Rough roads and resilience at the Shaftesbury CC 50-mile TT
Anna Turvey and Adam Wild triumph, reports Snowdon Sports
Irish international Anna Turvey and talented GS Metro rider Adam Wild both made the most of eight-hour round trips from the North-east to Cambridgeshire, taking victory in the Shaftesbury CC 50-mile time trial in one of the first open events since the coronavirus lockdown was eased.
Based in Morpeth, 23-year-old Wild was more than three and a half minutes quicker than anyone else, clocking 1:34.28 to beat team-mate Carl Donaldson into second.
He was pushed hard by Adam Duggleby (Almerico Vive le Velo) who was just 23 seconds behind at the halfway mark, but a puncture around two miles later ended his hopes and left Wild clear to take the win.
Wet and cold conditions meant a string of non-starters, including last year’s winner Chris Bartley (AS Test Team), but Wild’s time was still better than Bartley’s 2019 winning performance.
A full field of 120 riders had entered the event on the E2 course at Six Mile Bottom, but this was whittled down to 78 finishers, with the weather causing several to pull out, while four riders failed to finish as potholes and punctures took their toll.
“I’m pretty pleased to win that one as it’s a prestigious 50,” said Wild. “I didn’t know what to expect as I hadn’t done a 50 on a proper fast course before.”
Signing in and out was a different experience for the riders, and Wild added: “I felt safe at the headquarters with the social distancing measures in place. When I went to sign in it was just me and my two team-mates, and we were no closer than five metres to anyone else.
“I really miss the social side of time trialling. It seemed weird not going back to the headquarters for a chat and a drink, but hopefully we’ll be back to normal soon.”
Turvey almost joined the list of DNFS, but thankfully survived.
“I hit a couple of potholes and I was just hoping not to puncture, but it was all good,” said the 40-year-old, who also won the prize for best veteran on standard.
“I didn’t have massive expectations because we’ve not had any racing so far, but my time wasn’t bad and my power was decent for the distance.
“I was super-careful going round the turns, although I was pretty knackered afterwards, so that’s good. But it takes a few races to really get to your best, so we’ll see how things go.”