WESSEX League champion, Stuart Bowers (Hargroves Cycles RT) made it two out of two when he won his second cycle-cross race of the new season at Basingstoke.

This victory was made sweeter by the presence of South of England champion, Jody Crawforth (Team Y2K) who beat him for the regional title last December only after Bowers lost time with a puncture.

Crawforth's reluctance to come through after he and Bowers asserted their authority in this North Hampshire RC promotion was the only problem which troubled the Wessex

champion on this occasion.

"He sat on my wheel for the last four laps and I thought he would come by at the finish but he couldn't manage it," said a happy Bowers afterwards.

Teammate, Ben Saunders, finished strongly in third place, though this success was countered by a heavy fall which put the squad's leader, Peter Hargroves, out of the race with a

shoulder injury.

Heavy rain throughout the race made the course in the Crabtree Plantation extremely slippery on top, but while most of the 40 competitors struggled in these conditions the

league's veteran champion, Andrew MacDonald (GA Cycles) revelled in them, and left round 1 winner, Paul Lloyd (Tricky Dicky RT) behind by the finish.

Wessex Association's hopes of stepping in to take the place of Salisbury RC as promoters for the fifth meeting on October 20 have been dashed by a lack of officials available on the day.

The date coincides with the second round in the National Trophy series taking place at Cheltenham - a venue near enough for both potential organisers and leading riders, and that has led regional secretary, Ian MacDonald of Totton, to cancel this Sunday's meeting.

Danny Lloyd's late call-up for the World road championships in Belgium last week ended in disappointment when the Bransgore international crashed out of contention within an

hour of starting the 170 kilometre race for espoirs on Friday afternoon.

"A Croatian rider came down in front of me and I hit the barriers in trying to avoid him," said Lloyd on his return home.

He left Belgium without several teeth knocked out by this impact, but has an invitation to return to St. Etienne, his base in France where he spent most of this season racing for a

French club from which riders are chosen for the AG2R professional squad.

RACE RESULTS:

Wessex Cycle-Cross League, Basingstoke: 1 S Bowers (Hargroves Cycles RT) eight laps in 52m.50s. 2 J Crawforth (Team Y2K) 3 B Saunders (Hargroves Cycles RT) 4 S Willetts (Evans Cycles) 5 A MacDonald (GA Cycles) 6 P Lloyd (Tricky Dicky RT).

Women's winner: L Gould (Hargroves Cycles RT)

Youths Race: 1 P Gough (Portswood Cycles) 2, S O'Neill (unattached) 3, D Sinclair (Owens Cycles).

Under 12s: 1 J Dibben (New Forest CC) 2 P Dibben (New Forest CC) 3 L Allen (Farnborough & Camberley CC)

Bognor Regis CC Goodwood Classic TT: 1 S Berogna (VC St Raphael) 28 miles in 1-13-55; 2 M Sinnott (Epsom CC) 1-14-49; 3 S Emmerson (Epsom CC) 1-14-57; 4 S Dennis (East Grinstead CC) 1-15-17; 5 M Jones (GS Stella) 1-15-19; 6 M Cox (VC St Raphael) 1-15-42; 13 I Banks (Southampton TC) 1-22-7; T Warner (Fareham Wheelers) 1-27-25; P Knipe (Fareham Wheelers) 1-30-33; M Corbett (Sotonia CC) 1-37-21; N Harvey (Sotonia CC) 1-40-43.

Mid-week Fixture

Thursday: Mid-Hampshire CF meet for lunch, 12.15 p.m. Springvale, nr Winchester.