Richard Bussell (AeroCoach) got the win he desired in the second round of the Merlin Cycles Classic Series hosted by Beacon RCC.

Bussell, aged 32, took a convincing victory using his local knowledge of the revised 41-mile course to clock a time of one hour, 37 minutes and eight seconds – two minutes and 37 seconds quicker than his nearest rival.

It was Bussell’s second win in as many weeks after also clinching the Stratford CC 10 last weekend.

Bussell finished fifth in the last running of the same event in 2019 but got the victory he wanted on this occasion.

Roadworks caused a late change in the course with riders instead taking in two laps of a small loop of Stanford Bank and Clifton Upon Teme.

The first section of the course saw riders head away as originally planned an opening 17-mile loop east towards Worcester and then back through Little Witley before starting a long drag up past the start and onto a larger and hillier loop.

After exiting Great Witley riders hit Walsgrove Hill before a quick descent down to Stanford Bridge and then climbing out the other side through the trees of the Park Plantation.

Riders then completed two loops of the Clifton Upon Teme loop which included narrow bends and fast descents along with two gruelling ascents of Stamford Bank before heading back to the finish.

Making his first appearance as an under-23 rider last year’s National Junior 25 Mile Champion Thomas Day (SEG Racing Academy) led the chasing pack home taking second in 1-39-45.

David Fellows (Solihull CC) took third in 1-40-28 ahead of new series leader Alexander Boyle (Manchester Bicycle Club).

“Going up Stanford Bank made the course a lot harder,” said Bussell. “I would say when the course changed it would have been difficult as everybody wouldn’t have known the course like I did.

“I knew the opening flat loop I could hold back a bit as the Stanford Bank climb is seven minutes long and with a 42-chain ring it was a grind as you can’t spin up there, it zaps your legs.”

Ben Bright (Tofauti Everyone Active) was a clear winner in the junior time trial bike event with his time of 1-42-11 over six minutes clear of his nearest challenger.

Ryan Greaves (Team HUUB) finished second in 1-48-25 while quickest juvenile Patrick Casey (Team Lifting Gear Products/Cycles In Motion) was third just a further 35 seconds back (1-49-00).

In the veteran’s time trial competition Tim Wood (Team Echelon) took his first victory of the season in 1-52-14.

Local rider Simon Adcock (Worcester St. Johns CC) also used his knowledge of the area to take second (1-52-37) while Kevin Lane (Droitwich Cycling Club) finished third in 1-55-06.

David Murphy (Liverpool Mercury CC) was the fastest paracyclist finishing the course in 2-00-08.

On his first ride of the season Gerard Henry (University of Warwick) was a somewhat surprise winner of the road bike category.

The hill climb specialist clocked a winning time of 1-47-46 which was over a minute clear of his nearest rival.

Jacob Tipper (Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling) won the opening round of the series but had to settle for second on this occasion in 1-48-57 while Alastair Ribbands (Manchester Wheelers) took third in 1-51-08.

In the junior category Jude Chamberlain (Team Jewson - MI Racing ~Poly Pipe~McCann) recorded an average speed of over 20.92 miles per hour on his way to clocking 1-57-34.

Juvenile Tomos Pattinson (Halesowen A&CC) took second in 2-04-20 while Harry Binks (Binfield CC) rounded off the podium positions in 2-21-33.

Quickest veteran on a road bike on scratch was Crispin Doyle (Montezuma’s Race Team) in 1-52-30 ahead of Roy Chamberlain (Corley Cycles RC) in second (1-54-31) while Gary Blackman (
West Midlands Police CC) was just another 13 seconds back (1-54-44).

* All reports are copyright of Cycling Time Trials/Snowdon Sports. Not to be used without permission.

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