North Wales hosts the National Hill-Climb Championships on Sunday, with both defending champions set to compete alongside a host of other former winners.

The 1.6-kilometre Old Horseshoe Pass near Llangollen is the location which will see hundreds of hopefuls tackle the last of 2022’s title races. The event is promoted by Velotik and Wrexham RC and sponsored by DC Legal.co.uk.

Defending men’s champion Tom Bell (High North Performance) has only ridden six hill-climbs this year after an early-season bout of Covid, but has recovered well in recent weeks and will take some beating.

2020 champion Andrew Feather (HuntBikeWheels.com) is one of just two riders to beat Bell this season, and has won all ten of his rides since the beginning of September.

Kieran Wynne-Cattanach (Team Lifting Gear Products) is the other rider to beat Bell this season on The Rake, while others to watch include Ed Laverack (Backpedal).

It’s a similar story in the women’s championship, with 2021 winner Bithja Jones (Pankhurst Cycles) having been beaten twice this season – and both those riders will be on the start line on Sunday.

Illi Gardner (Wahoo Endurance Zone) overcame Jones on Belmont Hill near Bristol, and Alex Morrice (Team LDN) beat her by just 0.1 second in the Kingston Wheelers climb of Leith Hill.

Mary Wilkinson (Team Boompods) has placed second on each of the four occasions she has ridden the National Hill-Climb Championships, and despite only competing in one hill climb so far this season she has been riding well in road events and will be aiming to take to the top step of the podium.

The first rider is off at 9.01am and each person starts at 30 second intervals, with the junior boys and girls titles also being decided on the day beginning at 11.30am.

The last of the women start around 12.30-12.40pm, with the top seeded men going off between 1.10pm and 1.20pm.

Elsewhere if North Wales is out of reach for you, there’s also the Cambridge University CC climb of Beechwoods Hill near Cambridge on Sunday, a 938-metre effort.

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