Alex Dowsett successfully defended his British Time Trial Championship title in Leicestershire on Sunday, covering the 34-mile course around two and a half minutes quicker than his nearest rival.
The 23-year-old Sky Pro Cycling rider from Essex clocked 1-11-55 to push Doug Dewey (Terra Footware) into second spot by 2-27, while former national hill-climb champion Matt Clinton (Mike Vaughan Cycles) was third, another 2-33 off the pace.
Dowsett was virtually assured of victory following the news that Matt Bottrill (Drag2Zero.com) would not ride because of a bout of tonsillitis, and with multiple TT champion Michael Hutchinson not riding (and ineligible for the title anyway).
There was a closer competition in the women's event, where Wendy Houvenaghel (Bike Chain Ricci) took the win ahead of Julia Shaw (Drag2Zero.com).
Houvenaghel clocked 48-55 for the shorter 21-mile women's event, 1-01 ahead of Shaw, while Emma Trott (Dolman Boels CT) took third, another 1-01 off the pace.
While Clinton's third place in the British TT Championships is an indication of his form as we head into the hill-climb season, other likely contenders for the hill-climb championships also began to show their colours.
Tejvan Pettinger (Sri Chinmoy CT) won the Glossop Kinder Velo hill-climb on the 3.2-mile Snake Pass course. He clocked 11-40.5 to take the win with ease, 1-21 ahead of his nearest rival, Pete Tadros (In Gear-Quickvit), while prolific winner Mark Lovatt, himself a former winner of the National hill-climb championship, took third spot.
In Yorkshire, Team Swift's Andy Jackson won the Seacroft Wheelers 25, staged over two laps of the Topcliffe to South Kilvington circuit in North Yorkshire.
A former top triathlete, Jackson's time of 50-01 was more than two minutes quicker than runner-up Adam Gascoigne (Pedal Power).
And in Devon, Robert Scott (The Bike Cellar) won the Exeter Wheelers 25 at Buckfastleigh with a time of 53-58, beating Lee Sanderson (RNRMCA) by 1-32.
Over ten miles, Jon Simpkins ((Drag2Zero.com) clocked an impressive 19-55 in the Leamington C&AC event at Thurlaston on Saturday. He was 18 seconds ahead of his nearest rival Richard Bradley (Team Echelon-Rotor).
David McGaw (Cambridge CC) was celebrating victory in the Bossard Wheelers 10 at Brogborough in Bedfordshire with a time of 21-11, and he also formed part of the winning team alongside Martin Reynolds and Andy Blower.
And in Northamptonshire, Adam Gascoigne (Pedal Power Loughborough) won the Frank and Joy Sheppard Memorial 10, staged at Old by Kettering CC.
Results
National Time Trial Championships 2012: Harby, Leicestershire AS/18
1. Alex Dowsett (Sky) 1-11-55
2. Douglas Dewey (Terra Footware) 1-14-22
3. Matt Clinton (MikeVaughan.co.uk) 1-16-55
4. Rob Partridge (Endura Racing) 1-17-55
5. James Tucker (South Pennine RC) 1-18-28
6. Pete Vincent (Mid Devon CC) 1-18-32
7. Richard Meadows (Velo29) 1-19-12
8. Charles Mcculloch (www.drag2zero.com) 1-19-34
9. Silas Goldsworthy (Sandy Wallace Cycles) 1-19-42
10. Alan Thomson (Sandy Wallace Cycles) 1-19-55
Under-23
1. Sam Harrison (100% ME) 44-55
Women
1. Wendy Houvenaghel (Bike Chain Ricci) 48-55
2. Julia Shaw (www.drag2zero.com) 49-56
3. Emma Trott (Dolman Boels CT) 50-57
4. Ciara Horne (For Viored) 52-57
5. Bronwen Ewing (PM Racing) 53-42
6. Jennifer Hewitt (700) 55-01
7. Lara Taylor (Velo Club Godalming & Haslemere) 55-21
8. Louise Mason (Medway Velo) 55-40
9. Eli Thorogood (Ystwyth CC) 57-09
10. Jemma Anderson (Rockingham Forest Whs) 57-40
Related links
British time trial championships 2012 photo gallery
7 steps you mustn't forget when preparing your bike for spring
‘To find out post-accident that I would be in a wheelchair… I felt like my life was over’ - How adaptive bikes give spinal cord injury survivors their lives back
