Bowditch third in national time trial

ANN BOWDITCH produced arguably the best time trial ride of her career, finishing third in the fourth round of the National Rudy Project Time Trial Series held in Tavistock, Devon. The course was a monster 27 miles of relentless climbs followed by white knuckle descents, many taken in excess of 40mph.

The opening four miles were the toughest of any time trial in the UK, rising over 220 metres, which is three times higher than Le Val des Terres.

After a reconnaissance ride the day before the race, Bowditch commented that the course was the hardest she had ridden, but it also suited her strengths of climbing and descending at speed around sweeping corners.

Part of the skills needed to ride at national level on unfamiliar territory, is being able to assess a course and build a strategy. Bowditch confessed after the race that her pre-race tactics had been short lived.

She had planned to hold back until the 10-mile mark, but as she settled into the race she realised the need to capitalise on her power-to-weight ratio and dig deep on the climbs.

'I wasn't sure if I had the level of fitness to push hard on the hills and recover enough on the descents having only recently started my high-intensity training.

'Also I considered the fact that I had to push hard on the downhill stretches in order not to lose out to the heavier riders. I considered the options before changing my race plan. It was a little risky but today it paid off.'

With just five miles and two major climbs remaining, Bowditch received a time check, which revealed the Science in Sport rider was 10 seconds down on Ruth Elliott of the In Gear team.

The Guernsey star used all of her hill-climbing prowess to claw back the deficit to claim third place by a single second.

The race was won by the reigning national 10- and 25-mile champion, Wendy Houvenghal, with British time trial champion, Julia Shaw, claiming second.