Round one: seconds out for Whitehead

Second-cat rider kicks off National Road Series in dream style

- James Shrubsall

Josh Whitehead, a second-cat until last weekend, will be the surprised man to beat when the domestic peloton tackles round two of the National Road Series on Sunday – the Ryedale Grasscrete Grand Prix.

Riding his first-ever National A event, the 21-year-old Team PB Performance rider pulled on the leader’s jersey after winning the Road Series opener at the weekend, the Lancaster Grand Prix. He out-sprinted Canyon-dhb -Sungod’s Jacob Scott for the win in front of the iconic Ashton Memorial in Williamson Park overlooking Lancaster city center. The result saw Whitehead instantly promoted to cat-one and means that he will be drastically recalibrating his season goals.

“I’ll probably have a few people watching me now. But we’ll see how it goes – I’m definitely going to be there next week,” he said, referencing the Ryedale event.