Team Microgaming Isle of Man rider Jake Kelly finished 13th in Sunday, 25th March's Cadence junior road race in Powys, Wales. Four riders went away immediately after the start and several small breakaways chased. The small breaks came back together as they were joined by the favourites from the bunch. Shortly after, with two of the seven laps remaining, Kelly and another rider joined the group of 20 at the head of the race.

Three riders, including last year's winner John Dibben, broke away from this small group and these three also split on the last lap with Tao Geoghegan-Hart taking the win from Dibben. The rest of the small group fought it out on the last climb to the hill top finish where Jake took a well-deserved 13th place. His result was very good in view of the fact he had a broken spoke in his front wheel for the last four laps. He decided not the get it replaced as the race pace was so high.

Alex Haddock came home off the back of the main bunch after assisting Jake in the first part of the race, then aggravating an injury later on. The next race in the British Junior Road Race series is the Junior Tour of the Mendips, Bristol, on April 15. The other seven events in the 2012 British junior road race series are:

May 4-6: Sleepwell Hotels Isle of Man International Youth Tour.
June 17: Tom Simpson Memorial Junior RR, Doncaster.
June 23: CC Giro Junior Criteriums, Lichfield.
July 8: Hatherleigh Junior RR, Exeter.
July 22: Bath RC Junior RR, Milton Keynes.
August 25-27: Junior Tour of Wales.

The eight race series is still popularly known as the ‘Pete Buckley series’ as for many years it was named in memory of the Manx rider who won the Commonwealth Games gold in Jamaica in 1966. Over the years the junior series has been a proving ground for many Manx and British pro riders. The last Manxman to win the series was Team Sky professional Peter Kennaugh. Manxmen Steve Joughin and Mike Doyle also won the series before going on to pro careers in the 1980s.

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