Lester Grant scored a double victory by taking the Hill Climb Championship followed by a head-to-head victory over Robbie Mitchell in a tie-breaker to settle the King Of The Mountains series. First was the solo effort up the Cleugh from Preston, where there were convincing gaps between the riders until Duncan Martin and Devrim Turkay could not be separated. All times were slower than last year’s event by between 30-60s despite the fine summer evening sunshine. Lester raised his game again in the mano a mano effort by kicking at the steepest part of the climb just before the brow and holding off Robbie, who never managed to close the initial gap – all good training for Lester’s upcoming crack at the Raid Pyreneen! The last club confined event of the season takes place on Tuesday 30 August – meeting at Preston village hall at 6.30pm – a 5-mile TT over the flat Preston course.

1 L Grant 5:22 (1.4 miles at 16.3mph); 2 R Mitchell 5:46; 3 M Horne 6:00; 4 N Tait 6:22; 5= D Martin 6:53; 5= D Turkay 6:53; 7 J Holmes 6:58; 8 P Ford 7:21; 9 N Trussler 8:44