The 2014 National Hill Climb Champion Dan Evans smashed his own course record and put a stop to Kirk Vickers’ winning streaking in Round 3 of The Coaching Revolutions Hill Climb Series. Evans reduced his 5 minute 44.50 second benchmark also set in 2014 on the way to that National Championship with an almost unbelievable effort of 5:35.63, 28 seconds ahead of Vickers showing the quality of this ride on the tough Oswestry Paragon Mount Road climb.

This 1.65 mile course climbing towards The Old Racecourse has a sting in the tail but was no match for Evans, who revealed a liking for the climb: “The Oswestry Paragon hill climb has turned into a bit of a start of season ritual for me, so it’s nice to begin with a course record and bodes well for future events. The course is particularly difficult to ride with a steep ramp to start, flat middle section and a real wall to the finish leaving riders gasping for air and generally crawling over the line – it takes a special sort of sadist to enjoy this hobby! Thanks to Oswestry Paragon for hosting the event, always friendly faces and a nice relaxed atmosphere. See you in 2018“!

Vickers was full of praise for Evans’ ride, though still maintained his grasp on the Series with his third maximum 20 points for affiliated County riders in a row thanks to his 6:04.10 effort. With another strong competitor, Ryan Morley just two seconds off his pace in 6:06.16 Vickers knew he was in for a race from the start, which pushed his competitive streak even harder: “It was a tough competition. I paced it well, a new Personal Best for me. Well done Dan Evans, untouchable“. Morley added: “I was pretty chuffed with the result. I’d never call myself a hill climber, but the nature of the climb suited me better than some other climbs. It was a long effort and I was really hurting by the top. A great event, with loads of spectators giving a good atmosphere at the top“.

Hill climbs suit the young and the lightweight, with an emerging trend of this Series being it’s attraction to Juniors. One rider making a name for himself is Tyler Brennan, who not only took his second win in the Junior Championship with a fine 6:22.16 – he was also County runner-up too. The 18 year-old leapt to the top of the junior standings thanks to this fine ride, just seeing off a punchy exertion from Vickers’ Rhino Velo team mate David Scott by two seconds.

Hafren CC’s Brennan seems to like the courses the tougher the better, as his post-race comments indicated: “I was feeling pretty good, I’m trying to peak for these ones. I quite liked the course, but I think I lost a bit of time on the downhill section about halfway up. I tried to push on during the last bit, I really stretched myself. It’s the first time I’ve done the course and I did like the last bit“! Scott, who has taken County third at all three Rounds added: “I was really happy with how it went, I think I paced it much better and performed better on longer course than I expected. Happy with another 3rd in the Shropshire league though“!

If Vickers is bossing the Overall standings then Ian Coupland is also making a name for himself in the Veterans Championship as he also took his third win on the trot. The Mid Shropshire Wheeler just missed breaking the seven minute mark with his fine ride of 7:00.60 which was good enough for 7th spot overall amongst a quality field of 30 riders. He stated: “I was pleased with my ride to take another Veterans win, yet left with ‘What if?’ for not going under seven minutes“. This fine ride saw Coupland stretch his lead over Neil Coles who finished County Veterans runner-up in 7:19.53 to six points.

In the Women’s Championship it was Evans’ wife Jess who posted the winning time of 7:11.28, bizarrely tying with Junior runner-up Sam Holwill for an impressive 9th place overall. But it was another Hafren CC rider who took over the lead in the Women’s Series with Emma Serjeant stopping the watch on 9:05.36 in her first experience of the course. Serjeant expressed awe at the tough afternoon on offer, stating: “What a course with a sting in the tail! It took everything I had on the last section of the climb as it got steeper“!

 

Result:

 

Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Points
1 Dan Evans Assos Equipe S 5:35.63
2 Kirk Vickers Rhino Velo RT S 6:04.10 20
3 Ryan Morley RAF CA S 6:06.16
4 Tyler Brennan Hafren CC J 6:22.16 18
5 David Scott Rhino Velo RT S 6:24.15 16
6 Tom Brazier Team Elite S 6:25.16
7 Ian Coupland Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 7:00.60 14
8 Rob Kerr Oswestry Paragon CC S 7:01.06 12
=9 Sam Holwill Hafren CC J 7:11.28 10
=9 Jess Evans Assos Equipe L 7:11.28
11 Steve Aston Fibrax Wrexham RC V 7:16.15
12 Neil Coles Oswestry Paragon CC V 7:19.53 8
13 Mark Hammond Paramount CRT S 7:24.23 6
14 Andy Maxwell Nova Raiders S 7:24.35 4
15 Alex Loven Fibrax Wrexham RC S 7:31.51
16 Haydn Jones Fibrax Wrexham RC V 7:33.10
17 Paul Williams Oswestry Paragon CC V 7:34.23 2
18 Ben Pierce Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 7:35.25 2
19 Jan Kardasz Fibrax Wrexham RC L 7:43.51
20 Justin Walsh Oswestry Paragon CC S 7:43.88 2
21 Mike Holwill Hafren CC V 7:43.99 2
22 Tom Richardson Oswestry Paragon CC S 7:59.70 2
23 Paul Whittingham Paramount CRT V 8:09.60 2
24 Darrell Walsh Oswestry Paragon CC V 8:33.56 2
25 Peter Everett Fibrax Wrexham RC S 8:42.53
26 Jack Young Oswestry Paragon CC J 8:45.64 2
27 Lucy Bulkeley Fibrax Wrexham RC L 9:00.56
28 Emma Serjeant Hafren CC L 9:05.36 2
29 Jon Robertson Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 9:19.07 2
30 Ron Perks Wrekinsport CC V 13:32.69 2

 

Veterans Result:

 

Vets Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Vets Points
1 Ian Coupland Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 7:00.60 20
2 Steve Aston Fibrax Wrexham RC V 7:16.15
3 Neil Coles Oswestry Paragon CC V 7:19.53 18
4 Haydn Jones Fibrax Wrexham RC V 7:33.10
5 Paul Williams Oswestry Paragon CC V 7:34.23 16
6 Mike Holwill Hafren CC V 7:43.99 14
7 Paul Whittingham Paramount CRT V 8:09.60 12
8 Darrell Walsh Oswestry Paragon CC V 8:33.56 10
9 Jon Robertson Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 9:19.07 8
10 Ron Perks Wrekinsport CC V 13:32.69 6

 

Juniors Result:

 

Juniors Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Junior Points
1 Tyler Brennan Hafren CC J 6:22.16 20
2 Sam Holwill Hafren CC J 7:11.28 18
3 Ben Pierce Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 7:35.25 16
4 Jack Young Oswestry Paragon CC J 8:45.64 14

 

Women’s Result:

 

Women’s Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Women’s Points
1 Jess Evans Assos Equipe L 7:11.28
2 Jan Kardasz Fibrax Wrexham RC L 7:43.51
3 Lucy Bulkeley Fibrax Wrexham RC L 9:00.56
4 Emma Serjeant Hafren CC L 9:05.36 20

 

Cumulative standings after three rounds

 

Overall Top 10:

 

Position Name Club Cat Best 5
1 Kirk Vickers Rhino Velo RT S 60
2 David Scott Rhino Velo RT S 48
3 Dan Watts SCCA Private Member S 36
4 Ian Coupland Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 34
5 Tyler Brennan Hafren CC J 32
6 Devon Round Rhino Velo RT J 24
7 Matty Redworth Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 16
8 Mark Hammond Paramount CRT S 14
=9 Chris Roberts Hafren CC S 12
=9 Neil Coles Oswestry Paragon CC V 12
=9 Rob Kerr Oswestry Paragon CC S 12
=9 Sam Holwill Hafren CC J 12

 

Veterans Top 10:

 

Position Name Club Cat Best 5
1 Ian Coupland Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 60
2 Neil Coles Oswestry Paragon CC V 54
3 Mike Holwill Hafren CC V 28
4 Jenny York Mid Shropshire Wheelers LV 26
5 John Robertson Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 24
=6 Andy Collins Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 16
=6 Paul Williams Oswestry Paragon CC V 16
=8 Dave York Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 12
=8 Paul Whittingham Paramount CRT V 12
=10 Darrell Walsh Oswestry Paragon CC V 10
=10 Jim Percival Wrekinsport CC V 10
=10 Pauline Hughes Revolutions Racing LV 10

 

Juniors Top 10:

 

Position Name Club Cat Best 5
1 Tyler Brennan Hafren CC J 40
2 Devon Round Rhino Velo RT J 38
3 Matty Redworth Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 34
4 Sam Holwill Hafren CC J 30
=5 Ben Pierce Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 16
=5 Sam Morris Revolutions Racing J 16
=7 Alfie Mortimer Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 14
=7 Jack Young Oswestry Paragon CC J 14
=7 Kieran Cooksey Wrekinsport CC J 14
10 Lewis Page Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 10

 

Women’s standings:

 

Position Name Club Cat Best 5
1 Emma Serjeant Hafren CC L 38
2 Jenny York Mid Shropshire Wheelers LV 36
3 Lucy Hart Mid Shropshire Wheelers LJ 20
4 Pauline Hughes Revolutions Racing LV 14
5 Louise Downward Hafren CC L 12