Lloyd Chapman (Banks Catford Equipe) and Jody Conibear (Hemel Hempstead CC) successfully defended their 2016 titles as they took victory in the 2017 North Road CC hardriders, staged over a shortened 22-mile course in Hertfordshire.

Chapman, 27 and based in Martlesham, near Ipswich in Suffolk,  clocked 51.15 to win overall by exactly a minute, while Conibear, 40, was fastest woman by 59 seconds with her time being 1:06.53.

Warm and calm conditions made for fast times, but roadworks on the stretch of the course from Brickendon up to the fringes of Hertford forced organiser Neil Lewis to divert and shorten the event to 22 miles, scuppering hopes of a course record for the full 25-mile version of the F7/25 near Brookmans Park.

The last rider off in a field of 110 was Chapman, who justified that seeding with a confident performance by the road man, while second spot went to Ollie Jones (Team OnForm), with George Fox (Team Bottrill) third, just 11 seconds behind Jones.

“It was quite still in the morning, but a bit wet,” said Chapman. “As I was last man off it had dried up a bit, but there was a bit of wind getting up, which was a headwind coming back, but nothing really bad.

“I want to get a few early season time trials in because they are a good guide to how my form is going. I’m riding the CC Breckland 10 and the Hainault next weekend, then the Jock Wadley Memorial Road Race the week after.”

Conibear’s time of 1:06.53 gave her the win in the women’s race from Kinetic Cycles’ Annabel Sill.

“I’ve had a busy time at work recently so wasn’t sure how I was going,” said Conibear, 40 and from Tring. “Last year I was on the limit at 15 minutes, and was hanging on for the rest of the event, so this year I took it easier early on.

“I was more controlled this year, and the road conditions were so bad with pot holes, standing water and silt around the course. You had to really be on the ball, and the marshals did a really good job signalling to riders.”

Top junior rider once again was Michael Parry (Verulam CC) who clocked 56.47, while best Under-16 rider was Sam Murray (Drag2zero) with 1:06.02. And the best team of three was Spirit Tifosi, who placed two riders in the top five to comfortably hold off the challenge of Finsbury Park CC by almost 14 minutes.

And similar to other categories, Roy Chamberlain (Team Corley Cycles) made it two wins in two years in the veterans on standard category, clocking 55.02 to hold off Gray Turnock (Finsbury Park CC).

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* A full gallery of images by Kimroy Photograhy is available here

Results:

1. Lloyd Chapman (Banks Catford Equipe)   51.15

2. Ollie Jones (Team OnForm)            52.15

3. George Fox (Team Bottrill) 52.26

4. Cameron Woolsey (Spirit Tifosi RT)           52.27

5. Doug Coleman (Spirit Tifosi RT)    52.31

6. Sebastian Dickson (Thanet RC)      53.15

7. Stuart Travis (Team Bottrill)           53.46

8. Harold Bradbury (Cambridge Univ CC)    54.04

9. Graham Knight (JCA Equipe Velo)            54.27

10. John Mulvey (Cambridge Univ CC)         54.49

Team: Spirit Tifosi RT 2:45.19

Women:

1. Jody Conibear (Hemel Hempstead CC)     1:06.53

2. Annabel Sill (Kinetic Cycles)          1:07.52

Juniors: Michael Parry (Verulam CC) 56.47

Juveniles: Sam Murray (Drag2zero)     1:06.02

Veterans on std: Roy Chamberlain (Team Corley Cycles)      55.02