This Is Guernsey

Matt Osborn takes his turn at the front. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0580465)

A TRADEMARK sprint finish saw Stuart Le Tissier take the win in Thursday’s Delancey criterium. That came after he, Josh Gosselin and Matt Osborn had established an unassailable lead over the chasing pack thanks to an early breakaway.

With the previous week’s criterium at the park ending in a bunch sprint, Gosselin was in no mood for a repeat and he attacked straight off the line before most riders had even clipped into their pedals.

Philip Touzeau, Le Tissier and Osborn went with him and within a few laps the group already had a substantial lead. The pace would soon become too hot for Touzeau and he was shelled out the back never to be seen again as the leading trio worked hard to extend their advantage over the main chasing group including Rob Smart, Leon Ogier, Aaron Bailey, Callum Hill-Smith and several others.

Smart made a valiant attempt off the front of the chasing group to establish contact but the leading riders were upping the pace, the gap was extending and it proved too much.

As the race neared the end, Osborn attempted an attack off the front of the trio and managed to get away for a number of laps and in the process lap the chasing group of Smart, Ogier and Hill-Smith.

Entering the final laps, Osborn was brought back by Gosselin and Le Tissier.

Le Tissier, well known as a criterium specialist, managed to outsprint Gosselin out of the final corner to take the win, with Osborn in third.

Smart led the battle for fourth place, closely followed by Hill-Smith and Ogier.

A further lap down, Nick Mann took seventh followed by Gary Robert, Tim Holmes, Touzeau, Jamie Burtenshaw, Graham Le Maitre, Pete Miller, Paul Brehaut, Phil Setters, John Beck, Tim Luscombe and Andy Wilson.

Earlier there had been an under-16 criterium with Alex Wilson attacking off the start line and quickly establishing a lead over Juliette Setters, who had arrived on the start line late and had forgotten to get changed.

Will Falla suffered some mechanical problems off the line and following the fast start he was unable to recover.

The race continued in an almost time-trial fashion with Wilson taking the win and Setters in second and Falla in third.