HAMPSHIRE school teacher, Rowan Horner (VC St Raphael Waite Contracts) handed out two outstanding performances to complete a weekend double to herald the start of the racing season - just like his clubmate, Malcom Cox, did in the same time trials two years ago.

But Horner looked a likely loser when he fell off going uphill approaching the halfway point in the first race, on and out-and-back 18 kilometre course between Storrington and Chichester.

He made a remarkable recovery on the return half to pip hill climb specialist Robert English (Southport CC) by one second.

Making sure not to repeat his mishap racing up the same hill on the following morning, Horner took full advantage of his low profile special time trial cycle bought from a clubmate last week.

Once he swung onto the wind-assisted stretch of the 42-kilometre circuit past Arundel, he went onto break the race record with a winning ride of 58m.17s.

North London's Tim Bailey (Arctic RT), unlucky to puncture and lose all hope of figuring in the final classification on Saturday, was first to beat the hour when he equalled the old race record for an eventual third placing, after English completed the hilly circuit five seconds faster.

But Horner, who started 25 minutes after the latter, had already gained a minute approaching the second crossing of the South Downs, and he extended that lead by another 40 seconds on the descent to seal his weekend win.

Hampshire riders also won the competition for overall team honours, with good performances by Gary Buckett, Ray Robinson and Ritchie Berogna helping this Off the Record Velocity trio overcome a strong challenge from the promoting GS Stella.

Southampton University post graduate Luke Myers - making his debut for Team Axiom, the county's newest cycling club - improved on both his times of a year ago. But after moving up from ninth to sixth place on Saturday he dropped back from ninth to 12th on Sunday, indicating the increased quality of riders taking part.

Results

GS Stella 18km t.t Storrington - 1, R Horner (VC St Raphael) 26-59; 2, R English (Southport CC) 27-0; 3, T Stevens (34 Nomads CC) 27-37; 4, K Coffey (Bec CC) 27-43; 5, P Tadros (Interbike RT) 27-48; 6, L Myers (Team Axiom) 27-50; 7, S Jardine (Twickenham CC) 27-53; 8, G Buckett (Off the Record) 28-14; 9, S Emmerson (Epsom CC) 28-21; 10, M Jones (GS Stella) 28-22.

GS Stella 42km t.t Storrington - 1, R Horner (VC St R) 58-17; 2, R English (SCC) 59-37; 3, T Bayley (Arctic RT) 59-42; 4,J White (JD Cycles) 1-0-28; 5, T Stevens (34 NCC) 1-0-53; 6, S Geran (VC Bayeaux) 1-0-54; 7, J Davies (Science in Sport) 1-1-22; 8, K Coffey (BCC) 1-1-38; 9, S Jardine (TCC) & P Tadros (LRT) 1-1-41.

Overall Classification (Les Jarvis Memorial Trophy) - 1, R Horner, 1-25-16; 2, R English @ 1m.41s; 3, T Stevens @ 3-4; 4, K Coffey, @ 4-5; 5, P Tadros, @ 4-13; 6, S Jardine, @ 4-18; 7, L Myers, @ 4-46; 8, M Jones, @ 5-16, 9, R Robinson (OTR) @ 5-54; 10, R Berogna (OTR) @ 6-50.