Hales off to a flying start in cycle series

Reigning champion Tomos Hales started the defence of his SB Sports Injuries Series in style, writes Dave Fletcher.

Hales powered to an impressive victory in the opening round, the SCCA Spring 10 No.1 – Dave Fanning Memorial.

Newly signed for Aerologic RT, Hales stopped the watch on 21 minutes 32 seconds, battling with the bike as unpredictable gusts caught his deep section wheels which required rapid adjustment to compensate.

Hales finished 56 seconds ahead of visiting rider Andrew Daniel (Worcester St Johns CC), with this early season event attracting a number of racers from outside Shropshire.

Hales said: “Very challenging conditions for the opening 10 mile time trial for the SB Series. There was a gusting cross headwind in several sections, and I felt it on my wheel at least three times.

"After a winter off the time trial bike it was a challenging start, however, the return leg was very quick and I was happy with my time."

Hafren CC's Bryn Davies took third spot overall in 22:41, 13 seconds behind Daniel - but when the age-related standards had been applied he finished three seconds ahead of the same rider to win the Veterans' category in +4:10.

This was Davies’s first race of the season, and he was left contemplating the character building effort required to punch through.

“I wanted to get the first race out of the way to blow away the cobwebs, and I certainly got that!" he said.

"It was good to be back racing, but the wind was definitely tricky going out, especially with a deep section front wheel. But on the upside, it was great coming back!

"I had to sit up behind a car, but pretty happy with the time considering. I was happy to take third overall and first Veteran, a good start to the season."

Davies’s Hafren CC clubmate and namesake Jan Davies captured the female win by a fine margin of 1:56 over Paramount CRT’s Evie Fletcher, crossing the line in 26:43.

“First time trial of the year for me, and it certainly didn’t ease me in gently," she said.

"A solid block headwind on the way out made for a tough opening leg. It was very much a case of holding form and keeping the effort under control. Thankfully, the return leg told a different story. The tailwind on the way back was a welcome reward, allowing for some real speed and making the earlier battle feel worthwhile."

Richard Simpson only rode two end-of-season SB events in 2025, both gaining him maximum points in the Road Bike category, and this year he looks to be setting his stall out early as he took another maximum 20 points, only missing out on the overall win by eight seconds thanks to another visiting rider, Phil Land of Velo 6 Racing.

Simpson’s adjusted time in this handicap category was 23:46, and the North Shropshire Wheeler pushed another newly signed Aerologic rider, George Coombes, out by 10 seconds.

Simpson had mixed feelings about his efforts however, commenting: “Very pleased to have done enough to secure maximum points in the Road Bike category, but a very sub-par performance from me being 1:20 down on my last run on this course.

"I was so cold it took me until just before the turn to really get going and, while the headwind was hard work, the westerly gusts blowing the bike all over the place were harder to deal with."