Peter Murdoch wins Dundee Thistle stage race
Peter Murdoch (East Kilbride RC) took the final stage of the Dundee Thistle race and with it the overall win.

Overnight leader John Kermode (Dundee Thistle) punctured, getting back to the main peloton but not making the break.

Showing the strength of riders coming through, three juniors finished in the top six.

Scott McCrossan (Pedal Power) finished just ahead of local riders Andrew Leith from Dundee and Matthew Hamilton from Perth.

Prologue (time trial hill climb to the top of The Law)
A brutal wake up call. Winner Kristoff Aksnes with a very fast 4.04
Eary leader was last years winner and first man off Robin Wilkins, who had clearly had his weetabix and set a blistering time of 4.09 that was not to be bettered for the best part of an hour. In fact, only the second man (John Kermode) with a time of 4.19 looked even close for a while.

Then the Glasgow Couriers arrived, rapidly taking top placings with times of 4.12 or 4.13.

It was late on, the sun had come out and the other Glasgow riders were not to be outdone. Kristoff Aksnes stormed the hill, taking 4 seconds of Wilkins time and the yellow jersey of race leader.

The afternoon stage was subject to a slightly longer neutralised section because of roadworks but this didn't dampen the riders spirits. A break went away fairly early on and rapidly opened up a small lead. The second time through Ardler village the peloton was spread out in single file, riders desperately trying to hang on, as Stirling lead the chase. Having pegged the break at about 25 seconds it was only a matter of time before it all came back together - 15 seconds on lap 3, all together on lap 4 with a desperate attempt by Kevin Barclay to get away.

And so it all came down to a bunch finish. It was on the last lap that Rich Semple (East Kilbride) took a tumble and had to abandon with a suspected broken collar bone.

Local knowledge paid off as John Kermode started his sprint for the line with 100m to go and the finish line out of sight. He lead round the final corner and convincingly took the win with Kevin Barclay holding off Owen Jeffries in the scrap for the minor places.

With the time bonus from the stage win, John goes into the final stage in Yellow, with just a six second time buffer over Kristoff Aksnes. Andrew Leith (Dooleys) holds top Junior by 5secs, making it a Dundee full house in their home race. It should be an exciting day tomorrow.

Stage 1 — 1 John Kermode (Dundee Thistle) 1:46:17, 2 Kevin Barclay (Leslie Bike Shop), 3 Owen Jeffries (Velo Ecosse), 4 Craig Adams (Falkirk BC), 5 Euan Pope (Glasgow Couriers) all same time.

Sundays stage was delayed due to heavy rain which thankfully eased as the riders headed out to Tully.

A lot of water remained on the roads and that made a tough course only harder and after two laps six riders had already packed. From the start a small group of five riders took off with the main bunch in pursuit followed by a series of small groups gradually being distanced by up to five minutes.
At the finish, just after the final climb three riders had broken away to win by several bike lengths.

Stage 2 — 1 Peter Murdoch (East Kilbride RC) 2:03:04, 2 Euan Pope (Glasgow Couriers) 2s behind, 3 Ali Robinson (Leslie Bike Shop) same time, 4 Scott McCrossan (Pedal Power) 30s, 5 Matthew Hamilton (Leslie Bike Shop) 31s, 6 Andrew Leith (Dooleys RT) 42s.

Final overall — 1 Peter Murdoch (East Kilbride RC) 3:53:21, 2 Euan Pope (Glasgow Couriers) 4s behind, 3 Ali Robinson (Leslie Bike Shop) 20s, 4 Scott McCrossan (Pedal Power RT) first junior 58s, 5 Andrew Leith Jun (Dooleys RT) 1:05, 6 Mathew Hamilton Jun (Leslie Bike Shop) 1:06, 7 Craig Adams (Falkirk BC) 2:02, 8 Gary McCrae (Leslie Bike Shop) 2:15, 9 Liam Cowie (Granite City RT) 2:20, 10 Barry Crumlish (Glasgow Couriers) same time.

Many thanks to the riders, organisers and marshalls and helpers who made a great weekend of racing possible.

You can see pictures of the weekend at David's Flickr site
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidmam/sets/72157624161507424/