Club president James McFarlane presents the legendary trophy to Marcus Christie
Marcus Christie (PerformanceSBR) put in a superb performance at the Champion of Champions 25 mile time trial this morning, breaking the course and event record. His time of 49:25 trimmed four seconds off George Peden’s record set last year, which in turn was 7 seconds faster than Chris Boardman’s record that had stood for 27 years.
The weather forecast hadn’t looked promising, which was perhaps a factor in the large number of “no-shows”, but the predicted headwind never really materialised and several riders set personal bests in the moist conditions.
Peter McLean and Alan Patterson – fourth and third respectively for Ards CC.
Second was Ross Hamilton (Orwell Wheelers CC) with 54:48, just ahead of the Ards CC pair of Alan Patterson (55:00) and Peter McLean (55:01). Peter was left rueing a broken front brake cable that led to a few exiting moments on the damp roads, but Alan was delighted with a big improvement to his personal best and a notable scalp.
Ciara Havern (Newry Wheelers) sprints for the line.
First lady was Ciara Havern (Newry Wheelers CC), who was 44 seconds faster than her winning time in 2019. Second was Catherine Mahoney (UCD Cycling Club) with 1:06:02.
But the day belonged to Marcus – over five minutes clear of the rest of the field, the second rider to beat the Boardman record we thought would never be beaten, and the new course record holder.
| Name | Club | Cat | Time | H’Cap | HC Pts | McF pts | |
| 1 | Marcus Christie | PerformanceSBR | Elite | 0:49:25 | |||
| 2 | Ross Hamilton | Orwell Wheelers CC | Elite | 0:54:48 | |||
| 3 | Alan Patterson | Ards CC | Elite | 0:55:00 | +176 | 10 | 10 |
| 4 | Peter McLean | Ards CC | Elite | 0:55:01 | -104 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 | Ian Donnelly | Orwell Wheelers CC | 0:55:55 | ||||
| 6 | Paul Carroll | Velo Café Magasin | M50 | 0:56:15 | |||
| 7 | Barry Hayes | Island Wheelers | M50 | 0:57:47 | |||
| 8 | James Gordon | Phoenix CC | Elite | 0:58:20 | |||
| 9 | Mark Gordon | Newry Wheelers | M40 | 0:59:20 | |||
| 10 | Chris Wheeler | Team Madigan CC | M60 | 1:00:35 | |||
| 11 | Jamie Gregg | Dromore CC | Elite | 1:00:50 | |||
| 12 | Philip Loughlin | Banbridge CC | M50 | 1:01:02 | |||
| 13 | Samuel Cunningham | Ballymoney CC | M50 | 1:01:07 | |||
| 14 | Kevin Briggs | Ards CC | M40 | 1:01:38 | +47 | 7 | 5 |
| 15 | Glen Curry | Ards CC | M40 | 1:02:27 | +19 | 5 | 3 |
| 16 | Adrian Kerr | Ballymena Road Club | M50 | 1:03:31 | |||
| 17 | Michael Rowan | Northern CC | M60 | 1:04:06 | |||
| 18 | Ciara Havern | Newry Wheelers CC | Elite | 1:05:04 | |||
| 19 | Catherine Mahoney | UCD Cycling Club | Elite | 1:06:02 | |||
| 20 | Martin Duffy | Banbridge CC | M50 | 1:08:33 | |||
| 21 | John Downey | Unattached Leinster | Elite | 1:09:15 | |||
| 22 | Nigel McCullough | Banbridge CC | M50 | 1:11:30 | |||
| 23 | Ryan Fegan | North Down CC | Elite | 1:12:50 | |||
| 24 | Alastair Martin | Ards CC | M50 | 1:28:41 | |||
| Andrew Jess | Ards CC | M50 | DNF | ||||
| Emma Desmond | Spellman-Dublin Port | Elite | DNF | ||||
| Jonathan Taylor | North Down CC | M40 | DNF | ||||
| Aaron Watson | Powerhouse Sport | Elite | DNS | ||||
| Anthony McConville | Apollo Cycling Team | M40 | DNS | ||||
| Barry Mitchell | Ards CC | Elite | DNS | ||||
| Cathriona O’Brien | Breffni Wheelers | Elite | DNS | ||||
| David Ross | Banbridge CC | M40 | DNS | ||||
| Dominic Drumm | Bann Wheelers CC | M60 | DNS | ||||
| Erwin McKee | Banbridge CC | M40 | DNS | ||||
| Lindsay Watson | Powerhouse Sport | Elite | DNS | ||||
| Michael David Boyd | Unattached Ulster | M30 | DNS | ||||
| Padraic O’Brien | Breffni Wheelers | M40 | DNS | ||||
| Rory McIntyre | Apollo Cycling Team | M50 | DNS |
In the battle for Ards CC trophies, Peter McLean did enough to win the 25 mile handicap cup. He also won the McFarlane Cup (for all club 10 and 25 mile time trials on scratch) after his closest rival Barry Mitchell was unable to start today. The final standings are shown in the table below.
McFarlane Cup
| No | Name | 27/4 | 11/5 | 6/7 | 20/7 | 15/8 | Total |
| 1 | Peter McLean | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 37 | |
| 2 | Barry Mitchell | 7 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 29 | |
| 3 | Alan Patterson | 7 | 10 | 17 | |||
| 4 | Marc Allen | 2 | 5 | 5 | 12 | ||
| 5= | Glenn Curry | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 5= | Kevin Briggs | 3 | 5 | 8 | |||
| 7 | Andrew Hedley | 7 | 7 | ||||
| 8 | Andrew McCullough | 5 | 5 | ||||
| 9= | Ben Healey | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||
| 9= | Conor Hanna | 3 | 3 | ||||
| 9= | Phil Doyle | 3 | 3 | ||||
| 12= | Andrew Jess | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 12= | James Lemon | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 13 | Ian Carson | 1 | 1 |
Thanks to all the marshals, time keepers and pusher off, and for the riders who continue to support this unique event and to add to the history books. Excellent!
Time to cool down and take a well earned afternoon off…