DOWSETT BACK ON TOP IN RUDY PROJECT

ROUND one winner Alex Dowsett (100% ME) made a successful return to the RTTC-Rudy Project Time Trial Series when he took today?s third counting event over a rolling 26.5-mile course based on Granby, Nottinghamshire.

The Essex teenage star, whose commitments with the Olympic academy will rule him out of the overall, turned in a stunning performance to clock 58-35 ? the only ride inside an hour.

It gave him a winning margin of exactly two minutes over the hugely experienced Richard Prebble (Pinarello RT), the overall series winner in 1996 and 1998, while Prebble in turn scraped a two-second advantage over round two winner and current leader Paul O?Mahoney (Pro Bike Kit).

Julian Ramsbottom (Scunthorpe Polytechnic), runner-up to O?Mahoney on the Bassenthwaite Lake circuit in the Lake District a fortnight ago, was a further nine seconds off the pace.

Women?s British Best All-Rounder Julia Shaw (GS Strada), the overall Rudy Project winner four times in the past five seasons, marked her return to the competition with a stunning victory over round two winner and overall leader Pippa Handley (Edinburgh RC).

Shaw stormed home over the same distance in 1-07-59 to leave Handley trailing by 2min 9sec, with her Strada team-mate Laura Bissell a further 10 seconds back.

RESULTS: RUDY PROJECT SERIES ROUND THREE

Men.-
Alex Dowsett (100% ME) 58-35

R. Prebble (Pinarello RT) 1-00-35

P. O?Mahoney (Pro Bike Kit) 1-00-37

J. Ramsbottom (Scunthorpe Polytechnic) 1-00-46

T. Barnes (Will?s Wheels CC) 1-01-43

J. Stewart (KFS Special Vehicles) 1-02-13

Espoirs.-
Alex Dowsett 58-35

J. Stewart 1-02-13

S. Baxter (Adept Precision RT) 1-03-41

Women.-
Julia Shaw (GS Strada) 1-07-59

P. Handley (Edinburgh RC) 1-10-08

L. Bissell (GS Strada) 1-10-18