AFTER a difficult time for sport in general and with no cycle racing allowed during the recent lockdown, the Wightlink-Wight Mountain TT Series finally got underway last week with a ten-mile time trial on the Colemans circuit.

Having been given the green light by Cycling Time Trials only the week before, and due to a number of riders eager to return to racing, a decision was made to go ahead with the planned event at short notice.

Within 24 hours, more than 50 riders wishing to compete, contacted team organisers, Jerry and Julie Cooper, which led to the original plan for 40 places extended to 50 which became the biggest field ever for an evening TT on the Isle of Wight.

Riders from Wightlink-Wight Mountain, Team Spy, Wight Tri, the Isle of Wight Triathlon Club, the West Wight Wheelers, Bike Jockey CC and a number of independent cyclists, came together to compete in the various categories.

The conditions were favourable and the scene was set for some very fast times.

The top three places overall were taken by Wightlink-Wight Mountain CRT riders.

The fastest time was set by Kev Chant, who picked up where he left off last season — setting a new course record of 20mins 39secs.

Second place went to Clint Oliver in 21.28, closely followed by Adam Holleyman, third, in 21.37.

There were some amazing times set by the U18 riders who competed.

The fastest junior female was Lilly O’Dell (St Ives CC) in 28.22 and Ewan Cook (West Wight Wheelers), the youngest competitor, who had only recently turned 12, was the fastest junior male, in 26.32.

In the ladies category, Faye Faber (CycleCoach.com) was the first home in a time of
22.22, which was not only a new course record, but had also beaten the previous Ladies Isle of Wight 10-Mile TT record by an impressive minute and 18 seconds.

In the veterans category, Simon Ambrosini (Wightlink-Wight Mountain) took first place, clocking up a superb time of 21.45, which was also the fifth fastest time on the night.

"All in all, the event was a great success, but it couldn’t have happened without the support of the sponsors and the Isle of Wight cycling community, who volunteered to help out on the evening," said a spokesman for the event.

"It was a fantastic night, celebrating the best of cycling on the Isle of Wight, and we are
looking forward to hosting the next round of the Wightlink-Wight Mountain series in August."