Southport CC 15

Debbie Moss came within 12 seconds of breaking her own course record, while Tom Rigby was fastest in the open event at the Southport CC 15-mile event near Tarleton in Cheshire on Sunday morning.

Moss (Springfield Financial) clocked 35-42 to take a comfortable win and go frustratingly close to her own course record set last year. Second female was Nicole Read (VTTA Merseyside) with 40-34, while Karen Taylor (Springfield Financial RT) was third with 42-06.

Rigby (Croston Velo) set a time of 31-48 to take the win on the day by 22 seconds from Ribble Cycles rival James Holloway, while third was Congleton CC’s Alastair Ribbands with 32-17.

“I’ve been concentrating on triathlon for the past couple of years so yesterday was just a case of throwing myself back in to see where I’m at,” explained Rigby.

“I’m local to the area and know the course well so it was an ideal opportunity to get a benchmark for the rest of the year. I didn’t look at any data throughout the ride and was happy to be able to hold a consistent pace.

“I’m planning to do some more time trials throughout the year and hopefully I’ll be able to build on this performance. It was nice to see some faces that I’ve not seen in a while and it was a well organised and run event by Southport CC.”

And fastest female Moss added: “This course is a local one for me, so it’s nice to win here and Southport is a really friendly club.

“It was a very cold morning with an easterly breeze, not strong, but it was there on the return leg. I was really pleased to win and was happy with my performance as I always feel it’s difficult to do your best when it’s so cold!”

In other categories Moss was also the best veteran on age adjusted time with 31-09, more than two minutes better than Paul Shallicker (Coveryourcar.co.uk) in 33-15, while third on age adjusted time was Matt Stell (Springfield Financial RT) in 33-56.

Nicole Read was best on a road bike with 40-34, while Stell was top over-40 veteran. Shallicker was fastest over-50 on actual time with 33-15, while the over-60 award went to Lyme RC’s Barrie Whittaker in 34-51 and top over-70 was Alex Munro (SVTTA) in 36-01.

Springfield Financial was the top team with Stell, Moss and Andy Horner being their top three in 1-42-25.

Conditions on the D33/15 course were cool and dry, with 10-15mph north easterly winds.

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