Maddy Hall and Josh Charlton were in a class of their own as they secured convincing wins in the North East heat of the National Youth Championships on Thursday evening.

Charlton (Hetton Hawks CC) returned to the event – which he won last year – as reigning National Youth Champion after the closest of wins in 2018, beating Thomas Day by a mere second.

The junior won his heat by just over a minute last season but this time out, 2-47 separated him from the nearest competitor.

Josh clocked a time of 21-13 over the ten-mile distance and looks a strong contender to retain his title.

“I wasn’t happy with the time itself, but I had great numbers and the beauty of TTs is that it isn’t always about the time, otherwise we’d all ride the same fast courses or downhill roads.

“It’s about getting the best out of yourself in the given conditions, so to win by such a big margin and actually go a few seconds quicker than Keith Murray on Strava for the course means I’m very happy with tonight’s performance!

“As for this year’s GHS Final, I just hope that I can get my name on the trophy for a second year and bring the title back to the region again,” he added.

Kieron Mutch (Racing Metro 15) was the closest to the winner after clocking a time of 24-00, beating his previous year’s performance of fifth place as Daniel Holmes (Derwentside CC) was a further minute back in 25-00 and finished in third place.

Much like Josh Charlton, Maddy Hall (Breeze Bikes RT) topped her heat stage for the North East last year but the performance didn’t translate into a major placings finish.

This year, Hall marginally stretched out her advantage to her North East competitors with a gap of over a minute to second place.

Maddy clocked a time of 27-12 to book her place in the National Youth Championship finals again ahead of Roisin Lally (Cycling Performance Squad) in 28-14.

Rebecca Wren (Racing Metro 15) capped off the girls’ podium spots with a time of 28-50.

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