Harcourt and Heighton climb to victories at Darlington CC/VTTA (North) climb
Tom Harcourt (Team Bikestop Tyrekey 3FS) was a clear victor in the Darlington CC/VTTA (North) hill climb on Brusselton Lane, while junior Sophie Heighton (Ferryhill Whs) won the women’s event.
Harcourt won two hill climbs last year and opened his 2023 tally early in the season with a winning time of three minutes and six seconds.
Brusselton Lane was being used for the first time in an open hill climb meaning that course records were up for grabs.
The 1.3-kilometre climb has an average gradient of 6.2% and a maximum of 11.2% coming before the midway point.
Starting near Low West Thickley Farm, near Sildon in County Durham, before heading upwards and finishing near Brusselton Wood.
Harcourt won the Ferryhill Wheelers and AIMS Cycling events last season and recorded his first open victory of 2023 by recording an average speed of 15.484 miles per hour.
Juvenile rider Mason Bulfin (Racing Metro 15) showed his early form for the season and beat those more experienced than himself taking second in 3-12.3.
In the battle for third Edward Kingsley (Darlington Cycling Club) completed the climb in a time of 3-21.4 which was just four seconds faster than quickest veteran John Hewison (Zurbaran Racing).
With his second placed finish Bulfin was the quickest of the under-18s beating Ethan Stokes (North Shields Polytechnic Club) into second (3-54) while Leo Ferrier (Darlington Cycling Club) was third (4-02.9).
Heighton was the only female competitor and completed the climb in a respectable time of 4-33 – which will be the new course benchmark for women competitors.
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