Keighley's Tom Barras scored his best result yet in a Premier Calendar event when he finished 11th in the Richmond Grand Prix in North Yorkshire.
Barras, 28, had led the race for most of the first lap after a brave solo bid for glory but he was pulled back by the bunch, and, while recovering from his earlier effort the decisive break went away and he missed out on getting free again.
Nevertheless, Barras battled on and finished 11th to claim 25 points towards his Premier Calendar campaign, more than doubling his previous tally from the first six events.
"I was pleased with how I was going, but also I was pleased with how the team rode," said Barras, the Merlin Racing Team rider who spent the last six years riding in Belgium.
"On the first lap I attacked up the main climb alone and was off the front for a while.
"I was hoping to get a group of five or ten guys together to push on from there but nobody came up to me and eventually I got swallowed back up at the top of the climb.
"I spent the next few miles recovering from my earlier effort, but when the next break went I couldn't get in there, and it proved decisive."
This Sunday, Barras returns to North Yorkshire to take part in the Yorkshire Regional Road Race Championships at Fewston and will then continue his National Elite Circuit Series campaign.
The second and third rounds of the competition take place in London the following weekend, with Barras aiming to build on the third place he secured in the opening round at Crawley a fortnight ago.
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