Road bikes proved the way to go on Sunday as Jennifer Batey and Mark Robertson used them to their advantage in their 24.8-mile Allen Valley Velo victories near Allendale in Northumberland.

After many near misses, Sgt Mark Robertson of Army Cycling jumped the final hurdle and secured his first open TT victory on a road bike nonetheless.

The road bikes proved a fruitful choice for the top three in both men’s and women’s categories but Robertson’s ride was particularly impressive, coming within 21 seconds of the course record of 1-08-06 set last year by Jamie Johnson on a TT bike.

Robertson clocked a time of 1-08-27, dominating the event by a margin of 2-17 ahead of second place.

“First open win – I’m pretty happy about that – that box is finally ticked after five years of time trialling!!” he said.

“I knew in my head that basically the course was just three climbs, then the section in the middle for a bit of recovery, then the blast back to the finish.  I was pretty nervous before my start – I’ve never won an open event and thought I had a decent chance of getting one today on the road bike.”

Tim Wilcock (GS Metro) finished second in 1-10-44 while Chris Burns (Reifen Racing) clocked 1-12-00 in third as well as having a hand in Reifen winning the team prize.

The women’s event wasn’t as clear cut as Team Boompods teammates Jennifer Batey and Hannah Farran were separated by only three seconds.

A sprint to the line resulted in Batey taking the top step of the podium, clocking 1-24-37 to Farran’s 1-24-40.

“I just got back from a training holiday in Spain on Friday morning, so today was pretty tough! 

“There were a few speckles of rain at the top and a relentless headwind, but I loved the tail-wind on the return section. There was a load of Allen Valley Velo supporters up the top making a racket and that really spurs you on.

“Everyone was winding me and Hannah up when we got back about our time being so close. We weren’t sure who to believe until we saw the computer results,” Batey said.

In third was Lucy Siddle (Allen Valley Velo) with a time of 1-24-58.

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

Results:

1. Mark Robertson (Army Cycling)    1:08.27

2. Tim Wilcock (GS Metro)   1:10.44

3. Chris Burns (Reifen Racing)          1:12.00

4. Jamie Johnson (Barnesbury CC)    1:12.08

5. Terry Wilkinson (Barnsebury CC) 1:13.35

6. Nick Badcock (Allen Valley Velo) 1:14.31

7. Jonathan Bayley (Reifen Racing)   1:15.02

8. Eoin Gormley (Blaydon CC)          1:16.32

9. David Jones (EMC Cycling)           1:16.46

10. Ross Gray (Allen Valley Velo)    1:17.07

Women:

1. Jenn Batey (Team Boompods)       1:24.37

2. Hannah Farran (Team Boompods) 1:24.40

3. Lucy Siddle (Allen Valley Velo)    1:24.58

Veteran: David Jones