Downing wins the cottages4you sponsored “2009 Tour of Pendle”

The 2009 Tour of Pendle, sponsored by cottages4you, took place on Sunday August 9th, starting and finishing in Nelson (Lancs).

The race was won with a lead of 40 seconds by Russell Downing.  Second place went to Chris Newton and third to Rob Partridge.  The bike race follows an undulating course through the hills and dips of Pendle and surrounding towns and villages. A key stage being the long, long climb of Blacko.  It was on the climbs that Downing believes he turned the race.

“I was confident to leave it to a sprint but you never know, anything could happen, so I wanted to hit them hard on that climb because I knew I was climbing well,” commented Downing.

“It’s quite a steep little climb with a few twists in it. It drags over the top and that’s where I got the distance. Partridge attacked first and softened it up brilliantly for me. Chris looked back and probably knew I was going to go but couldn’t do anything so I went and rode really hard.”

Nick Rudge, said of the event, “It was a privilege for cottages4you to sponsor this ‘premier league’ cycling event, and to welcome some of the country’s top riders on to our home turf. The local support on the day was fantastic….the glorious weather certainly helped.”

“Russ Downing, the winner, himself from just over the border in Yorkshire, was delighted to have won, and said it was a great run-up to the forthcoming Tour of Ireland where he will be competing against Lance Armstrong and Mark Cavendish, amongst others.”