The season's first sub 50-minute times for 25 miles were recorded last weekend, as Merthyr CC staged a time trial on the fast Rhigos course in South Wales on Sunday.

Cardiff Ajax CC rider Ioan Smallwood clocked 49-35 to take the win by 17 seconds from Chris Gibbard (Bynea CC), while the fastest female was Victoria Smith (AeroCoach) clocked 53-58 to finish as fastest woman.

Over in Cornwall, there were also some good performances in the Lanhydrock Wheelers Wheelers 25, where event organiser Tim McEvoy clocked 50-37 to win convincingly, while Rose Willis (St Austell Wheelers) was fastest woman.

On the other side of the country, Andy Proffitt (Ipswich BC) won the Renny Stirling Memorial time trial, staged over a 20-mile course in Suffolk by Orwell Velo on Saturday.

The 46-year-old from Felixstowe clocked 42-44 to take the win by more than a minute, while 38-year-old Becky Ridge (TPH) was fastest female with 51-13.

Victory in the North Hampshire Road Club time trial went to Victoria Miller and James Boyman, who were fastest female and male respectively over the 18.5-mile course near North Waltham on Saturday.

28-year-old Miller (Brighton Mitre CC) clocked 53-21 to take the women’s prize, while Boyman, (Hoops Velo) covered the course in 38-25 to take the overall victory by 32 seconds.

In Northumberland, Gemma Frost was fastest female while Tom Hutchinson took the men’s prize at the challenging Barnesbury CC hilly 21-mile time trial near Belsay.

36-year-old Frost (Team Swift) clocked 51-41 to win by 1-15 from Venda Louise Pollock (Blaydon CC), while Hutchinson (Team Kirkley Cycles) covered the course in 44-48 to win by 36 seconds from Ribble Pro Cycling’s Zeb Kyffin.

And in Cumbria, Richard Bideau and Charlotte Boothman were the fastest male and female respectively at the Border City Wheelers 17-mile time trial near Carlisle on Sunday morning.

Bideau (Pendle Forest CC) clocked a time of 33-04 to claim the top step of the podium by a margin of over a minute, while Boothman (ABC Centreville) finished her run with a time of 39-49 to be crowned the fastest female rider.

In Scotland Douglas Watson and Lynsey Curran were the fastest male and female at the GTR-Return to Life 10 near Eglinton on Saturday.

Watson (GTR-Return to Life) clocked 19-11 to win overall, while Curran (Dooleys RT) finished her run with a time of 22-38 to finish as the fastest female respectively.

Philip Graves and Fiona Sharp were fastest male and female riders respectively at a cold and windy East Yorkshire course used for the City Road Club (Hull) 15 on Sunday morning.

Graves (NOPINZ) clocked 31-34 to win by 35 seconds from City Road Club’s veteran Alex Russell, while Sharp (Team Swift) was fastest female in 36-02.

And in Gloucestershire, Arthur Franklin (Portishead CC) and Megan Dickerson (Bristol South CC) were fastest male and female riders respectively at the University of Bristol CC 10 near Falfield.

Franklin clocked 19-46 and was the only rider under 20 minutes, while Dickerson notched up another win with a time of 22-08.

* All reports are copyright of Cycling Time Trials/Snowdon Sports. Not to be used without permission.

* See the individual event listings for more detailed reports on these and other time trials.