ANDOVER cyclist Mitchell Webber finished 12th in the Perfs Pedal in Portsmouth earlier this month.

The 21-year-old, who was second in the season-opening road race last season, rode aggressively to help pave the way for his new BIKE Channel Canyon team-mate Chris Opie to triumph.

Rory Townsend made a solo bid for victory but was reeled in by runner-up Jacob Vaughan and Jack Billyard, who finished fourth.

Webber’s new team completed a superb debut outing with Rob Partridge finishing fifth and James Lowsley-Williams taking 11th.

BIKE Channel Canyon sports director Tim Elverson said: “We were pretty pleased with the result.

Chris won it and for a lot of people was the obvious pre-race winner.

Rory had a good go but unfortunately got caught at the back end of the race. He was away for a while on his own at the end but Jacob Vaughan and Jack Billyard pulled very hard and rode really well to bring him back.

“And then we had Rob, who very nearly caught the front four at the end, while trying not to tow anyone across the gap. It was a good race.

There is still a lot of work to be done, it’s a new team but we are delighted to start with a win.”