BEFORE the Tour of Britain passed through Tavistock and Dartmoor last Saturday, Tavistock Wheelers staged a hill climb event on the iconic Merrivale hill which, later that day, was a King of the Mountain stage in the Tour of Britain.

The event, which was jointly promoted with the Dartmoor National Park, attracted 75 entrants, a record entry for a Tavistock Wheelers event.

There was three competitions; club team, corporate team, and young rider. Tavistock area riders featured prominently in all of them. The Tavistock Wheelers 'A' team, led by top local rider Josh Bullock, 19, from Peter Tavy, came second to Bristol South, one of Britain's top hill climbing teams, in the top club category.

Tavistock Triathlon Club came second in the female club team category. Bowel Cancer West, a team formed from consultants at Derriford Hospital, won the corporate team event.

Of special note was the performance of some of the Tavistock Wheelers younger riders, William Johnson, 16, from Yelverton,  came eleventh out of the 75 riders, Peter Jarman, 15, from Tavistock, came 21st.

There were other good performances from younger riders James Anderson and Rob Waddy. The whole event was watched by great crowds, who had started to gather for the Tour of Britain later that day.

A spokesman for Tavistock Wheelers said: 'The day had everything for Tavistock and for cycling-packed crowds, a friendly Tavi welcome to everybody  and great performances from our younger riders. Nobody knows where our future cycling stars may come from, but after Saturday, the chances of them being from this area have increased.'

Further details of Tavistock Wheelers Cycling Club can be found on: http://www.tavywheelers.co.uk">www.tavywheelers.co.uk