Phil Williams and Deborah Moss were in good form on Saturday, taking victories at the Mersey Tri 10-mile time trial near Bickerstaffe, Lancashire.

Williams, the 35-year-old from Liverpool who won the opening round of the Merlin Cycles Classic Series in the colours of Team Bottrill, continued his great form with a time of 18-45 for the D10/1 course south of Skelmersdale, giving him the win by 31 seconds from runner-up Sean Mullen (Port Sunlight Wheelers).

Former National Hill-Climb Champion Dan Evans (ASSOS Speed Club UK) was almost a minute slower than Williams in third with 19-43.

Team Merlin’s Deborah Moss, the 50-year-old vet from Wrightington in Lancashire, showed her class once again with a winning time of 23-23 which was 40 seconds better than Samantha Howard (Mersey Tri) in second spot while third went to Angela Dolan (Dolan Ellesse) in 24-34.

The D10/1 course begins at Bickerstaffe and heads south on minor roads to the junction with the A570 Rainford Road. Riders then head north to the junction with the M58, where they turn and head back down the A570 to south of Rainford, turning again at the junction with Mossborough Road and coming back up towards Bickerstaffe and finishing just south of the village.

Williams has consistently been a strong rider for several years, and looks set to make another good impression in 2021. He was fourth at the National 100 last year, second in the National 25 in 2019 as well as the National Circuit Championship and sixth in the National 10 the same year.

He is next due to be in action in the Leicestershire Road Club 27.2-mile event on May 2, but is sure to be seen in events across the region throughout the coming months.

This win in the first of the season for Moss, but comes after several top six finishes including second place in the VTTA (North Lancs and Lakes) 25-mile event earlier this month.

She will be looking for more wins and fast times next month, starting with the Rossendale RC hilly 10.3-mile event on May 8, as well as the Border City Wheelers hilly 28 and the Lancashire Road Club 10 on May 16 and 22 respectively.

* 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