Both non-finishers last year, John Archibald and Kate Allan bounced back to take victories at the 2024 National 50-Mile Championships, staged by Wessex Road Club in Dorset on Sunday.

Allan (Team Bottrill) crashed out of the 2023 event, while Archibald (HUUB-WattShop) punctured 12 months ago, but both were back on form for this year’s event near Lytchett Minster and set new course record times.

“I was pleased to take the win and with how I executed things today, given how up and down the course is,” said Allan, whose time of 1-52-42 was a minute quicker than clubmate Alex Clay in second, while Laura Davies (Jadan Vive le Velo0 took third ahead of defending champion Emily Martin (Team Bottrill).

“I had an issue before the west turn with my visor steaming up,” added Allan, “but I sorted that out eventually and I did what I could, pushed up the hills and got round the roundabouts without any problems.

“My power wasn’t so good but with a lumpy course you’re always going to struggle to monitor that so effectively. There was a little bit of wind but nothing remarkable, and it rained late on but it was mostly the men who caught that.”

In the open event Archibald clocked 1-33-44 to take the win by 3-23 from defending champion Adam Duggleby (ADDFORM-Vive le Velo), while Alex Dowsett (Nopinz) was another 55 seconds back in third.

“It went surprisingly well,” said Archibald. “I’ve been enjoying looking at Spindata stats a lot recently and they’ve been pretty accurate, but today they were off for some reason as I was about four minutes quicker, and a number of other people had problems there too.

“The day started off dry for the first 20 kilometres but then it rained for the rest so the roundabouts became trickier and visibility was an issue too.

“My next race will be the National 100. I’ve never won the National 50 or the 100 before, and in fact I’ve never finished a 100 before, so it’ll be interesting to see how I go. My aim is just to finish it, and if it’s good enough to win, then great!

“I’m just enjoying riding and getting my name on the trophies.”

Team Bottrill secured the team wins too, with Jake Sargent, Rob Francis and Benjamin Williams combining in the men’s category, while Kate Allan, Alex Clay and Emily Martin were the winners for Team Bottrill women.

The event proved a success all round, and was a fitting way for Wessex Road Club to mark their centenary year with help from Poole Wheelers, Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers and CC Weymouth.

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