Rising star Germain Burton blitzed the field to win the Bec Open Hill Climb by almost eight seconds to take home the £1,000 prize for the second successive year.

The Bec is held on Titsey Hill in Surrey – and 16-year-old Burton needed just 1:45.1 minutes to tame the 700-yard ascent. Burton is the son of three-time British champion Maurice Burton, master of the Six Day circuit in the 1970s.

Team Corley Cycles’ Michael Smith finished 7.9 seconds behind Burton in second, while Smith’s team-mate Richard Cartland completed the podium.

The damp road surface provided testing conditions and Robert Gough was forced to settle for eighth having won the Catford Hill Climb Classic in the morning.

Gough clocked 1:54.5 minutes on the 660-yard ascent of Yorks Hill in Kent to claim top spot for the third successive year.

Catford Hill Climb Classic video

The Catford Hill Climb Classic has been held since 1887, when it was first run on Westerham Hill. The event moved to Yorks Hill in 1935 and the short but sharp ascent, which features two 25 per cent sections, has now hosted the hill climb 65 times.

So what’s this hill climb lark all about? This video of this year’s event from Optimal Cadence Films says it all…

http://vimeo.com/30273999

The Catford Hill Climb 2011 from Optimal Cadence Films on Vimeo.

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