Dominique Mayho led a stellar field of the island’s best cyclists yesterday morning, posting the fastest time of the day in the Winners Edge time-trial.

Starting and finishing adjacent to Harrington Sound School, the course took the riders in an anticlockwise direction with challenging climbs up Wilkinson Avenue, left onto North Shore Road at Swizzle Inn roundabout, followed by a long drag up Crawl Hill, taking them past Shelley Bay, into Flatts and then left back onto Harrington Sound Road.

With riders competing against the clock at 30 second intervals, Mayho, who travels to Belgium on April 6 to race and train for the season, was the first to start and set a blistering time of 16min, 36sec to set a standard that would hold throughout the 79-rider field.

However, finishing perhaps closer than many expected, Mark Robinson clearly showed that he is ready to assume to mantle of top local time-trial rider after Mayho leaves, as he recorded a time only nine seconds slower.

Leading the junior charge was third-place finisher, 15-year-old Kaden Hopkins who was a further 29 seconds back and who is stepping up to the adult A category in road racing this year after a successful 2015 season in the B category.

A new theme to the time-trial events this year is the separation between riders on time-trial bikes, which are specially designed aerodynamic machines, and traditional road bikes.

The fastest finisher in this category was Dave McComas who managed an eighth place overall in 18.15. Fabian Schonenburg finished second in 18.48 with Mark Hatherely clocking a time of 19.10 to place third.

First female on a time-trial bike was 15-year-old Alysa Rowse in the 15-16 female category, which came as no surprise to many who have seen her on the mountain bike circuit this year where she has pushed many of her male counterparts. Her time was 19.40 with Nicole Mitchell clocking at 20.16 and Julia Hawley next at 20.43.

Category winners were: Manuel Lonfat, 40-49 male, Geoff Smith, male 50-59, Glenn Franklin, male 60-plus winner, Christian Oatley, male junior 17-18, Julia Hawley, 50-59 female, Maria Duffy, 60-plus female, Kion Richardson, junior male 13-14, Tristan Narraway, 17-19 female, Liam Flannery, junior male 11-12, and Megan Hands, junior female winner in the 11-12 age group.