Kyle Gordon topped the men’s timesheets in Castle Douglas and Katie Archibald MBE took the women’s category prize with strong rides in round four of the Sigma Sports Classic Time Trial Series in Scotland.

Gordon (RT 23) made the most of an unexpected change in conditions on Sunday to beat current series leader Adam Wild to victory with a time of 54-48.

“I came down last night and drove the course in my car – I was quite surprised the wind had turned this morning so we were riding with a tailwind for a lot of the way which made it easier than expected – like a rolling time trial,” said Gordon.

Only 13 seconds separated the top two over the course but the 30-year-old who rode for Scotland’s track team in last years Commonwealth games on the Gold Coast, Australia navigated the technical sections with precision leaving him with the maximum 60 points for this round of the series.

Had the multi-disciplined Gordon finished a place higher in his previous series outing, toppling current standings leader Adam Wild (GS Metro) would have been a possibility. Instead, Wild finished a close second in 55-01 to tighten his grip on the series, taking his tally to 237 points. One more win for Wild will seal his victory.

Chris Smart (GTR-Return to Life) featured in his first event of the Sigma Sports Classic Series and continued a fine start to the year finishing third, adding to two second places as well as two wins in 56-06.

Katie Archibald MBE (Team HUUB) powered to victory in her first open time trial of the season since her wining ride in last season’s National Circuit Championships.

“I didn’t know how it would go, the conditions were surprising but someone told me they can do it in under an hour so I would be more than okay,” said Archibald.

The National, World and Olympic champion clocked 1-02-44 but that was more than enough to see her stand atop the podium. With only two races left of the series, Archibald admittedly regretted her decision to watch her brother John win in Buxton (her favourite course) rather than compete.

National Hill-Climb champion Fiona Burnie (GS Metro) finished second to boost her bid for the overall series win with a time of 1-04-32 while Jessa Mitchell (Johnstone Wheelers) was third in 1-08-49.

Douglas Watson (GTR-Return to Life) had a fantastic ride in the men’s veteran category, claiming top spot by over five minutes ahead of Ben Lane (GS Metro).

The 45-year-old’s time was just four seconds shy of senior’s winner Gordon in 54-52 and would have been good enough for second spot ahead of Adam Wild had it been an open aged event.

In other categories, Fabien Large (NOPINZ) was fastest junior in 1-02-49 – almost ten minutes ahead of his nearest rival. And in the paracycling category Nicholas Fairfield (City RC Hull) was victorious.

And while Watson was fastest male veteran, Sarah Lewthwaite (Team Sportslab) was quickest of the female veterans in 1-09-04.

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

* A full gallery of images by Kimroy Photography from this event is available here