Thomson takes Tingwall time trial trophy

A race against the clock but still, having Carlos Riise to follow is a great target to chase. Photo: Brian Gray

Sunday morning saw riders gather at the Tingwall hall ahead of the first Shetland Wheelers trophy event of the year, the 10-mile handicap time trial.

All geared up and with start numbers pinned to the skinsuits, seven eager-ish time triallists gathered on the start line.

A fresh southerly breeze helped push the riders to the turn in good time, but meant that the return leg was even tougher than usual.

Despite this times on the day were excellent, with some big gains over last year’s benchmarks.

As the riders enjoyed some well-earned tea and biscuits in the Tingwall hall afterwards the handicap times were calculated and the winners discerned.

In first place, for the second year running, was John Thomson – whose time of 23:05 knocked another couple of minutes off of his 2022 best for a calculated handicap time of 16:40.

In second place was the ever improving Gary Horne, and third was the powerful Stewart Hutchison.

The top female finisher was Hayley Dixon with a handicap time of 20:35 (27:46 finish time).

The fastest finish time on the day was achieved by Robin Atkinson who, despite being held up by traffic on the return leg, posted a very quick ride of 21:14.

Finishing times were (handicap in brackets): Robin Atkinson 21:14 (20:27); Carlos Riise 22:56 (20:56); John Thomson 23:05 PB (16:40); Nick Ashworth 25:01; Stewart Hutchison 25:50 (19:31); Hayley Dixon 27:46 (20:35); Gary Horne 28:36 (18:57).

Organiser Andrew Foyle said: “Thank you to iCare Shetland for sponsoring the event once again and we look forward to seeing you all at the next event, which will be a 25-mile time trial on 4th June.”