Hedley On The Hill Hill Climb

Kieran Wynne-Cattanach (Team Lifting Gear Products) took victory by a single second in the GS Metro event at Hedley on the Hill, while juvenile Freya Johnson (Gosforth RC) was the quickest female.

Wynne-Cattanach marked the start of his hill climb campaign by taking his second win of the weekend in a time of four minutes and 27 seconds.

The 1.7-kilometre climb was used for the 2017 National Championships when Dan Evans recorded a time of 3-52 to win the men’s and Joss Lowden the women’s in 4-49.

The climb between Stocksfield Golf Club and Hedley on the Hill has varying gradients with an average of 7.5%.

Wynne-Cattanach took four open hill climb victories last season before placing seventh at the National Hill Climb Championships.

The 26-year-old opened his hill climb account for 2023 by winning the Cheshire Maverick CC event on Brickworks the previous day and made it two from two at Hedley on the Hill.

Andy Cunningham (Wheelbase Cabtech) was a close second stopping the clock in 4-28, while Alexander Storey finished third for host club GS Metro in 4-32.

“It was quite nice as I’ve not won two events in a weekend before,” said Wynne-Cattanach.

“I last rode the climb for the National Championships in 2017, it took about 15 seconds longer today. It was a slow day and very different as there wasn’t a massive crowd either, it was a lot more low-key.

“The two hill climbs I’ve done this weekend have had a lot of changing gradients so they’ve been quite hard to plan with dips and high peaks in power.

“I was pretty spent at the top, although I held a bit back for a sprint to the finish. Yesterday was my first open this year, so it was nice to follow that up with another win.”

Quickest veteran rider was John Bowman (Muckle CC) whose time of 4-47 was good enough for fifth place overall.

Fastest junior was Charlie Thew (Racing Metro 15) who stopped the clock in 5-23, while Mason Bulfin (Manilla Cycling) was quickest juvenile (5-28).

The female event saw juvenile rider Johnson post a winning time of six minutes and 55 seconds on the 1.7-kilometre climb.

Veteran rider Angela McGurk (Blaydon CC) was the only other female competitor taking second place in 7-05.

* All reports are copyright of Cycling Time Trials/Snowdon Sports. Not to be used without permission.

Results:

Men:
1 Kieran Wynne-Cattanach (Team Lifting Gear Products)     4.27
2 Andy Cunningham (Wheelbase Cabtech)    4.28
3 Alexander Storey (GS Metro)          4.32
4 Ross Howcroft-Jones (High North Performance)    4.35
5 John Bowman (Muckle Cycle Club)           4.47
6 Adrian Armstrong (Muckle Cycle Club)     4.51

Women:
1 Freya Johnson (Gosforth RC)          6.55
2 Angela McGurk (Blaydon CC)        7.05