A LARGE turnout of riders took to Colchester's Northern Gateway Sports Park circuit as the Colchester Centurion closed circuit road series drew to a close.

With youth racing in the morning and adult racing in the afternoon, there were some fierce battles going on at the finale of the series, promoted by Colchester Rovers CC and Tofauti Everyone Active.

Riders battled not only for race wins but also for the series honours, as riders (and organisers) braved a brisk, fresh wind.

The under-eight boys race saw a Rovers 1-2-3 with Jacob Wilson, Nilohit Mengel and Archie Pedder-Smith on the podium.

Jacob also took home the series win, while in the under-eight girls it was Mehreen Taimur of Hillingdon Slipstreamers with that honour.

Her brother Mujtaba Taimur won the under-ten boys' race and series - watch out for these two in the years ahead.

The under-ten girls' win went to Elizabeth Whall of the Rovers, despite her missing the final race of the series.

There was some very close racing for the under-12s, with Jack Barden-Beatty taking the win on the day, narrowly missing out to Rovers teammate George Collins for the boys' series.

Isla Widdowson, an excellent young triathlete, took the under-12 girls' series, despite being pipped for the final win by Eloise Ward - another two promising Rovers riders.

The under-14 boys' series win went to Stowmarket's Oskar Everett, after a ding dong battle through the series with 4T+ Cyclopark's Matthew Fletcher.

Rebecca Gardiner of Lee Valley Youth secured the under-14 girls' series, despite being involved in a nasty crash in the final race.

The under-16 girls' race was won by Lucy Allsop of Welwyn Wheelers, while Bobbie O'Brien won the series.

The under-16 boys' race was an intriguing battle which saw North Cheshire Clarion's Raph Tabiner emerge victorious.

Raph joins promoting team Tofauti Everyone Active when he steps up to the junior ranks in 2022.

Benedict Walker secured the series win for Lee Valley Youth after consistently good results over the four races.

The Masters race, for riders over 40, saw a win for John McClelland, though he narrowly missed out on the series to Team LDN's Martin Smith.

The Fiducia Wealth Management men's 3rd/4th category race was ridden at a hard tempo, with the race splitting up into a number of groups on the road.

But it was Calum Moir, the national Under 16 circuit champion, who took the win, his third of the series, meaning he took home the series prizes too.

The Ingleton Wood women's 2nd/3rd/4th category race was another intriguing and cagey affair, with Cambridge University CC's Lucy Havard taking the win in the sprint, ahead of Isabella Johnson and Emilie Wix.

The final series standings though saw a different order for the same riders, with Wix taking it from Johnson and Havard in third.

The final race of the day, in fading light, was the Kent Blaxill men's Elite/1st/2nd category race.

Again the pace was ferocious, with four riders forcing their way free into the day's break, from which the podium would be decided.

It was Tofauti Everyone Active's Nathan Hardy who took the chequered flag, his third podium finish of the series and enough to secure him the overall win, ahead of Andrew Hastings and Brandon Baldacci.

Kent Blaxill's Managing Director Simon Blaxill was on hand to award the prizes both for the race and the series.

Feedback from riders at the races was fantastic and the Rovers and Tofauti are looking forward to bringing back the Colchester Centurion for more racing at Northern Gateway in 2022.