the Island, then he did so at Southside on Sunday morning when Bermuda Bicycle Association crowned their first national champions for the season at the National Time Trial Championships.

On a demanding eight-lap course which included an energy-draining hill on each lap, Millington left no doubt that he is not only one of the smartest road racers but just as tough in the hardest of all disciplines, the time trial.

The event is known in the cycling world as `the race of truth' with a rider pitted only against himself and the clock.

Fifty cyclist were on the start ramp to vie for honours in their respective categories and when the dust had settled 10 national time trial champions were crowned.

Millington took top honours in the open category in one hour, two minutes and one second over the 25.75 mile course with the next closest finishers, Steve Sterritt and veteran category winner Greg Hopkins 58 seconds back. Both were timed in in 1:02.59.

Jason Krupp, last week's stage race winner, rounded out the top three in the open category in 1:03.14.

In the men's veteran category, Paul Shrubb continued his comeback to the sport, finishing second to Hopkins in a time of 1:04.11, with Paulo Madeiros and Richard Mason tied for third in 1:07.35. One of the pre-race favourites, time trial specialist Jeff Payne, suffered a flat tyre on his final lap and failed to finish.

In the female open category, Melanie claude retained her title, winning in convincing fashion in 1:05.07 over top triathlete Karen Smith who was making her first appearance in the championships. Smith was timed in 1:09.26 with Jeana Godfrey third in 1:13.20. Kim Mason won the women's veterans event in 1:15.31.

In the boys 15-16 age division, Chris Conway overcame a strong challenge from Jean-Nicholas Bertrand to win in 1:11.34, just four seconds ahead of Bertrand, with Brian Steinhoff third in 1:17.09. Matthew Herring continued to enjoy an impressive season, winning the boys 13-14 category in 43.23 over James Adams and Geoffrey Smith in 45.19 and 46.09 respectively in their 16.08 mile event.

Newcomer Desmond Trott was equally impressive in the boys 11-12 over a 9.64 mile course, beating out Aaron Fenn and Jonathon White who were timed at 30.35, 32.11 and 33.19 respectively.

It was a close battle in the 10 and under boys group with Tim Fox, recovering from a recent appendix operation, taking honours in 19.13 with Alexander McManus at 19.32 and Ricky Sousa at 20.18.

Allison Bolton won the girls 11-12 in 44.15 and Laura Ruse the girls under-10 in 24.15.

Steve Millington: convincing winner of Sunday's national time trial championship.