Hales takes advantage on a road bike

A replacement for the cancelled round six, which was weather-affected, saw Oli Freeman enter the race with a three-point lead over Tomos Hales, the reigning champion and just two events remaining.

With this pair often one-two, Hales could only have anticipated losing the series by a single point all things being equal – but Freeman was compelled to ride his road bike due to a frame crack. Sportingly, Hales tried to make things equal by also turning up on his road bike – but the pair reckoned without three of the 2024 first-timers being speed merchants.

Time trial bikes have a natural aero advantage over road bikes, not that anyone had told Hales who finished in a strong runner-up spot in a fabulous 22 minutes 49 seconds, with Phil Roberts taking his second win of the series on 22:18 – sealing Series Bronze in the process.

The Long Lane course is technical, featuring 11 turns around a 3¾ mile circuit, which even things out a little on the handling stakes. However Freeman finished back on 24:05, with Adam Mumford, Oliver Rodwell and Clive Middleton all finding the Monday rearrangement suited them, split by just four seconds on 23:38, 23:40 and 23:42 respectively. This interpolation saw Hales score 5 points but Freeman only 1, meaning Hales took over at the top of the standings by a single point with just a final 16th round left, a dramatic reversal of fortunes.

Hales and Freeman were instead 1-2 in the Road Bike Series, but with Matt Price taking 3rd spot in 26:02 he sealed Road Bike Series Silver, and consigned Dave Moore to the Bronze medal. This is an increasingly popular ‘back-to-basics’ version of the sport, with 9 of the 20 entrants on Road Bikes and a great way for new entrants to the sport to get involved competitively.

In the Women’s Series it was a win for Victoria Doran in 31:53 ahead of Sarah Bradshaw on 33:25, with the Silver and Bronze medals in play for the final round with any of four riders in the mix.