<div><div><p>Bottrill&rsquo;s tenacious tribute to late mother.</p></div></div>

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Prolific time trial champion Matt Bottrill powered his way to a solo victory in the Eddie Soens Memorial Handicap on Saturday, lapping the whole field as he secured victory 21 years after he first won the event.

The 41-year-old from Coalville made light of the strong winds, attacking alone virtually from the start of the 30-lap, 50-mile race and using his aerodynamic expertise to cut through the winds and pull away from all his rivals.

After missing most of 2018 due to a back injury, Bottrill is back to his best.

“This is a special moment in my career,” he said. “I thought my cycling at this sort of level was done. But I’ve been training hard since October, and I knew a few weeks ago that everything was heading in the right direction.”

Three times the national 50-mile time trial champion, Bottrill tackled the Soens in the same way, focusing on his own preparations instead of his rivals.

“With speed, power and aerodynamics it’s the same process whether you’re riding a road race or a time trial,” he added. “It amazes me that a lot of people don’t think about the marginal gains.”

A handicap race, the Soens sets the women, juniors and fourth-category riders off first with the third-cats a minute later, the second-cats 30 seconds later and the elite and first-category riders a full three minutes behind the first group.

After just 10 laps, second-category rider Bottrill had caught up with the elite group, and five laps later he was around two minutes ahead of his n

This story is from the March 14, 2019 edition of CYCLING WEEKLY.

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