Hayley Simmonds smashes 19-minute barrier and re-takes ten-mile TT record

Hayley Simmonds (Aerocoach) once again owns the the ten-mile time trial record after the smashing the 19-minute barrier in East Yorkshire on Saturday.

Having lost her record last week to Anna Turvey (Tyneside Vagabonds CC), British national champion Simmonds reclaimed it with a breath-taking time of 18.36.

Riding in the Team Swift event on the V718 near Hull, the 28-year-old’s time was 32 seconds better than Turvey’s 19.08, and is the first time a woman has recorded a time under 19 minutes.

Widely regarded as the fastest course in the country, the V718  has been happy hunting ground for Cambridge-based Simmonds this year. She broke her own record racing on the course in July, setting a time of 19.31, only to repeat the feat last month with a 19.18.

After a difficult start, this has been a historic year for Simmonds. Having signed her first professional contract with UnitedHealthcare at the start of the year, in June she left the team as she felt her time trial performances were suffering.

She has not looked back since, first retaining her national title, then taking the competition records for both 50 and 25.

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While Turvey was borrowing her crown in Hull last weekend, Simmonds herself was competing at the Chrono Champanois where she finished sixth, just behind a host of top-ten Olympic finishers.

Simmonds was disappointed to have been omitted from the Rio Olympic squad, where Emma Pooley raced instead. However, her recent sparkling form is bound to catch the eyes of the Great Britain selectors, who are due to announce the team for next month’s World Championships in the coming days.