Matt Page wins UK and European 24hr Solo titles

By BikeRadar UK and Joolze Dymond

24hr winners Kate Potter (women), Matt Page (men) and Mark Spratt (vets) (Joolze Dymond - www.joolzedymond.com)

Matt Page (Wiggle.co.uk) successfully defended his UK 24 hour Solo Championship title last weekend at the 24 Hours of Exposure race in Newcastleton, Scotland. The was also the European Championships, so Page was crowned European champion as well.

To achieve the result, Matt rode 20 laps, totaling 344km (213 miles) with 8900m (30000ft) of climbing, beating Ant White (2nd), Simon Smith (3rd) and the occasionally bad weather in the process.

"To retain the title and take the European win at the same time is simply fantastic, although I don't think it has really sunk in yet," said Page. "This mountain bike race was pretty epic, with arduous weather conditions to contend with. I felt good from the start, took up the pace early on but suffered a puncture on lap two. I overcame that and stayed strong throughout the whole race and for the first time ever in a 24 hour solo race I didn't go through a bad patch. During the night I gained a lead and kept extending it through to the finish."

The women's 24 Hours of Exposure winner was Australian Kate Potter, who clocked 16 laps to beat the UK's Rickie Cotter. Cotter was therefore crowned UK and European 24 hour champion.

Potter, who has had a break from endurance racing, said: “Great to be back! I must admit there were a few tough moments of "What was I thinking?!" - out there in the early Sunday morning hours during a rather bitter storm, during a clumsy ‘self to blame' mechanical that meant a rather slow run back to camp and when nausea and back pain set in.

"The rest of the time was full of so many positives that I don't know where to start. I was part of an amazing team of racers and pit crew (Cotic-AQR Holidays Race Team), I was surrounded by other racers who were so friendly and the crowd support was unreal. SIP Events put on a fantastic event and the venue was gorgeous. I love Newcastleton.”