St Ives Cycling Club staged the eighth round of the Eastern League last Sunday – and two of their riders claimed podium finishes on home turf.

Ralf Falkner took third place in the Under 14 Boys race at Grafham Water with Cora Wood also bagging bronze in the Under 10 Girls category.

And two other St Ives talents only just missed out on the podium as Cecilia Hime (Women) and Liam Conway (Under 12 Boys) both finished in fourth.

Angus Lawrence (seventh) and Max Falkner (10th) both impressed in the Under 16 Boys race while Nathan Gibson (eighth, Junior Male) and Ralph Bicknell (ninth, Under 10 Boys) also recorded top-10 finishes.

Samuel Smith (11th, Under 12 Boys) was a whisker away from achieving that feat with Andy Fountain (13th, Veteran Male 50+), Ollie Maynard (13th, Under 16 Boys), Jacob Wood (14th, Under 14 Boys), Sean Purser (14th, Senior Male), Cameron Walker (15th, Junior Male) and Nick Hall (16th, Senior Male) also riding with plenty of credit.

Charlie Bratt (23rd, Senior Male), Richard Hall (45th, Senior Male), Mike Hoy (30th, Veteran Male 50+), Mick Curtis (58th, Veteran Male 50+) also represented St Ives along with the quartet of Leo Falkner (25th), Nick Smith (37th), Chris Lawrence (51st) and Gareth Smith (59th) in the Veteran Male 40-49 bracket.

Another St Ives podium finish was earned at the seventh race of the Central League in Leighton Buzzard.

Beatrice Pauley took third place in the Under 16 Girls race while younger brother, Dominic, had to settle for 11th at Under 14 Boys level following a problematic outing which included a crash, a mechanical fault and a flat tyre. Joshua Ibbett was 15th in the Senior Male category.