FOUR junior riders from MDCC were in action at the first circuit race of the season at Odd Down, Bath.

In the Youth A race, Meryn Kitching finished 5th after being part of a chasing group of four that couldn’t catch the breakaway. His effort should earn valuable points for national races later this year.

Junior Ciao Waters rode to an 11th-placed finish in his Cat 4 race, out of a field of 25, whilst Henry Cadwallader and Edward Fraile-Whysall were in the Cat 2/3 race. Henry finished just behind the sprinters’ group and Edward was up in seventh.

MDCC riders also picked up awards at the annual SWCX awards event, held at Exeter City’s St James’ Park.

Podiums awards were presented to: Fredrick Simcock joint 3rd in the U12 Open, James Allen 1st in the U14 Open, Meryn Kitching 3rd in the U16 Open, Lara Dix 1st in the Female Junior, Emily Simcock 3rd in the Female Vet40, James Bovey 1st in the Open Vet50, and Nicky Quant 2nd in the Female Vet50.

Following the podiums, Mid Devon riders performed a clean sweep for a trio of big titles- Youth Mallen Trophy for the most improved youth rider was awarded to Meryn Kitching (pictured), Senior Mallen Trophy for the most improved senior rider was awarded to Lara Dix and the inaugural Chairman ‘Spirit of Cross’ was awarded to Emily Simcock.

Elsewhere, Matt Holmes had a great performance at the Newport Track League during night two of the Omnium series. He demonstrated incredible skill by winning the scratch race with a solo attack three laps before the finish.

The elimination race proved to be a challenging test, but Matt made it look easy, securing another victory. A fourth-place finish in the final event, a points race, combined with these two successes, earned him an overall win in the series.