Welsh rider James Ball and Matt Rotherham recorded one of the fastest tandem kilos in history as they won the men’s title on day 1 of the Manchester Para-cycling International.
The duo recorded a time of 59.495 – just over two tenths of a second outside of the world record – to claim victory on Friday 29th November.
Ball from Ponthir, South Wales and his pilot Rotherham finished ahead of compatriots Neil Fachie and Lewis Stewart, who clocked 1:00.759 to win silver, while bronze went to Dutch Paralympic champion Tristan Bangma and his pilot Patrick Bos.
Afterwards, Matt Rotherham said:
“59.4 is an incredible ride – I think it’s something like the third or fourth best ever, so it’s well up there. The kilo is super hard – it never gets easier, you just get faster! It hurt, but it was good.”
Performance Manager Anthony Hughes said, “I always knew James was destined for a fantastic career in Paralympic Sport. I took James to his First British Junior Championships at the age of thirteen and knew he was something special. He dominated the British Junior Athletics Championships winning 3 Gold Medals that weekend in Blackpool. We Joked in Rio at the 2016 Paralympic Games that Tokyo would be his time to shine. He modestly said let’s see I Have to get there first. What a great performance on Friday and lets hope that form can continue into 2020."
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