A GRUELLING 12-hour time trial saw Sam Taylor ride excellently for Weaver Valley Cycling Club.

On the roads around Farndon, Taylor overcame back pain and struggling to digest his mix of gels and solid food to post an impressive sixth-place finish in the WCTTCA event.

He started strongly and maintained a good pace throughout, finishing with a distance of 257.74 miles – David Parkin of Chorley Cycling Club was the winner after completing 282.96 miles.

Elsewhere, Matt Heath and Alan Shuttleworth represented Weaver Valley at the Withington Wheelers 25-mile time trial, with the former impressing to finish eighth by clocking 57mins 24secs despite being relatively new to time trialling.

Shuttleworth, who is over 70 years old, finished in a commendable 1hour 17mins.

Meanwhile, Emily Martin was looking to improve her national ranking on a fast Sherwood CC 25-mile course near Nottingham.

A block headwind may have dropped her average speed below her target, but she still managed to win the event in her fastest time of the year to date – she clocked 57mins 17secs to finish more than two minutes clear of her nearest rival.