Eileen Burns on the start line
Starting effort from Ian Inglis
On a cold morning with a rising headwind towards the finish it was great to see 46 riders sign up for the Champion of Champions 25 mile time trial on the classic Portaferry Road course this morning.
Eileen, Ian, Paul and Christian
Fastest was Ian Inglis (Black Rose) with 56:05, followed by early starter Paul Carroll (Velo Club Magasin) second in 56:44 and Christian Nachtigall (Phoenix) third in 57:00. Ian’s winning time was over a minute and a half slower than his winning time 3 years ago, which gives you some idea of how tough the conditions were.
Fastest lady was Eileen Burns (Ballymena), with her time of 1:01:23 almost exactly two minutes slower than her winning ride last year. Joanne Regan (Termoneeny CC) just pipped Judith Russell (Phoenix) for second.
Hand cyclist Daryl Erwin (Ballymena) crashed on the fast descent into Kircubbin. He had some nasty road rash and a couple of burst tyres. Luckily a local resident kindly gave him a lift back to the start, and hopefully we’ll see him back next year.
Fastest Ards rider was Graeme Brown.
Thanks as always to the marshals, the pusher off, the time keepers and the suppliers of coffee. Unfortunately there was a lot of traffic this morning, and some riders were delayed. Sorry about that – we might need to consider moving the start time next year, or possibly changing to a quieter course (although that would be a shame given the history of this classic course, and Chris Boardman’s amazing course record of 49:36).
| Name | Club | Time | ||
| 1 | Ian Inglis | Black Rose | 0:56:05 | |
| 2 | Paul Carroll | Velo Cafe Magasin | 0:56:44 | |
| 3 | Christian Nachtigal | Phoenix | 0:57:00 | |
| 4 | Craig Rea | Phoenix | 0:57:10 | |
| 5 | Patrick McKenna | Emyvale | 0:57:28 | |
| 6 | Alastair Gribbon | Carn Wheelers | 0:57:34 | |
| 7 | Ben Delaney | UCD | 0:58:09 | |
| 8 | Martin Sherry | Emyvale | 0:58:18 | |
| 9 | Chris Hutchison | Madigan | 0:58:24 | |
| 10 | Danial Daly | Phoenix | 0:58:47 | |
| 11 | John Rafferty | North Down | 0:58:49 | |
| 12 | Kevin Lynch | Newry Wheelers | 0:58:57 | |
| 13 | Jason Burns | Ballymena | 0:59:25 | |
| 14 | Gerard Maguire | Phoenix | 0:59:29 | |
| 15 | Keith Phillips | North Down | 1:00:03 | |
| 16 | Mark Millar | Velo Cafe Magasin | 1:00:33 | |
| 17 | James Ambrose | North Down | 1:00:35 | |
| 18 | Eileen Burns | Ballymena | 1:01:23 | lady |
| 19 | Michael Havern | Newry Wheelers | 1:02:05 | |
| 20 | William Lorimer | North Down | 1:02:18 | |
| 21 | Graeme Brown | Ards CC | 1:04:08 | |
| 22 | Brendan McCourt | Northern | 1:04:52 | |
| 23 | Graham McConnell | Dromara | 1:05:14 | |
| 24 | Joanne Regan | Termoneeny cc | 1:05:40 | lady |
| 25 | Judith Russell | Phoenix | 1:05:51 | lady |
| 26 | Andrew Evans | Killinchy | 1:06:06 | |
| 27 | David Quinn | Apollo | 1:06:10 | |
| 28 | Lisa Lamont | Madigan | 1:08:10 | lady |
| 29 | Gillian Orr | North Down | 1:09:14 | lady |
| 30 | Henry Martin | Clann Eireann | 1:09:16 | |
| 31 | Laura Blair | Ballymena | 1:09:28 | lady |
| 32 | Pedar Curran | Shimna Wheelers | 1:09:30 | |
| 33 | William Orr | Ards CC | 1:11:19 | |
| 34 | Darrel Erwin | Ballymena | dnf | hand |
| 35 | Barry Hayes | Island Wheelers | dnf |
There was also an event for club riders run after the main event. The results of this are as follows.
| Name | Club | Time | ||
| 1 | Michael McMullan | North Down | 1:00:14 | |
| 2 | James Lemon | North Down | 1:04:53 | |
| 3 | Joshua Porter | Ards CC | 1:06:33 | |
| 4 | Colin Wilson | Ards CC | 1:08:14 | |
| 5 | Gary Swenarton | North Down | 1:08:35 | |
| 6 | Alison McMullan | North Down | 1:09:40 | |
| 7 | William Gill | Ards CC | dnf |
An Ards CC quartet of Matt Ormeshier, Chris Speers, Michael Price and Richard Hanna completed the club event in 1:00:20