Professional job by Clinton at Nationals

Matt Clinton improved on his ninth-placed finish in the 2010 British Time Trial Championships, coming in sixth at an extremely wet Sawtry in Cambridgeshire on Sunday.

Persistent heavy rain hampered the Mike Vaughan Cycles rider’s warm-up for the 2011 event. And, while it soon eased off, a headwind and uneven road surface made it tough going on the first leg of the course.

On his second lap, Clinton was caught and passed by Team Sky’s Alex Dowsett, who was on his first lap, but maintained a 30-second gap to the eventual winner, coming home in 1hr 2min 33sec.

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Dowsett upped the pace on his second lap to come flying in at 58:26, with team-mate Steve Cummings the only other rider to break the hour.

Clinton, however, can take some satisfaction from the fact the five riders ahead of him have all represented Great Britain at some point, with three current professionals.

In the veteran E category for riders aged 50 to 54, Leamington C&AC’s Rob Weare took the bronze medal with a time of 47:18 for the 21-mile course, while in the F category (55-59), John Herring was third in 49:12.

Baginton’s Mick Ives was expected to complete his seventh championship win in eight years, but was unexpectedly pipped to gold in the 70-74 category by CC Ashwell’s Richard Glover.

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In a high-class women’s event, Leamington C&AC’s Alex Grzegorczyk came home 17th in 55:18.

Meanwhile, Wellesbourne rider Tim Stowe showed terrific endurance in the Gorrick 12-hour mountain bike event in Surrey.

Stowe, 54, covered 105.3 miles to finish fifth overall despite competing against riders up to 14 years younger than him.

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