Mike Vaughan trio reclaim team prize at Little Mountain

Mike Vaughan Cycles Matt Clinton, Liz Powell and Jack ONeill.

The roads just to the west of Worcester hosted the time trial which formed part of the National “Classics” Circuit Series and despite the rain holding off, cold temperatures and wind made for less than ideal conditions.

Befitting a national event, more than 150 riders were split into different categories and Liz Powell was the first of the Mike Vaughan trio to take to the road.

Having won the Warwickshire RC 10 by a minute the day before, tired legs were unsurprisingly a factor.

Nevertheless, Powell rode to an impressive time of 1hr 57min 58sec, just a minute short of her course persoanl best and good enough to finish eighth in a strong field which included Dame Sarah Storey.

While Liz Powell was finishing her first leg of the circuit, team-mates Matt Clinton and Jack O’Neill were getting ready to hit the road.

O’Neill was coming into the race having placed second in the BUCS 25 Championships the previous afternoon, and would also be battling heavy legs.

Disappointed with his 2015 performance, O’Neill was aiming to beat his time of 1:43:02.

He managed this convincingly, clocking 1:38:44 to finish ninth overall and round off a great weekend for the 21-year-old.

Only a handful of riders were left to come in after O’Neill, with National Circuit champion Clinton suffering a mechanical ten miles from the finish.

The rough roads rattled his delicate time-trial bars loose and meant he lost his aerodynamic position for the final leg of the race.

Despite losing significant time, it would still be a course PB for Clinton who sliced 16 seconds off his 2014 time, crossing the line in 1:35:16 to finish just three seconds behind runner-up and reigning National Hill Climb champion Rich Bussell.

Professional triathlete Phil Graves took the honours, falling just six seconds short of Matt Bottrill’s course record with a winning time of 1:32:35.

Meanwhile, Team Jewson-MI Racing-Polypipe have obtained the services of 2nd category rider Peter Medhurst who has moved to the Leamington area from Exeter.

On Sunday he competed in the Paramount CRT Road Race near Shrewsbury for 2nd, 3rd and 4th category riders.

In only his second race of the season, he attacked half-way through the event to join the leading group of ten riders.

However, his efforts left him depleted for the closing sprint and he came home in ninth.