Impressive Carthy wins RIS Junior Tour of Wales

Hugh Carthy (Champion System-Maxgear-Kyklos) won the RIS Junior Tour of Wales on Monday, having led for the majority of the three-day, five-stage event.

Last-year junior Carthy jumped to the top of the standings after he soloed to victory on the first road stage of the race, and went on to finish 34 seconds ahead of Will Stephenson (Primera Sport-Specialized) in second and an impressive 3-23 over Ed Laverack (Wales), who completed the podium.

Stage one

Nantyglo ITT (4.5 miles)

Junior Road Race Series leader Alex Peters (Mosquito Bikes) took the first yellow jersey of the race, winning the opening time trial by a staggering 27 seconds over Germain Burton (Team De Ver Cycles).

Stage two

Bryn Mawr to Llangynidr Mountain (45.1 miles)

Peters' chances of winning the race were curtailed when the bunch took a wrong turn out on the course, and were unable to rejoin the peloton. In his absence, a group of 10 broke clear and reached the three-mile finishing climb of Llangynidr Mountain alone. Carthy made his race-winning move here, and beat Stephenson by 14 seconds to move into yellow. However, just three seconds separated the top-two on GC.

Stage three

Parc Bryn Bach circuit race (18.75 miles)

National Junior Road Race champion Sam Lowe (Hargroves Cycles) took the honours in this aggressive circuit race around the undulating Parc Bryn Bach circuit. Lowe pipped Harry Tanfield (Team Wallis-CHH) and Thomas Armstrong (Team Mountivation Development Academy) for the victory, with the slightly-distanced bunch being led home by Jacob Scott (Planet X) in ninth place.

Stage four

Nantyglo to Hardwicke Public House (57.2 miles)

Lowe made it back-to-back wins on Sunday, as he won Sunday afternoon's road stage to Hardwicke hours after winning the morning's circuit race. Again his victory came at Tanfield's expense, while race-leader Carthy's team-mate Chris Lawless took third.

Stage five

Nantyglo to Tumble Mountain (62 miles)

James Knox (Team Mountivation Development Academy) made light of the terrible conditions to win the race's queen stage on Tumble Mountain. He rode away from a small group on the climb and held on to pip Craig Wallace (Scotland) by two seconds. Carthy finished third to make sure of the victory, and with Stephenson distanced he extended his winning margin.

Results

Overall classification

1. Hugh Carthy (Champion System-Maxgear-Kyklos) in 6-55-38

2. Will Stephenson (Primera Sport-Specialized) at 0-34

3. Ed Laverack (Wales) at 3-23

4. Chris Lawless (Champion System-Maxgear-Kyklos) at 3-39

5. Scott Davies (Wales) at 3-41

6. Sebastian Bayliss (Team South West) at 4-56

7. Jake Womersley (Sportscover Altura RT) at 5-06

8. James Knox (Mountivation Junior Academy) at 5-33

9. Alex Peters (Team De Ver) at 5-46

10. Dan Pearson (Wales) at 5-49

Points classification

1. Sam Lowe (Hargroves Cycles)

King of the Mountains classification

1. Hugh Carthy (Champion System-Maxgear-Kyklos

Team classification

1. Wales