Halesowen cyclists set the title pace
Halesowen Cycling Club's memorable season continued as a return to the two-day stage race resulted in more success.
The Manor Way club enjoyed positive results in the day one prologue and criterium events,
There was more podium joy courtesy of day two's road race. The West Midlands Regional Series event was held at Stourport's Sports Village.
It was hosted by near-neighbours Stourbridge Cycling Club, with Halesowen battling hard for top spot alongside Rhino Velo Race Team.
The invaluable points gained were to prove significant in the overall standings.
A number of impressive performances were enough for Charles Walker – the club's stand-out rider this campaign – to pick up his first category licence from British Cycling.
Oliver Dighton reached the points required for his second category licence. The prologue is a short time trial designed to split the field.
It saw Walker and Jack Stanton-Warren begin strongly and the former crossed the line in a winning time of three minutes and 47 seconds.
The faster riders entered the first criterium, and aggressive riding across five laps in gruelling sunshine from Stanton-Warren allowed club-mate Walker to bridge across and form a group of five riders.
Walker, who also leads the South Staffordshire and Shropshire Cycling Clubs Road Racing League individual standings, displayed his sprinting prowess to power home in first.
He came ahead of former Halesowen rider and now pro star, Callum Ferguson, with Stanton-Warren in fourth.
Dighton impressed further back in the field, as he enjoyed a strong finish in the bunch sprint.
The second criterium struggled to match up, mainly due to worsening weather conditions, with Halesowen academy riders Patrick Fotheringham and Forrest Lambert-Humphries sliding off in the wet.
But a strong final corner from Joe Hobbs set him up for a powerful finish, pulling away from the pack to claim second, some distance behind the breakaway leader.
The road race, held on day two at the Astley circuit, consisted of five laps of rolling roads action and a total distance of 70 miles.
Walker and Dighton worked hard midway through the event to close in on the early breakaway group before Stanton-Warren, Ferguson and a handful of rivals caught the leading bunch.
Ferguson's power proved just too much for Stanton-Warren who claimed second - with the total points revealing the pair had landed the one-two positions overall.
The West Midlands Regional Series is proving one of the most thrilling campaigns in recent memory with Halesowen sitting top, just one point clear of rivals Rhino Velo.
Halesowen's academy stars are currently competing at Cardiff Metropolitan University in the well-regarded Ras de Cymru.
