MIKE Vaughan Cycles’ Matt Clinton claimed third place in his last open time trial of season on his road bike at the Coventry Road Club’s ten-mile event at Princethorpe.
Clinton did without his super-fast Trek Speed Concept time trial specific machine and instead opted to ride out to the event on his Trek Madone road-race bike – a machine more suited to the hills than time trials.
After a tough few training sessions in midweek, it was not a day for breaking his own course record of 19:18, but a strong field of 120 riders made it a tough event.
Knowing the course like the back of his hand helped Clinton, who paced the race perfectly to clock 20:38 (29.2mph) – a stunning speed on a road bike.
This was fast enough for third place overall in the event, just 20 seconds down on the winner from the promoting club, Piotr Kiln.
This weekend Clinton now looks to hitting the hill climbs, with his first being on a short version of this year’s Nationals course in Stocksbridge, Sheffield.
