SEVERAL young Olympique riders proved their ability when they competed for the West Midlands in the highly rated Tour of Kerry in the Republic of Ireland.

Nearly 200 riders took part, including strong teams from Belgium and Denmark as well as the national teams from Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

In the under-14s Ross Dingley and Peter Banham were rarely out of the leading group over the three road race stages.

Ross eventually finished the tour in 14th and the next best West Midlands rider Peter was 21st.

With slightly better results in the time trial stage, both riders could easily have achieved top ten places.

The under-16s saw 83 riders set out round a scenic course, with Alex Billington always present at the front of the race.

He missed a vital breakaway group of riders from Ireland and Belgium which left him chasing hard for miles.

The second and third days saw him improve dramatically. In the final stage uphill sprint finish in Killorglin town centre, he took an excellent third place, moving him up to 16th overall.

Their efforts ensured the team gained a better place than either of the two GB squads.

In the same race, Francine Billington had great difficulty maintaining the high speed of the predominantly male field. But she rode extremely well over the 90 miles to take first ladies' prize in all the events, making her one of the highest prize winners in the event.

Will Goulbourne again won his event at the Catton Park MTB race against stiff competition, this should leave him in a strong position for the penultimate Midlands Super Series race on Sunday.

The final Club 10 on Thursday was meant to be a two-up race where the competitors ride in pairs. Unfortunately only three pairs turned up and one of them got split up after only a couple of miles.

The winner was Broms-grove rider Paul Prince riding for Wyre Forest CC, second was Len Holbeche, also of Wyre Forest, third John Scholes, fourth Ian and daughter Francine Billington, fifth was Rob Greenaway who lost partner Tony Boyle thanks to an early puncture, sixth Neville Billington and seventh was Chris MacDonald who took nearly a minute off his record for the distance.

The youth team will be in action in Manchester this weekend and the next Olympique event is the club hill climb on Thursday August 30.