FOUR McKinlays 1st Chard Wheelers represented the South-West in youth races at the Prudential RideLondon event at the weekend.

The event – ridden around St James Park and finishing in The Mall – featured several senior professional races which attracted the likes of Laura Trott, Bradley Wiggins, Lizzie Armistead and Peter Sagan.

Also scheduled were inter-regional team races for top youth riders.

Chard Wheelers made up half the South-West teams, providing two of the riders in both the boys and girls teams.

The Under-16 boys race was an extremely fast event with a mass bunch sprint finish.

Joe West showed a lot of character as one of the youngest racers, riding as a ‘domestique’ and working tirelessly for the team.

The boys were well-placed to finish high up the honours board team but unfortunately their third scoring rider was held up by a crash.

Ryan White finished safely in the bunch sprint within three seconds of the winner.

The girls meanwhile rode brilliantly as a team.

Wheelers Emily Attfield and Ruby Bond performed very strongly to take good solid placings, while team-mate Lauren Dolan from Barnstaple sprinted to a sixth place finish.

The girls were placed third place overall and earned their moment of glory on the podium along with some substantial prize money.

n Justin Dance of the Wheelers rode the Somerset Road club’s Open 10 mile Time Trial on Saturday over the Under-21 course and recorded an excellent 21mins 54 secs in wet conditions.