UK TT Championships

Bronze medal for Movistar Team specialists after three years in the white stripes; unstoppable Wiggins makes Sky 1-2 alongside Geraint Thomas

Under horrible conditions for June 26 -cold and increasing rain over the evening-, Alex Dowsett gave back his British TT champion jersey three years after, the Essex-born rider having worn it with pride and brilliance, most especially for the last one-and-a-half years under the green ‘m’ of Movistar Team. Dowsett took bronze at the 41km course in Monmouthshire, Wales, in and around the golf resort of Celtic Manor.

The parcours, full of turns and not really much for pure specialists -it also included a very hard slope in the run-in to the finish-, witnessed an exhibition from Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins, who took gold after outclassing his competition with a strong first intermediate (26.29). The 1’03” loss for Dowsett, third after the first lap of 20km, did not increase more than twenty seasons in the second part -55.17 across the finish-, the 25-year-old able to distribute his strength well over the course and keep just 13″ off the pace of silver medalist and local hero Geraint Thomas.

Dowsett’s bronze is the first medal in a long weekend of national championships for the Movistar Team. Six of the Blues will line up tomorrow in the Spanish TT of Ponferrada (Ion Izagirre, Jesús Herrada, Valverde, Intxausti, Erviti and Castroviejo), with Jasha Sütterlin also competing in Germany.

Pictures: Huw Evans Picture Agency / British Cycling