Madelaine Lee-Smith and Liam Maybank were crowned women’s and men’s winners respectively at the Crawley Wheelers sporting 41.6-mile time trial in West Sussex on Good Friday, with both breaking course records on a glorious sunny morning.

46-year-old Surrey resident Maybank clocked 1-31-38 for the course near Handcross, which gave him the win by just 35 seconds from Pat Wright (Paceline RT), while 2018 event runner-up Simon McNamara had to settle for third this time with 1-32-20.

Maybank’s time was a new course record, beating Wouter Sybrandy’s 2012 previous best by 43 seconds.

And in the women’s event 47-year-old Madelaine Lee-Smith clocked 1-53-58, the Oxted CC rider being almost five minutes ahead of the next best female rider in Essex Roads CC vet Gill Cater, while last year’s winner Angela Radden-Rutt (JAM Cycle Race Team) had to settle for third this time.

In other categories, Crawley Wheelers were team winners, beating Addiscombe by just over a minute, while Maybank was also best veteran on standard.

The event uses a technically challenging course which begins at Handcross and heads south through Lower Beeding and Crabtree. At Cowfold they head west and then loop back through Partridge Green and Ashurst before heading down to Steyning.

From there the riders head back up through Small Dole and Woodmancote, looping down into the fringes of Henfield but then turning back and going back north to a finish just before the start point.

Maybank’s win comes after a series of second place finishes this season, which include the Farnborough and Camberley CC 25, the North Hampshire RC 18.5, the Redhill CC sporting 18 and the Kingston Wheelers sporting 13.6.

He is next due to be in action next weekend at the VTTA 25 near Newmarket in Cambridgeshire next weekend.

Further down the result, former 50-mile competition record holder Paul Hart (Southend Wheelers) was fourth with 1-32-30, just ten seconds shy of a podium finish. While 2017 Crawley Wheelers TT winner Mark Smith of the promoting club had to settle for fifth this time after unshipping his chain multiple times.

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