Prolific time trial ace Gray Turnock (Finsbury Park CC) secured victory in the Norlond TT Combine 25-mile event in Hertfordshire on Sunday, while his team-mate Cheryl Smith was fastest female.

49 and from London, Turnock clocked 55-01 for the F10/25 at Ware, giving him the win by just eight seconds from Marcus Fink (Rapha CC), with Iain Boardman (Dulwich Paragon CC) completing a podium full of veteran riders with third spot, 55-30.

The event took place on a cold but heavy morning with a small but select field mostly some way off personal best performances.

Whitewebbs CC’s Chris Wedge just missed out on a podium finish with 55-48 for fourth spot, while 18 seconds further adrift was first senior rider, Karl Willis (Herts Rouleurs) in fifth.

Cheryl Smith (Finsbury Park CC) was the only woman in the field to start the event with a time of 1-07-40. It was her first open victory of the season, following a third-place finish in the Finsbury Park CC 50 back in July.

For Turnock, the win was his second recorded open victory of the season following on from the Lea Valley CC 25 medium gear event in April. But he has placed second in the Eastern Counties CA Festival 10 and the Maldon and District hilly 18.

Starting near Thundridge, the course takes riders up the A10 to Puckeridge before heading back south all the way round Ware and down to the aptly-named Turnford interchange, where riders head back north to the finish.

* All reports are copyright of Cycling Time Trials/Snowdon Sports. Not to be used without permission.

Results:

Pos   Name  Club  Cat   Time

1     Gray Turnock      Finsbury Park CC  Vet   55:01

2     Marcus  Fink      Rapha Cycling Club      Vet   55:09

3     Iain Boardman     Dulwich Paragon CC      Vet   55:30

4     Chris Wedge Whitewebbs CC     Vet   55:48

5     Karl Willis Herts Rouleurs RC Sen   56:06

6     Daryl Maffey      YH Training S/borough RC      Vet   56:47

7     Gareth Wignall    Hertfordshire Whs Sen   57:00

8     Sam Brown   Rapha Cycling Club      Sen   57:25

9     Malcolm Davies    VC Elan - Harry Perry   Vet   58:16

10    Richard Hutt      Harp RC     Vet   59:29

11    Nick Clarke Lovelo Cinelli RT Sen   59:34

=     Ewan Crallan      Cycling Club Hackney    Sen   59:34

13    Quentin Baker     SW Rouleurs Vet   1:00:53

14    Paul Demicoli     Didcot Phoenix CC Vet   1:01:24

15    Thomas Carding    NLTCBMBC    Sen   1:02:26

16    Clive Wellings    Hertfordshire Whs Vet   1:04:00

17    Cheryl Smith      Finsbury Park CC  Vet   1:07:40

18    Peter Walton      Hertfordshire Whs Vet   1:08:23

DNF   Anthony Rumilla   London Phoenix CC Sen   DNF

DNF   Fraser Hillcoat   Welwyn Whs  Vet   DNF

DNS   Fran Heathcote    Lovelo Cinelli RT Sen   DNS

DNS   Ben Stowe   Hemel Hempstead CC      Sen   DNS

DNS   David Barry Team Bottrill / HSS Hire      Vet   DNS

DNS   Paul French Bedfordshire Road RT    Vet   DNS

DNS   Julian King Welwyn Whs  Vet   DNS