Race leader Alice Barnes fights to save the blue jersey (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alice Barnes (Canyon-SRAM) upgraded from silver to gold at the British Road Championships, taking the win at the women's time trial a year after finishing second behind her sister Hannah.
Alice Barnes' time of 36:12 saw her beat Hayley Simmonds (BTC City Ljubljana) into second place by 14.9 seconds, while defending champion Hannah Barnes (Canyon-SRAM) took third, 32 seconds down.
"I came back from the European Games last night. I came away with two fourth places and was pretty gutted with that," Barnes said after the race. "I think I misjudged my time trial a bit and wanted to make up for it here so I'm really happy.
"I just did a short turbo session last night and didn't see the course until this morning – I just followed one of the U23 boys and got an idea of it at race pace there.
"I've not won an elite title yet so I'm really happy and can't wait to get my skinsuit."
It was a warm and sunny day at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, East England, and one lap of a flat 27.4km circuit lay between the 30 women contesting the race and national title glory.
The 38-minute mark was the aim early on, with only two of the first ten riders beating it. Anna Morris (AeroLab Ward WheelZ) was the early pacesetter, putting in a time of 37:57.934 as the seventh women to start.
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Her time would soon be bested by Victoria Smith (AeroCoach) and then Emily Meakin (The Independent Pedaler) who finished in 37:11.724. After that, though, all eyes were on the final ten riders, the professional racers.
Elizabeth Banks (Bigla) was the first of those women to cross the line, going under the 37-minute mark with a time of 36:52.709. Minutes later, two-time national TT champion Hayley Simmonds (BTC City Ljubljana) shaved another 25 seconds off that to dip under 27:30.
Last year's runner-up Alice Barnes set off second-last and went to the top of leaderboards with a time of 36:12.250. Only her elder sister Hannah, could beat her, but crossing the line just over a minute later she would have to settle for bronze.
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
