Fennell secures another National 25-Mile Championship crown
Chris Fennell powered his way to a narrow victory in the men’s National 25- Mile Championship in Devon on Sunday morning, winning by just four seconds to take a second national 25 title.
The Team Independent Pedaler-Nopinz rider covered the course near Cullompton in 51-37 to win by a narrow margin from Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling rival Oliver Peckover (51-41) who suffered bad luck with an unshipped chain during the event, while third was Jake Sargent (FTP Race Team) with 52-06.
Scratchman John Archibald didn’t make the trip from Scotland, suffering from fatigue after competing in the Sub8 ironman event last week and with one eye on the Commonwealth Games which begin next month.
“I’m pleased with the win, said Fennell, 26 and from Kent. “It’s a rolling course so I pushed hard up the hills and recovered on the way down. It’s nice to win it again after a few years, but now I want to go on and add some other titles to my season.
“I rode the course the day before to see what it was going to be like, so I already knew it wasn’t going to be fast. There was hardly any traffic and it was warm and still, but it was still tough.
“This was one of my main goals for the season,” he added. “I’ve got the National Open Circuit Championships next weekend, then the National 50 and the 100, and the National 10 a bit later in the season.”
Fennell’s victory comes after placing second last year and third in 202, with his only other National 25 victory coming in 2019.
But having won last year’s National 10 and National 50, he will be looking to add more national titles to his 2022 palmares.
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* A gallery of images from this event is available here