Kelly Murphy (The Independent Pedaler-Nopinz) proved fastest at the Women’s National 25-Mile Championship in Devon on Saturday, while Abbey Thompson and Jacob Bush secured the junior titles.

Murphy, 32 and from Sutton Coldfield, clocked 57-32 for the course near Cullompton, giving her the win by 11 seconds from Team Bottrill’s Kate Allan while her team-mate at The Independent Pedaler Jennifer George completed the podium with third in 58-59.

Jacob Bush (Team Bottrill) successfully defended the title he won last year with a convincing victory in the junior boys’ event. His time of 52-59 was more than four minutes quicker than runner-up Callum Start (Mid-Devon CC).

Meanwhile, the junior girls’ title went to Abbey Thompson (Stonham Barns Park-SYRT) in 1-12-04.

Murphy – who took part in the Sub8 Ironman a week earlier and had not expected to be on top form for the National 25 – said: “I haven’t done a great deal of time trialling this year, but the course suited me being quite rolling. You could punch your way up the climbs and recover a bit on the other side.

“It’s nice that the national championships are all over the country instead of just in the middle, it’s good to get around a bit and see different areas.”

Murphy will now turn her focus to preparing for the Irish National Championships in two weeks’ time.

Junior Boys’ winner Jacob Bush, 17 and from Lincolnshire, was pleased with his ride.

“I drove the course the night before because with eight roundabouts it had to be driven over and checked out,” said Bush, who will ride the CiCLE Classic for the Fensham Howes road team next weekend. “It was lumpier than I thought it would be, but nice to ride a different course.”

And fastest junior girl Thompson, 13 and from Suffolk, added: “It went pretty well, I thought I would do around a 1-10-00, but it was quite windy on the back straight. Other than that it was a warm and sunny day, and I enjoyed the ride.

“The National 25 is a pretty important target for me this year so I’m well pleased, I’m aiming for the National 10 and 50 too.”

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

* A gallery of images from this event is available here