It was a war of attrition at Southside on Sunday as the Island's cyclists battled strong winds and driving rain, and in the end, it was a story of flat tyres, frustration, fatigue and fractures, that left everyone relieved it was all over.

In the 50 mile category two and three event, Steve Millington returned to the winner's circle after a display of powerful, off the front riding with Karl Outerbridge that saw them lap all but three riders.

On an inspired ride after the disappointment of last weekend's racing in Massachusetts when he punctured in the first race and was forced out of the second due to the freezing weather conditions, Outerbridge was matching Millington on every pedal stroke until a lap and a half to go. However, he punctured forcing him to pull over and change his wheel allowing Millington to ride to the finish unchallenged in 2:05.40.

Such was their lead however that Outerbridge still came in second at 2:07.09.

In the early stages of the race, a large group of about 30 riders rode tightly packed trying to shelter from the strong winds. Nobody was ready to make a move until the third lap when Greg Hopkins made a break on the inside into the headwind.

As riders scrambled for position to counter there was a touch of wheels in the middle of the pack causing a crash involving about five or six riders that left top triathlete Karen Smith lying in the road with a seriously bruised arm, and renowned masters swimmer and triathlete, Jim Hinton nursing what was later diagnosed as a double fracture of the collar bone and broken rib. Veteran Jim Butterfield escaped injury but suffered a badly damaged bike.

As the field split under the pressure of attacks, a group of six riders, including Outerbridge and Millington, broke away.

On lap five of the 15 lap course the two opened a small gap that steadily grew as rest of the group of Hopkins, Melanie Claude, Martin Pettit and Dave Hill hesitated, giving the leaders the opportunity they needed.

As the gap grew it was clear that the two leaders were by far the strongest riders on the day as they built an insurmountable lead.

With Hill dropped on the next lap, the three chasers worked together to extend their lead over the rest of the field, until the final lap when a tactical battle ensued resulting in a final sprint at the finish with Pettit taking third, Hopkins fourth and Claude fifth in 2:11.42, 2:11.43 and 2:11.47 respectively.

In a hard-fought battle Marcellino Ferreira was first category three rider after a see-saw battle with Dwyer Williams and Dave Hill, who had dropped back from the lead pack.

Going into the last lap as the three fought for the lead, Hill hit the back wheel of Ferreira's bike and was thrown to the ground, leaving Ferreira to power away from Williams at the end finishing in 2:15.12 and 2:15.26, with a game Hill managing to finish in 2:15.41.

In other categories, Martin Bolton dealt Vic Ball a rare defeat in the Veterans category in their 14 lap event. Bolton was timed in 2:00.02, four seconds ahead of Ball with Ian Fox over 18 minutes behind.

In overseas racing, National Squad rider Wayne Scott had an impressive result in the Florida State Criterium Championships where he placed sixth overall in the Pro, one and two event over a technical .6 of a mile circuit. The 90 minute plus five laps event involved over 60 riders.

After a five man breakaway rode clear of the field, and eventually lapped everyone except Scott, the Bermudian rider rode clear of the field on his own and was only 20 seconds short of lapping the field himself at the finish.

Clearly pleased with his result he said: "It was a really fast race. A group of five got away and I tried to bridge and got caught between. There was a really big crowd that just kept screaming at me to keep going.

"I really dug deep, I couldn't feel my legs and by the end was getting dizzy. I am really pleased with my ride."

There was no news on two other Bermudians at the event, Whayman Butterfield and Mike Lee who raced in the 40-plus in the morning and the category three event in the afternoon.