The fastest time of the day at the British Hill Climb Championships on Sunday was set not by the elite champion, but by 16-year-old Decathlon CMA CGM junior Ezra Bateman, who blasted up the 6.6km climb in Somerset faster than anyone else.
Bateman, who rides for Decathlon's U19 team, stopped the clock at 14:31.9, fractions of a second faster than the fastest elite rider, Ed Laverack, who completed the climb in 14:32.1, as well as prolific hill climber Andrew Feather.
Second-placed junior Oliver Swinburn also set a searingly fast time, faster than all the elite riders except Laverack and Feather for the fourth-best time of the day.
However, despite being the fastest rider of the day, Bateman will not take home the elite national champion's jersey, as the Road Time Trials Council (RTTC) rules are clear that riders are only eligible for the title in the category they entered into.
Though all riders in all categories across age groups, para-cycling, women and open (races in the UK do not have a men's category but an 'open' one) raced on the same climb, the races were not exactly the same, with the weather changing dramatically across the several hours of racing. The juniors raced in the dry whilst Laverack and Feather faced rain, for example.
"To be honest, no, because it’s a different category," Bateman told The British Continental when asked if he felt he should have taken home the open title.
"Even if I set the fastest time, the two categories are different," he continued, though he was personally very pleased to have beaten renowned hill climber Ed Laverack.
"It feels crazy. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it, so I’m not really sure what to say. I did not see that one coming. I was expecting [Laverack] to beat me here. But I’m pretty happy."
There are some Championships that have exceptions to this ruling, such as the British Downhill Mountain Bike Championships, which rule that the fastest rider on the day, whether junior or elite, will be awarded the overall national title.
No such ruling exists in RTTC events, however, where riders are only eligible for the title in the category they are placed in.
This issue is avoided in most other Championships, such as on the road, where junior riders almost always complete a shorter course than the elite field.
Former junior world champion Harry Hudson has previously set junior times that would have seen him on the elite podium, sparking some debate about how the categories work – with under-23s, for example, competing with elites – and Bateman taking the fastest time will surely feed that debate.
Though he won't take home the open jersey, taking the junior title and the fastest time is still a hugely impressive result for Bateman, who is on the Decathlon development pathway but has not confirmed where he will be racing in 2027.
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