Nicholas Narraway continued his strong form for the Miller School of Albemarle Endurance team competing in the Hincapie Spring Series in South Carolina.

Fresh from encouraging performances in back-to-back criteriums, the 19-year-old returned to action, this time turning his focus to the Fork Shoals and SCTAC (Donaldson) road races.

The first race, a pro category 60-mile course consisting of four laps of a 15-mile loop with rolling hills, proved one of mixed fortunes for Narraway, with crashes on the course involving other riders proving decisive in dictating his own race.

After getting caught up behind a crash on the first lap, Narraway managed to make up for lost time and set about reeling in two rival riders who had attempted to make a breakaway early in the race.

Having led the way for the majority of the race, the chasing pack closed the gap with one kilometre to go, as the race looked set for an exciting sprint finish.

However, just as had happened on the first lap, another crash, this time involving ten riders, resulted in a number of competitors — including Narraway — being blocked from battling it out in the final sprint to the line. The Bermudian rider ultimately had to settle for a 22nd-place finish from the 77 who had started.

“Although I was frustrated that the crash held me up, I was thrilled that my team-mate, Luca Scuriatti, was just ahead and was able to sprint to victory,” Narraway said.

Adapting his tactics from the previous day, Narraway opted to conserve energy among the chasing peloton for the majority of the 56-mile course, which consisted of eight laps of a seven-mile loop.

Working in tandem with his school team-mates, they managed to quash a number of attempted breakaways within the peloton, as the race looked set for another mass sprint finish.

However, just as on the first day, a big crash, which took down about 45 riders — including a number of Narraway’s team-mates — proved decisive.

Two riders managed to break free and rode to the finish line, while the rest of the peloton fought for positions in a congested sprint, with Narraway sealing a twelfth-place finish from 78 finishers.

“Because the final sprint was messy, I didn’t get a clear sprint but I was happy to finish twelfth,” he added.

“This weekend was a lot of teamwork by the Miller riders in both races. We worked together to help each other move up and assist in the breakaways.

“Overall, it was a good weekend as a team we got a win, which is what we race for. Hopefully, I will have more luck next time.”