Third successive gold for cyclist McLean in 10-mile time trial

Cyclist Christine McLean won the gold medal in her age category for the third year running in last weekend’s British 10-mile Time Trial Championship.

McLean, representing Shetland Wheelers, made the long journey down to Warwickshire to compete in cycling’s most popular event, where over 300 of the country’s top riders were all hopeful of a chance of a new personal best time.

This year the competition was held south of Birmingham on the busy A46 near the historic town of Alcester, where the clear sunny conditions saw temperatures rise to almost 30C.

Christine was seeded among the fastest riders in the 100-strong women’s field, which saw her start in the company of multi-distance champion Julia Shaw and Olympic medal winner Sarah Storey. McLean’s time of 22:46 secured her gold in her age group and earned her 11th place overall.

In the afternoon the men’s race was won by Michael Hutchinson with a ridiculously fast time of 18:37. Hutchinson had not lost a time trial in almost 10 years so it was no surprise when he won by almost a minute. Scottish 10-mile silver medalist Carlos Riise was also at the event, finishing second in his age group and 44th overall with a time of 20:58.

The previous Saturday Riise won a 25-mile time trial on a windy day near Aberdeen. He was up against 60 riders, crossing the line well clear with a time of 54:54.

The following day Riise rode against a field of 80 in a 10-mile time trial at Stirling. He won by a single second in a time of 21:15.