Stroud Green continued their winning form last Friday at Downhills Park to take the post-lockdown race series by a comfortable margin.

Stroud Green’s dominance was tested by a resurgent Risley team — the only other school to take part in each of the three rounds.

They were joined by the current title holders North Harringay, making a welcome return to the League.

Risley took control of the boys 24” and 26” categories, winning all but two races after one of their riders was relegated for repeated and deliberate swerving into another.

The girls races were fairly well split between Stroud Green and North Harringay, with three wins each and, for the most part, sharing second places.

The balance shifted back to Stroud Green during the mixed finals, with the school winning three out of the five races.

But it was Risley’s new-found strength and confidence that marked the day. Tired of trailing behind Stroud Green, they came determined to win the round — and they would have, too, if not for their rider’s relegation. Five wins and seven 2nd places: their best result of the series.

Consistency, though, is everything, and no team was able to mount a serious challenge to Stroud Green’s command in the standings.

See the full results and points-per-school.

League standings after Round 4

Thank you to all the schools, volunteers and parents for their support and enthusiasm as we sought to get our League back on track after so many months. And for your patience on race day as we fumbled with our face masks, sanitised bikes and did what we could to make race days as safe as possible without killing too much of the fun.

We look forward to returning with our normal calendar of monthly races in the new school year, with a full complement of schools.

Find out more about the Haringey Schools Cycling League. If you’d like your school to take part, see How to Join.