BEING second on all four stages of Ilkley Cycling Club's Two-Day Race last weekend was enough to give Nick Barnes (Zepnat/GSG) overall victory.

The event for Category Two, Three and Four riders, which was supported by cycle clothing manufacturer Spirit Cycling and local bike shop Chevin Cycles, attracted 26 good quality three-man teams, some of whom came from as far afield as Glasgow, London and the south coast.

Barnes also won the green points jersey, while Bradley's Ed McParland (All Terrain Cycles) was second overall and took the King of the Hills jersey.

Third was stage four winner Kendal Noctor (Feather Cycles Racing), while the first junior was Kieran Savage (www.Zepnat.com RT-GSG Clothing), who was a creditable fifth.

The leading team was Feather Cycles Racing's Noctor, Ricky Feather and James Fairbank.

Added to the schedule this year was a 1.5-mile prologue, which went to Andrew Wooler (PH-MAS Cycling), who edged out Barnes and Savage.

The second stage was held on the famous Penny Pot Lane circuit, and covered five laps of the undulating 11-mile circuit.

With a strong westerly wind, splits in the bunch were inevitable and, combined with green jersey and hill points on offer each lap, the peloton broke up reasonably early on the second lap.

Around 15 riders established a 1min 45sec gap with a lap to go and, up the hard finish of Bland Hill, Michael Harris (HD Revolutions [HDR]) stole away to take the stage by four seconds from Barnes, who held off Peter Barusevicus (All Terrain Cycles) and Richard Jones (Achieve Northside) for third and fourth.

At the end of day one, Barnes had moved into the yellow jersey by one second from Harris and also led the points competition, while McParland had established himself as the hills leader.

Sunday’s racing started with a 5.5-mile team time trial in the morning, Saturday's good weather having given way to a damp and windy start.

However, with the wind behind the riders and a mainly downhill course, fast times were recorded.

The strong Team Chronomaster team of Craig Battersby, Karl Owen and Kristian Zentek recorded 9min 24sec to take the stage by ten seconds from Barnes’s Zepnat.com RT -GSG Clothing team, with Wooler’s PH-MAS Cycling a further four seconds behind.

With growing concern from the British Cycling commissaires and the race organiser, Sunday’s afternoon stage was reduced by a lap due to the increasing winds.

Riders were faced with just under five laps of the tough Darley circuit, which provided technical descents, gruelling crosswind climbs and a fast two-mile flattish section to the finish.

Both the course and conditions took their toll on the riders, with the leading group being whittled down to around 15 by half distance.

With two laps to go, local rider Julian Varley (Prologue Racing Team) put in a solo attack at the back of the circuit and, with some very strong riding, had established a 55-second lead with one eight-mile lap to go.

This made Varley the race leader and, on the final lap, the chasing group fragmented as the leading contenders tried to reel Varley in.

The catch was made with around three miles to go, with Barnes, McParland, Matt Williams (Chevin Cycles.com Trek) and Noctor appearing together on the finishing straight and, with a fast tailwind finish, Noctor took the stage by a few inches from Barnes, with McParland third, Williams fourth and Barusevicus a handful of seconds behind.

Results – Stage one (prologue time trial): 1 Andrew Wooler (PH-MAS Cycling), 2 Nick Barnes (Zepnat.com RT-GSG Clothing), 3 Kieran Savage (Zepnat.com RT-GSG Clothing), 4 David Johnson (Blumilk.com), 5 Ed McParland (All Terrain Cycles), 6 Peter Barusevicus (All Terrain Cycles),

7 Archie Cross (Prologue Racing Team), 8 Jonathan Fowles (Manchester Bicycle Club), 9 Danny Lowthorpe (Langsett Cycles RT), 10 Kendal Noctor (Feather Cycles Racing).

Stage Two: 1 Michael Harris (HD Revolutions [HDR]), 2 N Barnes, 3 Barusevicus, 4 Richard Jones (Achieve Northside), 5 McParland, 6 Noctor, 7 Fowles, 8 Christopher Barnes (Zepnat.com RT-GSG Clothing), 9 Savage, 10 Steven Guymer (Rapha Cycling Club), 11 Ricky Feather (Feather Cycles Racing), 12 Geoff Martin (HD Revolutions (HDR), 13 Karl Owen (Team Chronomaster), 14 Robert Ormrod (Ilkley Cycling Club), 15 Julian Varley (Prologue Racing Team).

Stage Three (team time trial): 1 Craig Battersby, Owen, Kristian Zentek (Team Chronomaster), 2 C Barnes, N Barnes, Savage (Zepnat.com RT-GSG Clothing), 3 3 Alex Fold, Thomas Hebditch, Wooler (PH-MAS Cycling), 4 Mark Emsley, Peter Morris (Team ASL), 5 James Fairbank, Feather, Noctor (Feather Cycles Racing), 6 Barusevicus, Matthew Bulmer, McParland (All Terrain Cycles), 7 Martin Pearson, Antony Richardson, Daniel Watts (Royal Air Force CC), 8 Cross, Dylan Flesher, Varley (Prologue Racing Team), 9 Michael Harris, Timothy Mansfield, Martin (HD Revolutions [HDR]), 10 Christopher Clark, Steven Guymer, Joshua Voulters (Rapha Cycling Club).

Stage Four: 1 Noctor, 2 N Barnes, 3 McParland, 4 Matthew Williams (Chevin Cycles.com Trek), 5 Barusevicus, 6 Martin, 7 Fowles, 8 Savage, 9 Jones, 10 Owen, 11 Thomas Brazier (Chester RC), 12 Mansfield, 13 Feather, 14 Fairbank, 15 Ormrod.

Overall positions: 1 N Barnes, 2 McParland, 3 Noctor, 4 Barusevicus, 5 Savage, 6 Owen, 7 Fowles, 8 Martin, 9 Jones, 10 Feather, 11 Ormrod, 12 Williams, 13 Brazier, 14 Fairbank, 15 Mansfield.