A VICTORY 'double' for Jake Durant and a brave ride by junior Matt Hill made it a memorable holiday weekend for the Mid-Devon CC/Colin Lewis Cycles.

Durant, from Chudleigh Knighton, overcame awful weather to win the new Shred Classic Circuit Race meeting on Plymouth Hoe.

Twenty-four hours later, in much better conditions, Durant also won the Ilfracombe Carnival Race in North Devon.

And while that was all going on, Torquay teenager Hill was producing the performance of his young career in the Junior Tour Of Wales.

He finished second in a gruelling mountainous final stage of the three-day event, one of the highlights of the junior season in the UK.

The Shred Classic field was split into two 'heats' of 20 riders in Plymouth.

Durant, and teammates Mark Dolan and Andy Hitchens, made it through the second 'semi', with Hill taking both the mid-race prime and the race itself.

In the final, cut to 20 minutes because of the weather, Hitchens made the decisive move, taking the prime, and being joined by Durant and Junior Heffernon (Revo Racing).

Durant won the finishing sprint, from Heffernon and Hitchens. Dolan was sixth.

The next day, on an Ilfracombe circuit which included a Totnes High Street-style climb without the cobbles, a small break dominated the race.

After 21 laps, Durant held off Adam Bright (Revo Racing), with Hitchens third and Henry Benning (SouthFork Racing) fourth.

Hill may have finished only 13th overall in the Tour Of Wales, but his ride on the final day was an impressive one.

Mid-Devon's Nick Avery was best placed (13th) on the opening 4.5-mile uphill time trial.

The Mid-Devon boys, all in the South-West team, missed the key break on the second 45-mile stage, but they clawed back some lost time near the finish.

Hill was 13th, with Avery and Brennan Townshend not far behind.

A circuit race of 30-minutes plus five miles saw Hill finish in the first chasing group in Stage Three.

In a 63-mile Stage Four all the South-West riders finished in the main bunch, a minute down on the winner.

But it was on Monday's final stage, over a course which featured climb after climb, when Hill came into his own.

He survived a collision with a sheep, which saw other riders fall and one injured, and then launched an attack with six miles to go.

He was joined by the highly-rated Joshua Edmondson (Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta), and they soon opened up a one-minute lead.

The final climb of the race, the three-mile Tumble, saw Edmondson attack hard for a solo win.

But Hill bravely held on to second place on the stage.

Townshend was 15th, four minutes down.

Overall, Hill was 13th, Avery 28th and Townshend 30th.

The South-West finished sixth out of 24 teams.