Lowden and George victorious at National Circuit Championships
Will Lowden and Jennifer George (both HUUB-WattShop) were fastest male and female as Mid-Devon CC staged the National Circuit Championships near Modbury on Sunday.
Defending women’s champion George notched up another victory in the title race, and also secured the Merlin Cycles Classic TT Series overall win as this 25.5-mile event doubled up as the sixth and final round of the series.
Lowden clocked 53.09 for the S6/25a course, giving him the win by 26 seconds from Team Bottrill rival Jake Sargent, with third going to Rob Walker (Ward Performance UK.com) with 53-57.
George clocked 1-01-32 to win by just over four minutes from Lauren Creamer (Velo Fixers) with Laura Pittard (Brother UK-Team OnForm) another minute back in third.
“It was really good, a nice day and really pleasant riding around,” said Lowden. “I’ve never done the Closed Circuit Championships before so I was really chuffed with that. I just enjoy riding my time trial bike to be honest so anything extra was a bonus.
“I’m really enjoying time trials at the moment so I’m keen to keep going with them and maybe do the National 50 or National 100 which will be quite fun.
“The Classic Series and Circuit Championships are pretty perfect as they are on hilly courses which are the ones that I enjoy.”
The win meant that Lowden was assured of second place in the Merlin Cycles Classic Series final standings with team-mate John Archibald already having done enough to guarantee the series win.
And women’s winner Jennifer George said: “It was great, it’s a great course, nice and quirky which I prefer.
“These type of courses tend to suit me so I was happy when I saw the course yesterday. I was quite happy when I saw it wasn’t going to rain this morning, wasn’t too warm and wasn’t too windy either – it was kind of perfect.
“It’s definitely good to come back and defend the title. The Circuit Championships are always done on a course which is a bit more interesting. It had climbs, corners and a bit of everything which suited my background a little bit more than being on a dual carriageway.
“I always tend to fair better on this type of course.”
In the junior title race victory went to Zak Machin (Cero-Cycle Division) in a time of 56-46, 1-42 ahead of runner-up Piers Mahn (Mid-Devon CC) with Theo Anderson (Chippenham & Dist Wh) third, another 26 seconds back.
The junior girls prize went to Abbey Thompson (Stonham Barns Park-SYRT) who clocked 1-20-59, which also meant she wins the Merlin Cycles Classic Series junior prize too.
The Paracyclists category was one of the closest, with Ben Hetherington (Ferryhill Wheelers) winning the national title and the Merlin Cycles Classic Series overall.
His win meant he tied on 235 points with Rik Waddon (Para-T) who was third on the day, but on countback Hetherington has won two rounds while Rik has only won one.
The National Circuit Championship road bike category went to Philip Lock (Warwickshire Road Club) with 1-01-02, while top female on a road bike was Josie Harcourt (Fulfil the Potential RT) with 1-09-26.
In the veterans on scratch category of the Merlin Cycles Classic Series victory in round six went to Tom Scorer (RNRMCA) with 56-50, while the overall title was won by Nicholas Latimer (Lifting Gear Products).
And in the veterans on target time category Keith Dorling (Team Bottrill) was winner of round six with +11.18, but the overall series win goes to Mark Sanders (Mid-Devon CC) who was joint second on the day.
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