FORMER national hill-climb champion Tom Bell (High North Performance) begins his season with a ride at the Cheltenham and County CC climb of Bushcombe Lane this Saturday, as the climbing season gets into full swing with some great events.

Bell, who won the national title in 2021 and was second last year, is expected to be well clear of his nearest rivals on the 0.76-mile climb near Bishop’s Cleeve, with David Fellows (Solihull CC) and Gabe Dellar (Stolen Goat RT) also tipped to do well by national rankings system Spindata.

Also tackling this climb is reigning national women’s champion Illi Gardner (Wahoo Le Col), who is the last rider off and should break into the top ten men too. Gardner begun her season last weekend with three rides over two days, and was fastest female at all of them.

Meanwhile, defending national men’s champion Andrew Feather has also got several wins under his belt already in 2023, and continues his preparations for a title defence with a ride in the Mid-Devon CC climb of Widecombe on Saturday before moving on to the Exeter Wheelers Stoke Hill event on Sunday.

Saturday’s Mid-Devon CC event is one of two climbs they are organising, the early event being on Haytor before switching over to Widecombe later that morning.

The Exeter Wheelers climb on Sunday uses the 1.3-mile Stoke Hill climb, and Feather has won this event for the last two years. With favourable conditions, he may get close to the course record held by Dan Evans of 4-09.8 – Feather was just 3.2 seconds shy of that two years ago.

Also riding on Stoke Hill is Olivia French (Stolen Goat RT) who has been in good form so far this season, finishing second behind Gardner in last weekend’s triple bill Bridgwater CC and Minehead CC events.

The Cleveland Wheelers’ climb of Clay Bank in North Yorkshire incorporates the Teesside District Championships as well as the VTTA North Championships. Richard Lilleker (Cleveland Wheelers) is tipped to be fastest with Jack Rees (HUUB-WattShop) and Tom Harcourt (Bikestop Tyrekey) also ones to watch, while Abi Plowman (Jadan Vive le Velo) should easily be fastest female and beat several of the men too!

Over the border in Northumberland, it’s the Allen Valley Velo climb of Allendale, a 2.5-mile event where glory is expected by Spindata to go to either Jamie Philpott (Wahoo Le Col) or Marcus Cram (Muckle CC).

Team Boompods rider Hannah Farran already has three hill-climb victories to her name this season, and she will go looking for number four on Sunday at Allendale. However, Sarah Wilkinson (Blaydon CC) has not been far behind her so far in 2023, and will again be snapping at her heels.

Elsewhere Watford Velo Sport are hosting a climb on the 0.8-mile Whiteleaf Hill on Sunday, while Westerham CC have a 650-yard climb of Brasted Hill in Kent on Sunday.

Hollingbourne Hill in Kent is being used for the Wigmore CC event, while Peaslows Hill in Cheshire is the venue for the 980-yard Withington Wheelers event, also on Sunday.

There are still some time trials happening too, with Paceline RT staging a 25-mile event near Greatham in Hampshire.

James Jenkins (Richardsons-Trek) is pre-race favourite on Spindata, but also watch out for his team-mate Jack Crook as well as Paul Burton (Paceline RT), brothers Chris and Simon McNamara (Sigma Sports-Cannondale) and Bournemouth Cycleworks’ Jamie Whitcher.

National 10 and 25-mile champion Kate Allan (Team Bottrill) posted the third fastest time ever in last weekend’s Icknield RC 10, and will be expected to post a good time in this event too.

Check back to the CTT website and social media feeds for reports on events as the weekend progresses!

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