CLINTON LOOKING GOOD FOR NATIONALS

Third last year, Matt Clinton looks the hot favourite for this year?s National Hill-Climb Championships after registering another three wins last weekend.

The Mike Vaughan Cycles rider from Coventry settled for bronze last time, but he has been racking up victories like they?re going out of fashion.

After winning both stages of the Otley CC hill-climbs on Norwood Edge and East Chevin last weekend, Clinton returned to Yorkshire for more hilly action, and scored three wins from three events.

He took victory in the Holme Valley Wheelers event over Holme Moss by almost five seconds from former National Champion Jim Henderson on Saturday morning, with 2007 national title winner James Dobbin third, another 13 seconds slower.

Clinton then won the Huddersfield Star Wheelers? event that afternoon, again beating Henderson and James Dobbin by three and ten seconds respectively. And for good measure, he also won the Drighlington BC event on Sunday.

Down south, Jody Crawforth (Arctic Premier RT) won the Catford CC event on the 707-yard Yorks Hill by just 0.8 seconds from AN Post-Sean Kelly rider Daniel Lloyd, while Bill Bell (Gemini BC) was third, two seconds behind Crawforth.

But later that day Lloyd got the better of Crawforth in the Bec CC event on the Titsey Lane at Limpsfield, where he covered the 700-yard climb in 1-46.44 to beat Crawforth by less than a second, while Bell had to settle for third once again.