Nicholas Narraway celebrated his 24th birthday in style by claiming his maiden National Road Race Championship title on Sunday, three days after bagging his second consecutive time-trial crown.

Narraway broke away from last year’s champion Conor White and Kaden Hopkins with three laps to go in the 62-mile race. His challengers were unable to catch him as he finished with a comfortable lead at Clearwater Beach.

“I’m relieved to finally win my first open male road race championship,” Narraway told The Royal Gazette.

“You know you can do it, but for it to finally come together, it's really nice. To win the time-trial again this year was really nice, it gave me a lot of confidence for the road race, being out there alone gives you that self-belief.

“Just trusting the process and training has brought me this success. I trust my coach and this year I was just a bit more patient, not attacking too early on and wasting energy, really leaving it to the decisive moments.”

“For the first two laps there was just a lot of attacking. Conor did a pretty good attack, got a pretty big gap, then Kaden and I worked pretty hard to close it back.

“I knew Kaden was suffering a little bit. He told me that he didn’t quite have the legs today, so as soon as we caught Conor I just attacked over the boatyard hill. I don’t really think any of us have a particular edge. It just comes down to who has it that day, who has the legs and just luck.”

The champion achieved his double in front of delighted family members.

“I can’t do it without my family,” he said. “It’s always nice to have support. My mum, grandparents and girlfriend were all here, so it means a lot.”

Gabriella Arnold won the 41-mile women’s open contest, with Panzy Olander and Charlotte Millington completing the podium spots.

“It feels great to come back and take the win for the national championships,” Arnold said.

“We had a small field out there today and it made for challenging and tactical racing, really keeping everyone on their toes.

“I would say that the race was pretty aggressive in the first couple of laps. I was able to get away with a couple of riders that weren’t willing to pull through, which made for some negative racing.

“I had an opportunity to get away by myself and that seemed like the only answer. I was able to get away by myself for the last two laps, so for about half of the race.

“The girls here are very strong. It’s always really cool to see them improve year after year and raise the bar in Bermuda.”

There was cause for double celebration for the junior men’s winner with Jackson Langley having also retained his national time-trial title three days earlier.

Langley, of VT Construction, was engaged in a fierce battle with Winners Edge duo Gianluca Bortoli and Dylan Eiselt.

“I’m super relieved to have come out with the win,” Langley said.

“This is one of my favourites to win and it’s up there with the Sinclair Packwood Memorial. Obviously a lot’s on the line, like wearing the national colours for a year.

“At the same time, two Winners Edge guys, Dylan and Luca, did a very good and tactical race where they tried to outgun me. I saw a couple times that they were actually talking to each other, working together and trying to reel me in.

“It was a very well executed race by them because there was big communication. But when I got the chance, I broke away from them and never looked back.”

Langley is heading to Chile on Monday for the Americas Triathlon Championships Antofagasta, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday.

“The Americas Triathlon Championships is going to be a very punchy and fast race,” the 17-year-old said.

“It’s good to get the road cycling race done and I think all racing is good preparation. While Antofagasta is going to be a triathlon, it’s always good to get some tactical race experience on the bike.

“In triathlons, big groups come together and you have to have that analytical outlook, that skill to just sit back in the group and try to get off the front.”

Sofia Leclerc won the women’s junior race ahead of Naomi MacGuinness and Riana Robinson. In her distinctive red helmet, the 15-year-old stuck with the senior women for the better part of the race.

“It feels very exciting to win the race,” Leclerc said.

“I worked really hard, especially with the heat and it was very cool to come first against Naomi and Riana, who are also really fast.

“On the first lap I think Naomi and Riana got dropped in a difficult attack from the older girls. I then stuck with them for as long as I could until I got dropped on the last lap.”

Darren “Shakee” Glasford won the masters men, which had the highest number of entries at 16.

“It’s always nice to represent your team, I ride for Winners Edge and VT Construction is one of the strong dominant teams, so it’s always nice to have a healthy competition,” the 55-year-old said.

“VT had the dominant, strongest and most riders. One of their strong riders, Steve Smith, got a flat tyre on the first lap, so that really drastically changed the game.

“Everybody stayed together almost until the last lap, then there were a few attacks. In the end it came down to a sprint finish with five of us and I won it.”