CHRIS OPIE was celebrating his third win of the season as he triumphed in Sunday’s Stockton Grand Prix, which formed the fifth round of the British Cycling Elite Road Race Series.
Opie, who had previously triumphed at the Les Ingman Memorial and Harrogate Big Bike Bash, crossed the line first after a thrilling bunch sprint finish.
The One Pro Cycling rider finished narrowly ahead of Jonathan McEvoy and Sam Lowe, who claimed the other podium spots.
Opie’s victory came at the end of 110 miles of racing, with competitors tackling ten laps of a large circuit before completing six laps of a smaller finishing loop.
Opie celebrates after leaving the rest of the field in his wake. Pic: Matt Westcott
It looked like a two-rider breakaway featuring George Atkins and Ian Bibby was going to succeed, but the pair were picked up by the peloton with one small lap remaining, setting up a sprint finish that was successfully marshalled by the One Pro team.
“One Pro Cycling were fantastic today,” said Opie. “Every rider did exactly what we talked about in the briefing.
“The race went to plan for us. We intended to lead the race out in the last 3km, but at one point there were about five of us and a group of 11 with 90km to go. We eased up then and George went away with Ian, and we could let the other teams take it up a bit. It really played into our hands.”
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