a string of fastest laps being laid down, Madison Genesis riders slipped off the back of the front group and were soon 10 seconds adrift.
Briggs then pinched the second sprint from under the nose of Mora before the battling Madison outfit, who came into the race one point adrift of
