Team Microgaming Isle of Man junior riders Jake Kelly, Nick Corlett and Alex Haddock will race the Junior Tour of the Mendips this weekend (April 14 & 15). The two-day event consists of a fairly flat 104km race followed on Sunday by a hilly 96.5km event on a circuit taking in some of the Mendips’ toughest climbs.

The event is the second round in the British Junior Road Race Series and the Tour of the Mendips will be Corlett’s first road race of the season for Team Microgaming Isle of Man. The trio will be hoping to build on Kelly’s impressive start to the series in March when we finished 13th in the Cadence Junior Road Race in Powys, Wales. His result came despite the fact that he broke a spoke in his front wheel mid-race and was not able to get it replaced as the pace at the head of the race was so high. Kelly is 13th in the overall British Junior Road Race Series standings with 11 points. Tao Geoghegan Hart [Editor’s Note: This is the correct spelling] of CC Hackney leads the series with 60 points.

The other 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 in 2007. Manxmen Steve Joughin and Mike Doyle also won the series before going on to pro careers in the 1980s.

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