Just one more medal was resolved in the 14th and penultimate round of the SB Sports Injuries Series leaving the destination of seven going down to the wire for the final round. Things at the top of each table look tight for Silver and Bronze, with some close battles still to be resolved. For once SB Series winner Tomos Hales didn’t get his own way as he had to settle for the runner-up spot on the Tiddly triangle ahead of a superb effort from Oswestry Paragon’s David Griffiths. With a notable south-westerly wind riders enjoyed a fast first leg to Hodnet, but suffered on the long second leg to Stanton which is where the race was won and lost. Griffiths was 38 seconds down on his Round 13 winning time, showing the trickiness of the day, but finished 41 seconds the better of Hales in 21 minutes 11 seconds.
Hales was doing his second event of the day and that may have had an effect as he struggled against the headwind along the A53. Hales stopped the watch on 21:52, 23 seconds ahead of Jonathan Mills-Keeling and explained duathlon-style change of pace: “My running season has started and I was doing the 10 mile time trial off the back of a five kilometre run in the morning. I felt surprising good till about three miles in until we turned into the headwind. I was happy with my time after a busy September; thanks for everyone that organised and marshalled”.
Mills-Keeling is one of the riders challenging for medals and closed the gap to Chris Riley in the Overall SB Series with affine third place in 22:15, with Riley exactly a minute back on the day in seventh. However the Aerologic rider can only tie on points for the Silver medal and would have to rely on count back rules if he manages to take maximum points in the final round. He made progress in the SB Veterans Series though, displacing Helen Tudor in the Silver medal position with a County winning +4:41 to take the maximum 20 points, only bettered by Velotik’s Sally Cunliffe with +5:46. He stated: “Nice autumn weather but slower than expected. It was hard going into the headwind, but I enjoyed it – thanks to all involved”.
In the SB Women’s Series a fine turnout from Paramount CRT saw Hayley Wells take a clear win in 23:45, 2:05 ahead of Cunliffe. Wells scored a personal best with this effort despite the challenging conditions, which had the added complication of staying upright on tractor-spread mud affecting the final leg past the pub that gives this course its name. This was the conclusion of Wells’ time trial season, and she revealed that she went in all guns blazing: “Being the last opportunity to race a time trial this season I was keen to give it 110% and see where I was before the winter training got under way. I quite like the Tiddly course as you can break the course into three sections. Despite a tricky last leg with tractors and mud on the ground, I was super chuffed to end the season with a personal best; a great turnout, and big thanks to the organisers”.
In the Junior Series Ben Southgate already had things sewn up, but took the opportunity to extend his season in these popular events. He ended his afternoon on 23:52, taking 9th spot overall. He commented: “It went well; I struggled with putting the power out though”. Meanwhile the only medal decided on the afternoon went to Hafren CC’s Jess Bufton, already winning in just her first season of time trialling. The 15 year-old took Junior Silver as she can no longer be caught, and expressed satisfaction at winning in her opening season of racing: “This is my first season of racing time trials and I have really enjoyed it. Getting a medal in the SB Series is a bonus – thanks to all the organisers of the events”.
Full:
| Pos’n | Name | Club | Cat | Time | Points |
| 1 | David Griffiths | Oswestry Paragon CC | S | 21:11 | 20 |
| 2 | Tomos Hales | Wrekinsport CC | S | 21:52 | 18 |
| 3 | Jonathan Mills-Keeling | Aerologic RT | V | 22:15 | 16 |
| 4 | Bryn Davies | Hafren CC | V | 22:33 | 14 |
| 5 | Oliver Rodwell | Wrekinsport CC | V | 22:41 | 12 |
