New comp record for road bikes?

George Fox’s ultra-quick 18.41 for 10 miles could see the CTT inaugurate a new record category

-  James Shrubsall

Cycling Time Trials will give "serious consideration" to a brand new competition record category for road bikes, following the recent beating of Colin Sturgess's 35-year-old 10-mile mark by Midlands rider George Fox.

Fox took seven seconds off Sturgess's 1988 competition record time with his 18.41, set in the VTTA London & Home Counties event on the F11/10 course near Tring on 7 May.

The 29-year-old's ride could hardly have been more timely, for it comes hot on the heels of the CTT launching a new standalone road bike category in an attempt to attract new blood to the sport.

The governing body has not yet gone as far as to establish a separate comp record category for road bikes, so as things stand Fox's new time will not be recognised as a record as such. But speaking to Cycling Weekly last week, CTT chair Andrea Parish said that the creation of a new competition record seemed to her like the next logical step.

"We will be giving this serious consideration," she said. "Personally I'm all for it - I think it is important that we recognise people's achievements, because it just sends the right message. If we can ignite people's imagination so they say, 'Wow, OK, that's a great target for me,' then we're on the right path."

Parish conceded that the idea might prove contentious for some and pointed out that a decision on the issue wasn't hers to make alone - it would need to be discussed by the board, she said. "It's a lovely problem to have, but it's the thing of, you know, thinking through the consequences of having this new category," she explained.

She was also keen to point out that the new road bike category was not an exercise in turning back the clock and attempting to compare rides across the decades using very different technology.