BROMSGROVE Olympique cycling club riders will have to wait for the results of their latest races following a times fiasco in Manchester last weekend.

The top event in the British youth calendar, the Manchester International Youth Tour, was marred on several occasions by errors and inaccuracies in results and overall time classifications.

Such was the extent of the problem, that the results for most age categories were unavailable at the closing medal ceremony.

The racing started last Friday with the prologue time trial, followed by two circuit races at Heaton County Park on Saturday and the final race on Sunday.

Olympique's Matt Lee was the star in the U16 boys. He had excellent rides in all events and looks likely to achieve fourth place in the final classification.

Liam Preece, from Wyre Forest CRC, won the race leader's yellow jersey after stage two at Heaton Park. Preece rode stage three as race leader but disaster struck only four laps from the finish when he hit a pothole, losing him more than 30 seconds.

Alex Billington, in the top category A, also for U16 boys, was evidently still suffering from his recent crashes in Holland and Ireland and was wary riding in a 60-strong group.

A high-speed crash in the final sprint in front of the rider's enclosure minutes before the start of his final race did not help his nerves and finished well down.

Francine Billington rode in the final category F event for girls and women aged 15 to 18, taking a third, fourth and two fifth places.

In the final stage, a light shower had turned the Manchester streets into a skating rink in places causing two riders to crash with two laps to go, forcing Francine to stop to avoid them.

She took fourth place, later to find that the crashed riders had appealed to the judges using a rule allowing them to be given the same time as other riders if a crash happens in the final kilometre.

Those riders were given the same time as the winner and Francine, who did not crash, was demoted from the expected third place in the final classification to fifth.

However, a verdict is still awaited on the crash as the incident happened nearly 2km from the finish line.

Genevieve Billington rode in Category D, with the U10 boys. She suffered a lot on the hills but rode well in the city centre to finish as the second best girl.