| 6 | Conrad Taylor | Hafren CC | S | 23:07 | 10 |
| 7 | Chris Riley | Paramount CRT | V | 23:15 | 8 |
| 8 | Hayley Wells | Paramount CRT | W | 23:45 | 6 |
| 9 | Ben Southgate | Wrekinsport CC | J | 23:52 | 4 |
| 10 | Rich Smith | Wrekinsport CC | V | 24:43 | 2 |
| 11 | Sally Cunliffe | Velotik RT | WV | 25:50 | . |
| 12 | Thea Osmund-Smith | Paramount CRT | W | 25:59 | 2 |
| 13 | Colin Wells | Paramount CRT | V | 26:41 | 2 |
| 14 | Chris Bowers | Mid Wirral Wheelers | V | 26:41 | . |
| 15 | Helen Tudor | Oswestry Paragon CC | WV | 26:46 | 2 |
| 16 | Samuel Wickham | R Irish | S | 27:09 | . |
| 17 | Chris Marrs | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | 27:25 | 2 |
| 18 | Mark Stocks | Newport Shropshire CC | V | 28:50 | 2 |
| 19 | Jayne Powell | Paramount CRT | WV | 28:58 | 2 |
| 20 | John Rowlands | Wrekinsport CC | V | 35:47 | 2 |
Veterans:
| Vets Pos’n | Name | Club | Cat | Vet +/- | Vets Points |
| 1 | Sally Cunliffe | Velotik RT | WV | +5:46 | . |
| 2 | Jonathan Mills-Keeling | Aerologic RT | V | +4:41 | 20 |
| 3 | Bryn Davies | Hafren CC | V | +4:18 | 18 |
| 4 | Chris Riley | Paramount CRT | V | +4:03 | 16 |
| 5 | Oliver Rodwell | Wrekinsport CC | V | +3:38 | 14 |
| 6 | Helen Tudor | Oswestry Paragon CC | WV | +3:02 | 12 |
| 7 | Rich Smith | Wrekinsport CC | V | +2:41 | 10 |
| 8 | Chris Bowers | Mid Wirral Wheelers | V | +2:38 | . |
| 9 | Colin Wells | Paramount CRT | V | +1:41 | 8 |
| 10 | Chris Marrs | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | +0:48 | 6 |
| 11 | Jayne Powell | Paramount CRT | WV | +0:43 | 4 |
| 12 | Mark Stocks | Newport Shropshire CC | V | -1:20 | 2 |
| 13 | John Rowlands | Wrekinsport CC | V | -5:27 | 2 |
Women:
| Women’s Pos’n | Name | Club | Cat | Time | Women’s Points |
| 1 | Hayley Wells | Paramount CRT | W | 23:45 | 20 |
| 2 | Sally Cunliffe | Velotik RT | WV | 25:50 | . |
| 3 | Thea Osmund-Smith | Paramount CRT | W | 25:59 | 18 |
| 4 | Helen Tudor | Oswestry Paragon CC | WV | 26:46 | 16 |
| 5 | Jayne Powell | Paramount CRT | WV | 28:58 | 14 |
Junior:
| Junior Pos’n | Name | Club | Cat | Time | Junior Points |
| 1 | Ben Southgate | Wrekinsport CC | J | 23:52 | 20 |
Cumulative Standings after fourteen rounds
Overall
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 12 |
| 1 | Tomos Hales | Wrekinsport CC | S | 200 |
| 2 | Chris Riley | Paramount CRT | V | 126 |
| 3 | Jonathan Mills-Keeling | Aerologic RT | V | 106 |
| 4 | Ben Southgate | Wrekinsport CC | J | 82 |
| 5 | Dean Callister | Revolutions Racing | S | 74 |
| 6 | Phil Roberts | Wrekinsport CC | S | 56 |
| 7 | George Coombes | Newport Shropshire CC | S | 52 |
| 8 | Conrad Taylor | Hafren CC | S | 44 |
| =9 | David Griffiths | Oswestry Paragon CC | S | 40 |
| =9 | Mark Stocks | Newport Shropshire CC | V | 40 |
Veterans
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 12 |
| 1 | Chris Riley | Paramount CRT | V | 178 |
| 2 | Jonathan Mills-Keeling | Aerologic RT | V | 120 |
| 3 | Helen Tudor | Oswestry Paragon | WV | 116 |
| 4 | Mark Stocks | Newport Shropshire CC | V | 94 |
| 5 | Ashley Kirkham | Wrekinsport CC | V | 60 |
| 6 | Rich Smith | Wrekinsport CC | V | 58 |
| 7 | Jan Davies | Hafren CC | WV | 54 |
| 8 | Deb Hutson-Lumb | Wrekinsport CC | WV | 50 |
| 9 | Les Boughey | North Shropshire Wheelers | V | 46 |
| 10 | Mark Hill | Hafren CC | V | 40 |
Women
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 12 |
| 1 | Helen Tudor | Oswestry Paragon CC | WV | 136 |
| 2 | Jan Davies | Hafren CC | WV | 70 |
| 3 | Deb Hutson-Lumb | Wrekinsport CC | WV | 58 |
| 4 | Hayley Wells | Paramount CRT | W | 40 |
| 5 | Thea Osmund-Smith | Paramount CRT | W | 38 |
| 6 | Jess Bufton | Hafren CC | WJ | 32 |
| 7 | Kathryn Rossiter | North Shropshire Wheelers | WV | 24 |
| 8 | Vikki Jones | Oswestry Paragon CC | WV | 18 |
| 9 | Jayne Powell | Paramount CRT | WV | 14 |
Juniors
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 12 |
| 1 | Ben Southgate | Wrekinsport CC | J | 146 |
| 2 | Jess Bufton | Hafren CC | WJ | 40 |
| 3 | Chester Romei | Paramount CRT | J | 18 |