Gibson and King win as Circuit Series returns

Top-tier crit racing proves a spectacle worth waiting for as town-center drama resumes at the Otley GP

- Vern Pitt

A week competing against Tadej Pogacar seemed to have done Matt Gibson (Ribble-Weldtite) no harm as he sprinted to victory in the Property Development Men’s Otley GP on Wednesday.

The Cheshire rider had recently returned from the Tour of Slovenia, won by Tour champ Pogacar, where he rode in support of team-mate James Shaw, who finished fifth.

Eluned King (Team Breeze), riding her first full season as a senior, won the Spatz Women’s Otley GP, the evening marking a long-awaited return to the National Circuit Series after last season’s absence.

“It was a case of hanging on till the end for fast finisher Gibson”

Twenty-four-year-old Cheshire rider Gibson, easily recognisable by his flowing blond tresses and beard, won his race after outsprinting his breakaway partners Rob Scott (Canyon-dhb-Sungod) and junior Joshua Tarling (FlandersColor-Galloo) – second and third respectively– at the end of 23 two-kilometre laps of the town centre.