Feather and Richardson send message to rivals with wins at Welsh Championships
National hill climb champion Andrew Feather (Champion System UK) showed his form ahead of his title defence by clinching victory in the Welsh Championships, while Rebecca Richardson (Brother UK Fusion RT) took the women’s win.
Feather, aged 35 and from Bath, made it three wins in a single weekend after clinching victories in the Holme Valley Wheelers and Rutland CC events the previous day.
Despite having tired legs from his Saturday exploits Feather landed a psychological blow on his National Championship rivals by clocking a time of 12 minutes and 11 seconds up the Tumble near Abergavenny.
The RH/10x climb sees riders start from the outskirts of Abergavenny before twisting through the trees on the sheltered lower slopes.
Once the countryside becomes exposed the roads rises to a maximum of 13.5 per cent finishing after 4.1 kilometres.
Preparing for the 5.8-kilometre National Hill Climb up Haytor Vale climb in Dartmoor a stellar field lined up for the Welsh CA (Welsh Championships) HC.
Feather was fastest of the lot finishing exactly a second quicker than last year’s Welsh Hill Climb Champion Ed Laverack (SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling) who took second in 12.12, 17 seconds slower than on the same climb last year.
Meanwhile Dan Evans (ASSOS Equipe UK) completed the podium in third (12.32).
Despite having unkinder conditions compared to last year’s tailwind Richardson knocked 11 seconds off her personal best time clocking 15.23.
Veteran rider Jessica Evans (ASSOS Equipe UK) took second in 17.14 while espoir category rider Lucy Lee (Brother UK Fusion RT) finished third in 18.47.
The juvenile boy award went to Evan Burgess (Rhyl CC) with 16.34 while Bethany Bennett (Towy Riders CC) won the juvenile girl category with a time of 20.05.
Fastest Junior was Chris Mann (Velotik RT) with 13.49.
Male espoir winner was Cameron Biddle (Morvelo Basso RT) with 13.03 while fastest male veteran was Phil Stonelake (Bristol RC) with 13.21.
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