Alex Dowsett edged out Sky team-mate Steve Cummings to earn his first senior British Time Trial Championships title in Cambridgeshire – despite having to negotiate a late bike change on the rolling 47.3km course.
- Alex Dowsett edges out Steve Cummings and Matt Bottrill (© British Cycling)
The 22-year-old clocked 58 minutes, 26 seconds to claim gold 19 seconds ahead of Cummings, while i-ride.co.uk’s Matt Bottrill finished one minute, 48 seconds back in third.
In the women’s event, Olympic individual pursuit silver medallist Wendy Houvenaghel (Bike Chain Ricci) took her third title by nearly a minute ahead of Julia Shaw (www.drag2zero.com), with two-time Paralympic champion Sarah Storey finished third.
Dowsett takes the national champion’s jersey off the back of two-time champion Bradley Wiggins, who is racing the Vuelta a Espana, while world silver medallist David Millar and Geraint Thomas were also missing from the start list.
“I had a bit of a scare right near the end when one of the arm rests fell off,” said Dowsett. “I had to swap bikes about 7km from the finish. I knew I was up at the time but with it being so near the finish I didn’t know whether I’d stayed ahead. I had a bit of a wait afterwards and funnily enough I found out on Twitter that I’d won it.
Dowsett added: “I’m under no illusions that Brad, Dave Millar and Geraint weren’t here. Had they been here it could have been a very different result but I will wear the stripes with pride next year.”
Dowsett has enjoyed a fine debut season as a professional, finishing fifth in the Tour of Qatar prologue and claiming his first pro peloton victory on the final stage of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes last month.
The neo-pro will now turn his attention to the Tour of Britain, which features an individual time trial for the first time since 2005, having been installed as Team Sky’s joint leader alongside Thomas.
“I had the under-23 and the junior jerseys when I was younger but the men’s one is a real step up,” he said. “On paper it says you are the fastest time trialler in Britain so it’s an honour to be able to wear those bands for a year now.
“I’m just letting it all sink in really. With all the new kit and the bike it will be great. It will be cool to ride up and down Embankment next week [at the Tour of Britain] in the national champion’s kit.”
Top ten men
1. Alex Dowsett (Team Sky) – 58’26”
2. Steve Cummings (Team Sky) +19″
3. Matt Bottrill (i-ride.co.uk) +1’48”
4. Russell Hampton (Sigma Sport-Specialized) + +3’12”
5. Joe Perrett (Twenty3C-Orbea) +3’18”
6. Matt Clinton (MikeVaughan.co.uk) +4’07”
7. Blake Pond (Southfork Racing) +4’43”
8. Colin Parry (Wilier-Goselfdrive.com) +5’36”
9. Seth Kay (DataTeamAllstars) +5’57”
10. Tejvan Pettinger (Sri Chinmoy RT) +6’22”
Top ten women
1. Wendy Houvenaghel (Bike Chain Ricci) – 45’38”
2. Julia Shaw (www. drag2zero.com) +56″
3. Sarah Storey (Horizon Fitness RT) +1’23”
4. Rebecca Romero (XRT-Elmy Cycles) +3’02”
5. Emma Trott (Nederland Bloeit) +3’49”
6. Claire Newland (Welwyn Wheelers) +4’37”
7. Ella Sadler-Andrews (Horizon Fitness RT) +4’38”
8. Paula Moseley (Climb on Bikes RT) +5’35”
9. Lynn Hamel (Herbalife-Wheelbase) +6’08”
10. Nicola Juniper (Inverse-Cyclaim) +6’09”
