The 2017 Jef Schils Memorial Road race (3/09/17) started promptly at 2pm at The Marks Tey Hotel. Once the race was deneutralised, one attack was followed by another with many riders eager to score points for the Hot Spot Sprints of which the first one was won by Jezz McCann. After the 3 initial 11km laps around Birch, the riders moved on to the bigger 20km circuit where on the false flat to Abberton a break of 12 riders established and soon gained a 1 minute lead. On the following lap the breakaway got reduced to 9 riders Matthew Clements, Mark Richards, Tom Fitzpatrick, James Jenkins, Jake Hales, Thomas Power and Dominic Schils but after 90km, when turning onto the clockwise finishing circuits, the gap reduced to 40 seconds to a group of 15 riders, who on the final lap bridged across. Douglas Coleman from Spirit Bikes seized the opportunity and jumped away up the penultimate climb to Layer Breton, taking a 25 second lead. Richardsons- Trek who had a large presence in the lead group, closed the gap in the last kilometre. Marks Tey based Velo Schils Interbike rider Dominic Schils,in the memorial of his Grandfather Jef Schils, launched a final attack over the top of Layer Breton Hill and soloed to victory. Jake Hales from Spirit Bikes won the sprint for 2nd, and James Rix from Hoste TAAP was 3rd. It was a fantastic, emotional day for all involved and great to see so many people outside of the cycling community enjoying the festivities and supporting the race at The Hare and Hounds Pub in Layer Breton where there were refreshments, music and commentary. https://www.facebook.com/richard.davies.792740/media _set?set=a.10154548534117757&type=3&pnref=story https://www.velouk.net/2017/09/03/result-jef-schils- memorial-2/ Result 1 Dominic Schils Velo Schils – Interbike RT 2 Jake Hales Spirit Tifosi Racing Team 3 James Rix Hosté TAAP Storck 4 Oliver Maxwell Richardsons-Trek RT 5 Thomas Power Strada-Sport 6 James Jenkins Richardsons-Trek RT 7 David Hewett TBW Bottecchia Wigmore RT 8 Matthew Clements Catford CC Equipe/Banks 9 Jack Waller Spirit Tifosi Racing Team 10 George Wood Richardsons-Trek RT 11 Joshua Haasz Catford CC Equipe/Banks 12 Samuel Woodfield Peterborough Cycling Club 13 Karl Baillie Giant Store Rutland / Wattbike 14 William Harper One Pro Cycling 15 Hamish Graham Green Jersey RT 16 Cameron Woolsey Spirit Tifosi Racing Team 17 Harry Veale Cycleworks.co.uk 18 Tom Fitzpatrick Private Member 19 Simon Alexander Richardsons-Trek RT 20 Mark Baines Spirit Tifosi Racing Team 21 Mark Richards DAP Cycling Club 22 Douglas Coleman Spirit Tifosi Racing Team 23 Dante Carpenter Hosté TAAP Storck 24 Oliver W Bates Wellingborough Cycles Race Team 25 Toby Parnell Cambridge CC 26 Dougal Toms Pedal Power Cycles Ipswich 27 Matthew Webster Catford CC Equipe/Banks 28 Kieran Brady Richardsons-Trek RT 29 Oliver Barbieri Spirit Tifosi Racing Team 30 Laurence Kirby Catford CC Equipe/Banks