Rachel Galler secured victory in her first hill-climb since 2019, while John Bowman was quickest overall at the Kibblesworth climb near Gateshead, promoted by Sunderland Clarion on Sunday morning.

Galler (Saint Piran) covered the one-mile climb in 3-49.09 to win the women’s category by 11 seconds from Hannah Farran (Team Boompods), while Natalie Lye (Muckle CC) was another seven seconds back in third spot.

Bowman clocked 3-07.1 to win the men’s event by 4.6 seconds from GS Metro rival Alexander Storey, with third being Hugo Storey (Muckle CC), another three seconds back.

After the event, Bowman said: “I was quietly confident of a win today as this is a local climb which I do regularly on a Tuesday night with club mates so I kind of know it inside out.

“A three minute climb is the duration which suits me best. My form is starting to improve so my focus is on being fit and well for Nationals and keeping on the right track.

“I knew I had to go hard for the first minute and maintain it until the first steep ramp and then go all out when it kicks up again – I think I do fairly well at those kind of ramped efforts.”

And women’s winner Rachel Galler said: “It’s the first time I’ve done this climb today and it’s a hard one to get right – I did manage a couple of reps beforehand this morning to get a feel as to how undulating it is.

“My lungs definitely felt that they’d had a workout this morning – when I crested that last rise I knew it was important to keep pushing on for the last 25 seconds.

“Today is my first hill climb since 2019.  My race season didn’t get underway until July, so typically, I’m just coming into form now. I thought, why waste it - I’ll give the hill climbs a bit of a bash and get the most out of my training.

“I was quite surprised to get the win, so the plan now is to see what comes next and keep the training going with a view to entering Nationals at the end of the month.”

In other categories, fastest over-40 veteran was Tim Burdon (Allen Valley Velo) with 3-32.08, while quickest over-50 veteran was Colin Atkinson (Muckle CC) with a faster time, 3-25.04.

The over-60 men’s prize went to David Lavery (North Tyneside Riders) in 4-33.09, while at the other end of the categories the junior prize went to Charlie Thew (GS Metro) with 3-31.03.

Sarah Wilkinson (Blaydon CC) was top female veteran in 4-10.09, with the fastest juvenile girl being Freya Johnson (Gosforth RC) in 4-43.08.

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

Results:

Men:

1, John Bowman (Muckle Cycle Club) 3:07.1

2, Alexander Storey (G.S Metro) 3:11.7

3, Hugo Storey (Muckle Cycle Club) 3:14.08

4, Daniel Keegan (Cestria C.C.) 3:20.05 

5, Lee Cuthbertson (Muckle Cycle Club) 3:25.01

6, Colin Atkinson (Muckle Cycle Club) 3:25.04

Women:

1, Rachel Galler (Saint Piran) 3:49.09

2, Hannah Farran (Team Boompods) 4:00.08

3, Natalie Lye (Muckle Cycle Club) 4:07.01

4, Sarah Wilkinson (Blaydon CC) 4:10.09

5, Freya Johnson (Gosforth RC) 4:43.08

Men V40 - Tim Burdon (Allen Valley Velo) 3:32.08

Men V50 - Colin Atkinson (Muckle Cycle Club) 3:25.04

Men V60 - David Lavery (North Tyneside Riders) 4:33.09

Men Junior - Charlie Thew (Racing Metro) 3:31.03

Women Veteran - Sarah Wilkinson (Blaydon CC) 4:10.09

Juvenile girls - Freya Johnson (Gosforth RC) 4:43.08