As Dan Evans crested the Old Horseshoe Pass for the final time in a competitive event, the two-time former national hill climb champion may have afforded himself a smile.

While his 16th-place finish at the National Hill Climb Championships in Denbighshire on October 30 perhaps does not do justice to a storied career, the Welshman can reflect on 13 years of sustained success at the top level of the sport.

However, the 41-year-old and his partner Jess, who finished 22nd in the women’s event, have no plans to step away from their bikes for good just yet.

He said: “It will definitely be my final hill climb. I said after Winnat’s Pass last year that I feel like I’ve done my time in this little niche of the sport. This year is 13 straight years that I’ve done nationals. I’ve done it every year and it’s a long time not just to keep the commitment up but keep the motivation up really.”

Indeed, Evans has already tried his hand at another discipline within the sport.

He added: “It has got to the point where we need some new challenges. We are going to do some different sorts of racing. We did some gravel events in the early summer and we both really, really enjoyed it. I am keen to do some mountain bike racing, which is where I started with the sport.”

While he did not end with quite the result he wanted, Evans readily admits he did not make the best preparations for the race having not competed in a hill climb race at all in 2022.

“It was a brilliant event worth doing.

“I told myself after Winnat’s Pass I wasn’t going to hill climb again. I struggled with the motivation and I just don’t have that drive to win anymore. It was my only event of the year and it was a bit of a shock to the system.

“I did it because of the local factor of the Old Horseshoe Pass and the guys organising it getting in my ear got me to ride it.

“I got it completely wrong pacing-wise, I could have gone way harder at the bottom.

“I finished the top section really strong, and when I looked at it on Strava I was as fast at the top of the hill as the fastest guys, I’ve just lost way too much time low down trying to pace myself and not having enough faith in what I could do really.

“It was incredible on the hill and really worthwhile doing for us. It was a nice way to go out but I kind of feel like 16th is not where I want to be and it’s not a reflection of my career.”

Evans leaves the sport appreciative of what it has given him beyond the national titles in 2014 and 2017.

He said: “Hill climbing has completely changed my life.

“Not just the fitness side and the lifestyle benefits from that, but the opportunities it has given me and the doors it opened the international events and travel.

“Hill climbing has been a life changing thing. It has taken me to Taiwan, it has taken me up Alpes d’Huez with GCN, Jess and I have been supported by these world class companies who have bought into hill climbing completely.

“Yes, I have won a couple of national titles, but it’s more than that. I have completely changed the course of my life with it.”

Still, Evans won’t be off his bike for long.

“We are going to Gran Canaria with the bikes tomorrow for a nice little cycling break.

“It feels different to normal, whereby this time of year we would be totally fed up of the bike as wed have spent two months travelling around racing non-stop. As we haven’t done that this year, we don’t have the same fatigue so we were both quite keen to escape the weather and do some pedalling in the sun which is quite nice.”

Evans also believes he is leaving the sport in a better place than when he started, and had kind words for the 2022 champion Andrew Feather, who won his third national crown in Denbighshire.

“The level at the moment with Andrew is just crazy. He is a step above where any of us have ever been. And every now and then you get someone who is a little bit special, a little bit extraordinary.

“It has given everyone a new perspective of where the level has got to be and the commitment you have to put in to be that good.”

The ASSOS Speed Club UK rider is in no doubt about his fondest memories from more than a decade in the sport.

“The 2017 season was the standout for me. I won pretty much every hill climb I entered that year. I went into the nationals super confident in the best condition of my life and won the nationals. That was a massive highlight.

“The following year going out to the Taiwan KOM challenge as the British national champion. Representing the UK out there winning two off the races I did, that for me is the highlight of my cycling career.”

* All reports are copyright of Cycling Time Trials/Snowdon Sports. Not to be used without permission. This report by James Ayles.