Dan Bigham claimed his fifth national time trial title of 2017 after powering to victory at the 10-mile Championship in Cumbria on Sunday afternoon.

With James Gullen not participating due to his selection for the Tour of Britain, the National Circuit, Team, 25-mile and 50-mile champion went into the event as favourite and the last man off did not disappoint, despite the continued blustery weather and the rain that had not been forecast.

The 25-year-old from Stoke stopped the clock in 19.01 to give himself the victory and yet another title, by a 12 second margin.

“It went well, I knew what to expect with the course and I spoke to some of the riders from earlier in the day,” Bigham said after his triumph.

“I stuck to the pacing strategy really well, there were no missed gears, no mistakes, it was just one of those days where it all went right.”

A lot has gone right for Bigham in 2017, who finished 21st in this event last year, but the Brother NRG Wattshop rider is now the holder of eight national titles in total, including three on the track.

“They have all been interesting in their own right,” Bigham said “The 50 was special because it was my first ever race over the distance. Today I felt under pressure and a sense of relief with victory, and that is a contrast to the ones on the track where the pressure was off.”

Despite eight titles to his name already, Bigham has no plans to try and make it nine at the national hill climb championships.

“I’m back on the track now so it doesn’t fit into my schedule and I’ll leave it to the specialists. But for an early preview I would go for Isaac Munday, he was second last year and he is my pick to win it!” he added.

Ryan Perry was second for Raleigh GAC, his time of 19.13 gave him the silver medal 20 seconds ahead of Matt Langworthy (Mid Devon CC) who completed the podium.

There was more success for Bigham, who along fellow with national team time trial champions Charlie Tanfield and Simon Wilson, claimed the team prize for Brother NRG Wattshop in a cumulative time of 58.44.

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