Hugo Storey claimed a first hill climb win of the season at the Sunderland Clarion Kibblesworth hill climb on Sunday morning, with Sarah Wilkinson topping the podium for a second time after a dramatic win in the women’s event.

Riding for Blaydon Cycle Club, Wilkinson snatched victory in 4:09-3, narrowly ahead of rival Madeleine Bell (Musselburgh Roads Cycling Club) who had to settle for second in an agonising 4:09-5, while a time of 4:21-8 helped Wilkinson’s clubmate Elspeth Chatto to the final spot on the podium.

This caps a fine run of form for Wilkinson, who was second on her opening hill climb of the season, then third at Muckle CC’s event on August 2 and again at Zurbaran Racing on August 4.

She was also runner-up at North Tyneside Riders’ Winters Gibbet climb on September 8, before a first win of the campaign at Allen Valley Velo on September 22 and then third at GS Metro Hedley on the Hill on September 29.

“This climb is very local to me, so I know it quite well,” said Wilkinson. “That said, it is still a very difficult one to judge due to the changing gradients.

“I always try not to set off too hard - I keep a close eye on my watts and pace the climb that way. I think the last section where it goes downhill and then flattens out played to my advantage today as I could adopt a time trial position and get fairly aero.

“Knowing the hill well certainly gave me a bit of an advantage today - Madeleine Bell has been riding very well all season but I believe this was her first outing on Kibblesworth Bank.”

In the men’s event, Storey (Muckle Cycle Club) pipped Alexander Storey to victory in 3:04-40, with his namesake setting 3:05-80 and Adam Piner, also of Muckle Cycle Club, sealing third in 3:08-20.

Riding his third climb of the season, this was Storey’s first hill climb victory since his win at Protech Velo on September 16 2023, while he has won from seven time trial events so far this campaign.

Afterwards, Storey said: “Anything under three minutes is my kind of hill - anything more than three minutes is just a bit too long for me to keep the power down.

“As usual, I went out hard over the first minute and then simply tried to hang on. I had the live time up from John Bowman's effort on this climb last season. I was 14 seconds up over the first section but by the crest of the hill when the finish line was in sight, I was three seconds down.

“This actually gave me that extra boost of motivation to claw back some extra seconds where it flattens out. I know the hill quite well as we ride it regularly with the club on Tuesday evenings, but I still managed to go out just a bit too hard.”

This event, run on the MH20 course, starts west of Kibblesworth and heads uphill over one mile to finish just before the junction with Birkland Lane.

* All reports are copyright of Cycling Time Trials/Snowdon Sports. Not to be used without permission. This report by James Ayles.

Results:

Open:

1. Hugo Storey (Muckle Cycle Club) 3:04.4

2. Alexander Storey (GS Metro)         3:05.8

3. Adam Pinder (Muckle Cycle Club)            3:08.2

4. Lee Ager (Muckle Cycle Club)      3:17.9

5. Adrian Armstrong (Muckle Cycle Club)    3:18.2

6. Matthew Smith (Muckle Cycle Club)        3:22.1

7. Martin Mikelsen-Barron (Velo Club Cumbria)      3:24.7

8. Colin Atkinson (Muckle Cycle Club)         3:25.9

9. David Hill (Giant-Kendal-Sidas.uk)3:26.1

10. Nicholas Hamilton (Rapha Cycling Club)            3:34.0

Women:

1. Sarah Wilkinson (Blaydon Cycle Club)     4:09.3

2. Madeleine Bell (Musselburgh Roads CC)  4:09.5

3. Elspeth Chatto (Blaydon Cycling Club)     4:21.8

4. Joanne Rea (Team Boompods)       4:23.5

5. Louise Burnie (Blaydon Cycling Club)      4:23.5

6. Lydia Horsfield (Bootleggers Cycle Club) 4:45.7

7. Eleanor Dixon (Outlands)   5:09.3

8. Carolne Cunningham (North Tyneside Riders)      5:03.8

9. Sarah Allen (Outlands)        5:09.3