James Richards and Lucy Morley were quickest male and female riders respectively at the Velotik Racing Team 15-mile event near Market Drayton in Shropshire on Sunday morning.

Velotik Racing Team rider Morley clocked 37-52 to take victory on her time trial bike, having chosen a road bike for last month’s Chester RC 15-miler. This weekend’s performance made her fastest female by 4-26 ahead of Helen Tudor (Oswestry Paragon CC).

Overall fastest was James Richards (WardPerformanceUK.com) in 31-19, 45 seconds better than runner-up Dean Callister of Aerologic RT who was also second in this same event in 2023.

The final spot on the podium went to Congleton CC-MyWindsock.com rider Alistair Ribbands, who was 30 seconds further off the pace.

“I was really happy to take my first win of the season,” said Lucy Morley. “The weather was definitely better than expected, except some quite strong cross winds at times.

“It was my first race of the season on my time trial bike so I wasn’t sure how it would go, but I felt a lot more comfortable on the bike than I expected.

“It was a great event organised by Toby (and Jess!) and supported by the rest of the Velotik team.”

And James Richards commented: “This was my first time doing a 15-mile course and the organisers and marshals put on a great event.

“The wind made it an interesting one to pace with a cross-tail/tail wind for the first two-thirds of the course. I made sure to make use of the free speed but also to leave a bit for the final headwind section. I'm really pleased with how I rode and delighted to take my first open win.”

It was a blustery morning on the D315/1 course near Market Drayton with a cold wind and wet roads that dried up throughout the event, but course records were unlikely to be challenged.

Top two-up team were George Higgins (Birkenhead North End CC) and Paul Lawton (ADDFORM Vive le Velo who covered the course in 33-14, while the best tandem was the Paramount CRT duo of Jonathan Goh and Chris Riley in 33-10.

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Results:

Open:

1. James Richards (WardPerformanceUK.com)         31.19

2. Dean Callister (Aerologic RT)       32.04

3. Alistair Ribbands (Congleton CC) 32.34

4. Paul Horton Bridgnorth CC)          32.40

5. Thomas Bill (Stafford RC) 33.08

6. Matthew Garthwaite (Newport Shropshire CC)     33.19

Women:

1. Lucy Morley (Velotik RT)  37.52

2. Helen Tudor (Oswestry Paragon CC)         42.18

Two-up: George Higgins (Birkenhead North End CC) and Paul Lawton (ADDFORM Vive le Velo)          33.14

Tandem: Jonathan Goh and Christopher Riley (Paramount CRT)     33.10