Chris and Pete stop Bilton men

CHRIS BOARDMAN and Pete Longbottom (Manchester Wheelers-Trummans Steel) won the Nova CC 2-up team time trial on Saturday defeating two professional teams from the Percy Bilton squad and some very strong amateur teams.

Their winning time of 53-19 for the 25 miles relegated the two Bilton teams to second and third places and smashed the long-standing event record held by Paul Sherwen and Brian Pownall, Paul Curran and Steve Joughin finished second at 47 seconds while Rob Holden and Steve Sefton were 1-52 down in third place.

Percy Bilton team manager John Herety said that the Boardman/Longbottom team was the one that posed the biggest threat. However, because of an injury to Steve Sefton, he was unable to pair his riders as he would have liked. His strongest pairing would have been Curran and Holden.

The 25-mile course is based on a left-handed circuit near Holmes Chapel with the teams having to cover almost two laps. Conditions were warm and dry but some riders complained of the hard conditions because of a blustery wind.

The good weather led to a crop of fast times for this event with 11 teams beating the hour. The first team to break the 60-minute barrier was the Weaver Valley duo of Jim Williams and Les Jenkins with 59-40. Their lead was short-lived as Steve Butterworth and Mark Blagden (Manchester Wheelers) reduced the time by 1-37. The Manchester Wheelers pair held top spot until the arrival of the fancied Tunstall Wheelers duo of Steve Farrell and Mike Twelves. Their time of 56-49 was close to the event record and it was good enough to hold top spot until Boardman and Longbottom completed their ride, a massive 3-30 faster.

Attention then focused on the two Percy Bilton teams who were yet to finish. Holden and Sefton finished first and their time of 56-1l gave them eventual third place.

The result now rested on the performance of Curran and Joughin, and although they rode strongly, their finishing time was still 47 seconds too slow.

RESULTS

1. Chris Boardman - Pete Longbottom (Manchester Wh-Trummans Steel).. 53 19
2. S. Joughin - P. Curran (Percy Bilton) 54 6
3. R.Holden - S.Sefton (Percy Bilton).... 56 11
4. M.Twelves - S. Farrell (Tunstall Wh) .. 56 49
5. S. Rowlands - G. Watts (Horwich CC) 57 37
6. S. Butterworth - M. Blagden (Manchester Wh) 58 3
7. C. Pyatt - R. Sharrock Stoke AC) 58 6
8. V. Smith - J. Fiddles (Horwich CC) 58 12
9. M. Lovatt - M. Harrison (Congleton CC) ..58 43
10. P. Wheddon - J. Watchman (ABC Centrevill) 58 55