HARGROVES Cycles Racing Team provided the winner of this year's Bill Higson Memorial race as expected, but the rider was not the one tipped for victory.

Wessex cycle-cross champion Stuart Bowers cruised to a comfortable win with more than two minutes to spare last year, but he chose to handicap himself this time by setting out one minute after everyone else was flagged away in this league meeting on Wakefield Common.

Reading CC race organiser Dave Gaida predicted beforehand that racing would be very fast, saying "The last time the course was as good as this was in 1976."

Few of Sunday's competitors remembered that was the year of a very hot summer, and officials under-estimated the speed of this year's event by reckoning nine laps would take the leaders about an hour to complete, but they were quicker than anticipated, with their pace influenced by the presence of mountain biker Ron Ayres (Red Kite Cycles).

Showing little respect for regular league riders, he raced into an early lead with Bowers' teammate Tim Dunford, but after these two drew away from the rest of the field Ayres began to pay for his early efforts after 20 minutes, leaving Dunford on his own another 30 seconds ahead of Bowers, who was having some difficulty in overtaking several back-markers.

Bowers was certainly the fastest man on the course during the second half of the race and might well have won if it had been ten laps instead of nine, but Dunford took little more than 51 minutes to complete the distance and crossed the finishing line 23 seconds clear of Paul Lloyd (Didcot Phoenix) who beat Adrian Lansley (Pedal On) for second place.

Bowers hurtled past Ayres on the last lap to finish fourth, having passed Portswood Cycles RT's Gough brothers, Philip and Andrew.

RESULTS:

1 T Dunford (Hargroves Cycles RT) nine laps in 51 minutes and three seconds, 2 P Lloyd (Didcot Phoenix) at 23 seconds down, 3 A Lansley (Pedal On) @ 30s, 4, S Bowers (HCRT) @ 37s, 5 R Ayres (Rod Kite Cycles) @ 51s.

Youths: 1 G Dickinson (Team Luciano) five laps in 26 minutes and 38 seconds, 2 J Molineaux (Palmer Park Velo) at three minutes and 22 seconds down, 3 T Yateman (Oxonian CC) @ 4m:21s, 4 J Harris (DP) @ 4m:48s, 5 T Butt (Chapel Tri) @ same time.

Under-12s: 1 L Gray (Dorset Rough Riders), 2 T Robbins (DP), 3 A Hargroves (HCRT), 4 J Dibben (NFCC), 5 A Harris (DPP).