favourites for Sunday's National Hill Climb Championship at the Southampton Princess.

But whether anyone is in good enough shape to threaten defending champion Elliot Hubbard's record time of 57 seconds, set last year, is another matter.

Hubbard, now competing as a professional in Europe, was the first cyclist to go under one minute in the hill climb last November, knocking five seconds off the old mark of 1:02.

"If I was riding consistently this year it would be something to go after,'' said Looby yesterday. "It's going to be hard to beat, definitely.'' Race organiser Greg Hopkins agrees. "The record is going to be safe. Over that short distance five seconds is a long time,'' he said.

"When it comes to cycling locally, Elliot is in a class of his own. He went in as the outstanding favourite last year.'' Hopkins acknowledge that the absence of Hubbard means the race would be wide open. His own tip is Henry, who is known as a strong hill climber, while he even points to youngster Tyler Butterfield as being a potential factor.

"You can't count out somebody like that,'' Hopkins insisted.

"It probably will be close and more exciting, the top three guys are on a par with each other. A lot depends on the day, the direction of the wind and whether the road is wet or dry.'' Right now Looby would be happy just to regain the crown he lost to Hubbard last year. A good climb by Henry forced Looby to settle for third overall, one second behind.

Looby hopes that the absence of Hubbard doesn't diminish interest among cyclists, some of who are already playing down their participation. "It obviously hurts the sport because people want to come out and see certain people race and then they read in the paper where a person is not interested or hasn't been training,'' said Looby, who has been second, first and third the last three years.'' Looby has only just returned to competing locally after a few months off following an exhaustive period between January and May. He missed the popular May 24 road race and was back in action a couple of weeks ago in a road race in which he and Steve Sterritt tied for first after some confusion over a lap count. This will be his second race with his new bike.

Hubbard's participation in the hill climb last year was followed soon after by his move to Europe to launch a professional career. Looby, who has spent a couple of seasons with California-based Team Extreme, would also like to try his luck in Europe.

"I'm working on it, there are no definite plans at this moment but I do want to go back overseas,'' he said. "California is plan B but now I'm trying to get to Europe to race where the intensity is a lot higher.'' A new champion will also be crowned in the Junior II category where a record was also set last year when Kris Hedges clocked 1:11 to clip six seconds off the old mark.

However, Hedges is away in school which could leave Nuri Latham and Tyler Butterfield -- second and third last year -- to battle it out for top spot.

1996 was a year for records as Doran Simmons won the women's title in a record time of 1:41, knocking ten seconds off the old mark of 1:51 held by Kim Mason.

Mason was second last year.

Junior III rider Roy-Allan Burch rode into the record books with his time of 1:49 in 1996, which beat the old record by one second. He was three seconds ahead of Adam Petty whose sister Allison took junior girls honours ahead of Flora Duffy.