CYCLISTS from across the West Midlands arrived in Herefordshire on Sunday to compete in the inaugural Emma Louise Young Memorial Road Race.

Based around Weobley the race saw 53 cyclists compete over 10 laps of a seven miles circuit making 73 miles.

Teenager Joshua Sandman, from near Ross-on-Wye, led a host of Herefordshire riders home finishing fourth overall while there was also representation in the race from members of Ely Race Club, Gannet CC and NFTO.

The event was ran at high pace from the outset with the 73 miles covered in under three hours and riders averaging over 25 miles per hour.

Paul Jones, from Bikestrong-KTM, was a deserved winner and formed part of a six-man breakaway which escaped the fast moving bunch inside the opening seven miles.

Noticing that the breakaway was gaining time on the bunch Sandman tried to bridge the gap of over a minute mid-way through the race with two other riders.

As the chasing trio got closer Jones made his bid for glory with around 14 miles remaining and established a winning gap.

Sandman caught the initial breakaway and went in search of the leader but had to settle for fourth place narrowly missing out on a podium place in a sprint finish.

Behind the gruelling nature of the course and hot conditions saw the rest of the field spread over the next 10 minutes.

Milo Girardet was next Herefordshire rider home of host club Ely Race Club in 12th.

Other county riders were: Dean Jones (Ely RC) 32nd, Will Perrin (Gannet CC) 34th, Kyle Dovey (Ely RC) 37th, Matt Morris (Gannet CC) 38th, Corey Snell (Ely RC) 40th, Joe Peatson (Ely RC) 41st, Iain Duggan (Gannet CC) 43rd, Rory Evans (NFTO) 44th, Roger Bradley (Ely RC) 45th.

Darren Morgan organised the event with the help of Carl and Kelly Rose, members of the ELY Race Club and volunteers from the cycling community in Hereford.

He said that they knew the undulating nature of the Herefordshire countryside would make for a hard race and hopes that the event will run again next year.