Smith and Freeman emerge victorious in West Sussex
Gemma Freeman and Mark Smith took narrow victories in the Bec CC 25 near Steyning, West Sussex, on Sunday.
Mark Smith (Crawley Wheelers), a prolific time trialler with over 30 events run this year, got his rewards. The 44-year-old Lindfield-based rider stopped the clock on 54-35 to take his win tally to half a dozen on Sunday.
Smith’s time was good enough for a 28-second triumph over Howard Shaw in second.
Shaw (Eastbourne Rovers) turned his fortunes around with his first podium in just over a month.
The 33-year-old’s has had finishes of 8th, 18th and 4th since the last top-three but a time of 55-03 made the leap back into the prize money possible.
A consistent and impressive 2017 campaign has been followed by a lack of event results for Steve Dennis (East Grinstead CC) who found himself taking the third spot on the podium with a time of 55-46.
Much like the men’s category, the women’s classifications were closely run with Gemma Freeman (Brighton Triathlon Club) prevailing as the winner.
Freeman, 31, was the second female out of the blocks and set a time of 1-08-50 as the marker for the rest of her competitors.
Helen Webb (Sussex Nomads CC) was the only one who came close but feel just 23 seconds short of the winning time in 1-09-13. Katie Simmonds completed the podium back in third in 1-10-44.
* All reports are copyright of Cycling Time Trials/Snowdon Sports. Not to be used without permission. This report by Jack Cudworth.