All-rounder Gentry excels in 2-up time trial and is sixth in Diss road race

Liam Gentry of Velo Club Baracchi rode a two-up 10-mile time trial with Bungay fast man Jim Burgess of Anglia Velo in the Godric club event and together they achieved the fastest time of the evening, 21:02.

Liam Gentry

For Gentry this was quite a feat despite the fairly good conditions, as he had ridden 100 miles against the clock two days before.

Burgess himself rode the course once before the event, once with Will Bamber of Cult Racing (who also rode solo in 22:45) and once with Gentry.  He and Bamber recorded 21:14.

Nick Esser rode well with 22:46, the third-fastest of 26 solo riders.   It was two seconds faster than his recent course-best.

Other VCB solo times were Duncan Lines 24:45, Jenny Anderson 26:32 and Mike King 27:55.  Gentry and Burgess were the fastest two-up team and the fastest solo was Neil Turner of Gt Yarmouth CC with 22:20.

John Swanbury and Ali Banks rode a tandem in 23:45, which was Banks’ first time trial of the year and only the second ride for this pairing.

Road racing and time trials are different disciplines, which few riders mix with any significant success, but Gentry, an all-rounder with a recent road race win under his belt, went on to take sixth place in the Diss Road Race.

The race was held near Hopton, just a few miles from Bressingham and the course was quite flat, with sections exposed to the wind.

Three riders broke away early in the race and three laps later another three, including Gentry, joined them.  The bunch, which included Esser, chased down most other breaks but many of the riders were not interested in a chase of the leading break as they had team-mates in it.  Towards the end of the race their energies waned, so others slipped away.

The leading break lasted right to the end and six more riders finished two minutes behind the top six.  The winner was Brian Crump of Eagle Road Club, who was one of the two who rode across the gap with Gentry on lap three.

John Thompson was the only VCB rider in the Stowmarket & District CC open10-mile time trial and was not the only person amused to see that he was listed as a lady on the start list.  It was a hard return into the wind and Thompson recorded 27:34.

The winner was Nino Piccoli of Team Pedal Revolution.com in 20:44.