Welsh Hill-climb Championships
Welsh Hill-climb Championships | Sept 17 | Gwynedd
an Evans claimed his fifth Welsh national hill-climb title in six years while wife Jessica made it four in a row as both powered to victory on Sunday morning.
Dan was beaten to the title in 2016 by Ed Laverack, but secured his fifth crown with a commanding display, his time of 10.12 enough for an impressive 41-second winning margin.
“It went really well today,” he said. “It’s a decent course, a three-mile climb with the course record at around 10 minutes, so I was there or thereabouts.”
As well as being husband and wife, the Colwyn Bay couple are also team-mates at ASSOS Equipe UK and Jessica made it a double for them, clocking a winning time of 13.38 for her fourth straight title.
“It was a bit of a funny one for me today as I felt a lot of pressure riding on home territory,” she said. “I really enjoyed it and it always means a lot to win the Welsh Championships and this is definitely the best one of my four wins.
“Each year I have kept on improving, roughly by about 20 seconds or so. But today I went a minute and a half faster than my personal best for this course!”
After finishing 11th at the National Championships in 2016, Jessica is hopeful of breaking into the top 10 when the 2017 title race is held in Northumberland at the end of October.
But Dan is targeting the top prize for a second time following his triumph in 2014, and is in good form after defeating the 2016 champion Adam Kenway on consecutive weekends.
“Hill-climbing is gaining popularity and there are a lot of talented riders out there, but Jess and I had a ride on the national course and I think it is one that definitely suits me this year.
“At 36 and with the event moving to shorter courses in the future, this year may be the best time for me to give it a real go,” he said.
Dan Evans won the Welsh title by a comfortable 41 seconds from espoir Kieran Wynne-cattanach (Maxxis 4 RT), while Jessica Evans was 15 seconds ahead of runner-up Claire Swoboda (Chorlton Velo).