The secrets of Britain’s fastest time triallists

The 'race of truth' remains a signature of the British cycling calendar, and riders just keep getting quicker... how do they do it?

Adam Duggleby

(Image credit: Andy Jones)

Believe it or not, the sun was out in Hull on the Sunday of the August Bank Holiday weekend in 2017. The air was warm and slippery. Winds were light.

The traffic was flowing smoothly on the A63 and James Gullen arrived at the Hull Ionians rugby club car park and got changed. He had raced a sporting 10-mile time trial the previous day and was training hard for the upcoming Tour of Britain; feeling the efforts of the previous weeks’ efforts, he casually rode up and down the back roads to warm up for the Team Swift charity open 10.

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NameTeam5010012hrAvg speed
Adam DugglebyVive le Velo1:36.203:16.51317.34329.356mph
Richard BideauPendle Forest CC1:38.223:18.54312.10128.891mph
Peter HarrisonAS Test Team1:38.413:18.58312.86828.876mph
Mark TurnbullTORQ Performance1:38.133:21.00312.61228.815mph
Carl DonaldsonGS Metro1:36.133:22.11305.09828.760mph
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NameTeam2550100Avg speed
Alice LethbridgeDrag2Zero50.201:47.203:42.3728.220mph
Kate AllanDrag2Zero50.141:45.363:50.3828.095mph
Laura Bartletta3crg53.571:53.043:57.0226.550mph
Karen LedgerTeam Bottrill53.211:51.354:07.1526.423mph
Chris MeliaBorn to Bike54.581:55.143:55.4126.260mph

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