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Finding a balance between training and enjoying his job as a bike rider, Adam Duggleby will again be competing in solo and tandem time trials this season alongside his international goals.

The 37-year-old from Leeds works as a tandem pilot for the Great British Cycling Team and won 12 domestic solo events and two tandem time trials while preparing for last year’s Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

Duggleby’s only national championship outing came in the National 100 when he finished second recording a time of three hours, 26 minutes and 41 seconds.

Despite recording an average speed of over 29 miles per hour over the 100 miles the Yorkshireman had not specifically trained for the event.

“I had some pretty good rides really, like I got my fastest 50 last year (1-34-44) and second in the National 100,” said Duggleby.

“I was going pretty well, my numbers were good. I couldn’t commit to some of the nationals as I wasn’t in the UK.

“I’ve not really been concentrating on the nationals and when I rode the national 100 I just turned up and rode it.

“I didn’t really concentrate on training for a 100-mile time trial as all the time trials we do on a tandem are no longer than 40 minutes.

“So I don’t really need to be doing long time trial efforts or going out training on my time trial bike. Most of the time I just do club time trial instead.

“I did do one ride last year for something to do, I’ve got an old Pinarello TT bike so I just went out and did 125 miles just for no reason at all.

“I didn’t do it at a time trial effort just rode around on it. I see what some of the other guys do and they’re dead serious and it makes a big difference for them.

“I question if I did that would I enjoy riding my bike? I’d probably hate it. I find the balance between training and it being my job and enjoying it, there needs to be a balance there.

“If I feel good I try to get the most out of the ride but if I don’t I don’t seem to set myself too specific things.”

Duggleby’s team Vive Le Velo are hosting this year’s National 10-mile Championships on the V714 on an out and back route between Scalby and Howden.

After growing up close to the course Duggleby wants to impress on his home roads.

“I’ve done that course probably like 100 times,” added Duggleby.

“I know that road better than any other in the country. That’s the road I have to use to get to the motorway in the car.

“It’s pretty much pan flat but has two bridges in it. It should be quite a fast course but it’s not really. I’ve done 19-10 on it.

“I’ll have to see if that clashes with the road worlds.”

Alongside his domestic time trial goals Duggleby is also preparing to compete in the Majorca 312 sportive in April and Paralympic World Cup events.

“The Majorca 312 is a bit random but I go to Majorca a lot and felt it would be good to do that,” he added.

“I will train pretty hard for it, the winner did it in nine and a half hours last so it is pretty long. It’s just something I fancied doing.

“I will also be going to two Paralympics Road World Cups probably with a different stoker as Steve (Bates) had a hip operation after Toko and probably isn’t going to race until the track worlds in October.

“And then August will be the Paralympic Road Worlds. I’ve got a bit of pressure on me because Steve is not riding road this year I’m with a new guy and depending how that goes it could potentially put my job on the line.

“I will do some time trials and we’ve got the tandem the Paralympic World Cup in May so we will ride a few before then.

“So we’ll do two tandem time trials together at the beginning of March and into April. I’ll fill in between them weekends with my own stuff.”

Last season Duggleby was disappointed with his silver medal won at the Tokyo Paralympic Games alongside Bate in the track cycling pursuit event before crashing out of the time trial.

“The Paralympics was what I was training for, we got silver in the pursuit which wasn’t really what we wanted,” Duggleby added.

“We just got beaten by the better bike on the day, they did a really good ride and paced it really well and I don’t think we could have done much more to beat them.

“Then we went to the TT and fell off so that was the end of that really. I don’t know if we clipped a pedal coming out of a corner or I just went through the corner too fast and just slid out.

“I don’t really know all I know is we ended on the floor after about one minute of riding and that was the end of our Paralympics.

“It was a bit disappointing really. I think we were favourites to win that time trial, we won the worlds time trial in Portugal last year which was pretty good as we hadn’t won that since 2018.”

* All reports and features are copyright of Cycling Time Trials/Snowdon Sports. Not to be used without permission. This feature by Ben Goddard.