Bowditch is international alpine champ

ANN BOWDITCH has been crowned the international alpine champion.

The Guernsey Velo Club star decided to enter the event only at the 11th hour as a prelude to the World Masters Road Race and Time-Trial Championships in Austria.

'I couldn't resist the opportunity to race an 11.5km hill climb,' she said. 'I was surprised by the format. This was not the usual time-trial style event. We all set off together, so it was more like a road race.'

About 1km in, the riders hit a tough part of the course. 'I decided not to make any early moves, but when one of the riders decided to split things up, I went with her,' Bowditch said. 'One other rider was able to come to us.'

The next nasty section came at around 7.5km, up to which point the Sarnian had ridden very cagily.