Dowsett smashes Lea Valley 25 course record


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Sky professional Alex Dowsett smashed the record for the E1/25 course in Lea Valley CC's 25-mile time trial on Sunday, beating the former best time by three and a half minutes.
Dowsett set a time of 49 minutes and 40 seconds on the E1/25 course, beating the previous marker for the course of 53 minutes and 11 seconds set by Matt Illingworth in 1999.
The course is far from a superfast, out-and-back dual carriageway dragstrip, taking in mainly single-carriageway B-roads twisting through villages. Any rider posting a sub-hour time is considered to be going well.
Second behind Dowsett on Sunday was Tim Davies (Icknield RC) with 56-43, with Chris Rimes (Fenland Clarion) third fastest with 57-21.
Dowsett was using the weekend's racing as a training exercise for forthcoming races on the continent - he lines up for Sky in the Criterum International in Corsica over March 26-27. The last of the race's three stages is a 7km individual time trial.
Last year Dowsett won a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games time trial, Delhi - the only rider to come home within a minute behind winner David Millar (Garmin). The 22 year old from Essex also won the European under-23 time trial title and the Chrono des Nations under-23 time trial.
Dowsett signed a full professional contract with British-based WorldTour squad Sky at the end of last season, having previously ridden for the US Trek-Livestrong development team and British Cycling's Olympic Academy.
Related links
Alex Dowsett: Rider profile
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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