Hales hits the heights to win favourite climb
Reigning BBR Hill Climb Series champion Tomos Hales headed back to the top of the standings after round two after taking a solid win in his own club’s promotion on Willomoor Bank.
At just a sniff under a mile, Hales coped best with a course where regular changes of gradient are thrown into the mix and the toughest is left until the end – a 15 per cent maul that turns legs to jelly.
Hales stopped the watch on three minutes 47.89 seconds to push out a first appearance of the series for Ludlow Brewery rider Steven Prince by 2.4 seconds and take the win ahead of a 21-strong field.
Hales stated: “My favourite climb of the year and I was happy to take the win. I took the first section very hard, but managed to hang on up the steep bit."
Hales leads the Series by six points from Junior clubmate Ben Southgate, who had to settle for sixth in 4:12.96, setting out a 22-point lead at the top of the BBR Junior Series.
Prince made the trip north worthwhile with a course personal best, pushing out former Hafren CC member Sam Holwill into third by 1.65 seconds, and taking the veterans' honours from Aerologic’s Scott Palmer by a healthy 10.8 seconds, with Paramount’s Chris Riley rising to the top of the veterans' standings after finishing in 4:50.04.
One feature of the 2023 Series already apparent is the interest among female competitors; and particularly from Paramount with three clubmates racing one another.
Women’s winner was Becky Griffiths with a fine 5:09.16, pushing out Hayley Wells by 13.52 seconds – and heading to the top of the standings as a result.
