Blair tops the tree in Matlock time trial

The driving rain didn’t put 11 hardy riders off from taking part in Matlock Cycling Club’s ten-mile time-trial along the A6.
In-form Cameron Orr impressed again in Matlock CC time trials, but crashed out of the NYC Series in Shrewsbury.In-form Cameron Orr impressed again in Matlock CC time trials, but crashed out of the NYC Series in Shrewsbury.
In-form Cameron Orr impressed again in Matlock CC time trials, but crashed out of the NYC Series in Shrewsbury.

Poor conditions meant times were considerably slower for most riders than in previous weeks, but that didn’t stop Mike Blair from not only recording a new personal best time for the course, but also taking his first time-trial victory.

Blair powered his way round the course at an average speed of just below 26mph to record a time of 23 minutes and 17 seconds.

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Matt Ingram put in a great performance to finish in second place on 23:26, whilst Chris Green struggled with the conditions to finish in third spot on 23:48.

Marianne Heffron extended her lead in the women’s points series by finishing first female on 28:33, ahead of Mel Slaney (32:26) and Caroline Doyle (35:44).

The weather wasn’t much better for the 6.5 mile Hilly time-trial near Cromford.

Only light rain fell but the headwind up the climb made it hard work for the ten riders who took to the start line.

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Chris Green took yet another victory on the course, finishing in a time of 19 minutes and 37 seconds.

Kevin White was second on 19:51 – just edging out local Charge Bikes rider Chris Metcalfe by four seconds.

Metcalfe was the fastest rider on a standard road bike, whilst his partner Phoebe Sneddon was the fastest female rider – finishing in eighth place overall on 25:15.

Once again, 14 year old Cameron Orr impressed everyone with his superb climbing ability, making light work of the tough course to record a time of 21:07 to finish in sixth place overall.

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In other time-trial news, Mike Blair set a new personal best time for a ten-mile time-trial event on Thursday night during the South Pennine Road Club race.

Blair recorded a time of 21:54 on the super fast course, smashing his previous personal best by almost 90 seconds.

l A small group of Matlock CC’s younger members travelled to Shrewsbury on Saturday for the third round of British Cycling’s National Youth Circuit Series, promoted by Wolverhampton Wheelers.

 For the first time this year, the U12 girls raced on their own, without the boys, resulting in an intriguing and highly tactical race.

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Ellie Smith, looking to build on her second and third placings in the previous two rounds, held back for the first ten laps, but after eventually attempting to break away from the leading group of nine girls, she was eventually chased down in a sprint finish to claim what was still an excellent fourth place.

Reuben Orr competed in the U12 boys’ race and did very well to stay with the leading riders despite recovering from an ankle injury.

Elder brother Cameron had a great ride in the U14 boys’ race, using his speed, skill and courage to maintain a good position towards the front of the peleton.

Unfortunately, a crash on the last lap brought down a number of riders including Orr and Harry Yates of Lichfield CC, depriving the pair of what looked likely to be a top ten finish. 

 Due to the huge number of entries, the U16 field was divided into two heats. Matlock’s Will Gascoyne qualified safely for the final race and went on to finish well up in the main field.

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