Melissa Lowther and Mark Turnbull reigned victorious as Dame Sarah Storey failed to finish in the Janus RC’s Fred Gratton Memorial 25 on Saturday.

TORQ Performance rider Turnbull notched up his fourth win of the season by triumphing in the 25-mile event around Goostrey.

Turnbull finished second in last week’s Salford Cycling Club 25 behind Simon Wilson but his time of 51-35 was enough to elevate him to the pinnacle of the podium.

The 45-year-old Macclesfield resident managed to maintain his impressive form in the 2018 season by pipping Port Sunlight Wheelers rider Andrew Wilkinson by 32 seconds.

The former National 24-hour, 12-hour and 100-mile champion Wilkinson crossed the line in 52-07 on the J2/9 looped circuit in Cheshire to finish second and take the Veterans on standard prize in the process. The 54-year-old went +16.45 quicker than scheduled.

Darren Maironis (Velotik Racing Team) couldn’t quite equal the feats from his last two outings after winning in the Chester Road Club 25 as well as the Racing Chance Foundation 25.

Maironis made up an all veteran podium with the 45-year-old posting a 52-44, 37 seconds behind second-placed Wilkinson.

Storey Racing had a mixed day on the road in the women’s category. Melissa Lowther and Monica Dew completed a 1-2 finish for the team with times of 59-00 and 1-00-09 respectively.

The successes of Lowther and Dew were a saving grace for the Storey Racing team as team owner and Britain’s most successful female Paralympian Sarah Storey failed to finish due to an “incident with a car”.

Coming off of the back of two wins, the 14-time Paralympic Gold medallist was left to be content with her teammates outcomes after the unfortunate event, gladly no one was hurt.

In other categories, Peter Howarth (Stretford Wheelers CC) took the handicap prize with a 42-05 ahead of Adrian Derbyshire and Frank Healy.

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

Results:

1    Mark Turnbull   TORQ Performance           51:35

2    Andrew Wilkinson     Port Sunlight Whlrs        52:07

3    Darren Maironis Velotik Racing Team        52:44

4    Joseph Dobson   Manchester B C       53:02

5    Ben Norbury     Congleton CC         53:42

6    Adrian Hughes   Seamons CC      54:22

7    Adam Darby Salford CC      54:41

8    Rod Mason  Stockport Clarion CC       55:34

9    David J Williams     Velotik Racing Team        55:42

10   Andy Ashurst    Manchester Whlrs           55:55

Handicap                  

1    Peter Howarth   Stretford Wheelers CC      42:05

2    Adrian Derbyshire    Leek Cyclists' Club        43:22

3    Frank Healy     Ravensthorpe CC      43:42

Vet on Std                

1    Andrew Wilkinson     Port Sunlight Whlrs        plus16.45

2    Mark Turnbull   TORQ Performance           plus15.28

3    Darren Maironis Velotik Racing Team        plus14.19

Women           

1    Melissa Lowther Storey Racing        59:00

2    Monica Dew Storey Racing        01:00:09

3    Emily Martin    Weaver Valley CC           01:01:57