Roux makes it Two

George Roux is two time trialling trophies better off at the end of his 2006 season after taking Redhill CC's hill climb title this morning at Leith Hill, to add to the club 50-mile title he took in July. Top junior, Roux, who is the club's highest ranked road-racer, beat reigning champion Nathan Chamberlain by 9 seconds, with club '25' and '100' champion Duncan Murdoch in third place. Another of the club's youngsters, Ben Heath, in fourth, was the only other rider to go under the impressive 5 minute barrier.

Fourteen riders in all took part in the event, held in pleasant, early October sunshine, with a slight southerly wind to assist on the 400ft climb. With riders setting off at one minute intervals, early times fell into the low 5 minutes before Murdoch, riding on a fixed wheel, set the first serious time of the day, with 4:50.7. Following right behind was Heath crossing the line just one second slower, and next came Roux, whose 4:28.1 gave him the lead by more than 20 seconds. All eyes were now on Chamberlain as he crested the hill and crossed the line in 4:37.5 and nearly 25 seconds quicker than in 2005 - close, but not enough, and the title was Roux's.

The hill climb season is now in full swing, and it is good to see that our new champion is already entered for two of the classics of the season, in a fortnight's time: the Catford hill climb and the Bec hill climb (where he will be competing against the likes of Magnus Backstedt and Tony Gibb!) After today's results, perhaps some of our other anti-gravity men will join George, to make up a trio that the the rest of us can go along and cheer on to team victory?

Event / Article Type
Club Hill Climb Championship