R4 BBR Hill Climb Series: Ludlow CC Wigmore Road Hill Climb

Spanish team professional Charlie Genner of the Telco’m – On Clima – Osés squad smashed nearly seven seconds off Richard Bussell’s 2022 benchmark of 6 minutes 48.9 seconds in the longest hill climb of the BBR Opticians Series in Round 4: Ludlow CC’s Wigmore Road Hill Climb, held in near perfect conditions. Genner stopped the watch on 6:42 as he tackled the 1.95 mile 5.4% average climb in some style. He is currently No.1 in British Cycling’s National rankings and grew up in nearby Bromyard. He is a product of Halesowen A&CC’s Cycling Academy, for whom he rode in five rounds of the then Sweetpea/BBR Series in 2020 whilst still a Junior.

Indeed, those were the last hill climbs Genner rode, and the experience of breaking the record was a decided re-acquaintance with the pain involved, as he revealed: “The conditions were really good for the hill climb with low air pressure and almost no wind. I find the climb really hard to pace as it’s fairly irregular, with two flat sections in it, but I think this makes it an interesting challenge and I ended up just going out hard and trying to hang on to the top! This was my first hill climb since 2020, so it was a bit of a shock to the system, but I’m very grateful to Ludlow CC for organising it”.

Genner’s closest challenge came from Kirk Vickers, taking the maximum 20 points on offer in his second win of the 2025 Series to move up to joint third in the standings with the other two-round winner Dave Scott, who dropped from first after missing this round. The four-time Series Champion crossed the finish line in 7:29, but suffered with the length of the climb, which requires stamina. Get it wrong and the prospect of blowing is very real, and Vickers seems to have found, managing to hold on to a painful finish: “Quick conditions, but I went a bit hard in the first five minutes and paid for it in the last couple of minutes. It was a top time from Charlie; well done to all riders”.

Ludlow Brewery rider Ed Copeland used the climb to test his fitness after last being seen in a County level 2-Up event in June, and used local knowledge to take third spot in 7:43 to push out Tomos Hales by 15 seconds, and who by his own admission is much more suited to short, sharp, explosive climbs. Copeland was delighted with a return to form, revealing injury had been the cause of his absence: “It’s a very local event for me, so I know the climb very well. It’s a very good climb with a bit of everything in. My first event back after long term injury, so I was very pleased with the result; and a very well run event by Ludlow CC”. Despite finishing fourth on the night Hales climbed into the lead of the BBR Series despite this not playing to his strengths.

Another rider on the comeback trail was Oswestry Paragon’s Neil Coles, who has been sufficiently worried about a shoulder injury that he thought he may not be able to pull on the handlebars. Unlike Hales, Coles made his first entry of the 2025 Series on a favoured climb, taking a narrow win by just three seconds from Ludlow CC’s Paul Rogers in 10:01. He stated: “The first climb of to Series for me on the type of climb that suits me, though slower than last year. I only just managed a win by a few seconds, thanks to Paul for the challenge and Ludlow CC for hosting”.

Bridgnorth CC’s James Saunders broke a triple tie at the top of the BBR Junior Standings with a great effort of 8:23, although he clearly subscribes to the Hales school of preferring shorter climbs. The stamina was tested with the extended distance, as he explained: “The power was good compared to my bests, but I struggled a bit more with the sustained effort compared to the older guys with more training under their belts, which is why the result wasn’t as great as my last event – the hill climb was twice as long”.

Full:

Veterans on Actual:

Juniors:

Cumulative standings after four rounds

Overall:

Veterans on Actual:

Females:

Juniors: