BOLTON'S Ben Huddart was first junior at the Ramsbottom Rake hill climb yesterday.

Cyclists came from all over the country to take on the challenge of the prestigious annual event which is organised by Bolton's Lancashire Road Club.

History was made when the female course record was broken by Becky Lewis of Wrexham Road Club who completed the 875m course in 3mins 8.7secs.

Competitors of all ages climbed on to the saddle to race the stamina-sapping event in search of prize money and the kudos of having achieved the tough challenge.

Run by the Bolton club since 1983, the event has a long history going back to 1929.

Its format was changed this year to have separate men’s and women’s races and offer equal prize for the first time.

There was a top prize of £100 in both the men’s and women’s events and the race attracted a record number of 14 female entrants in a 105-strong field this year – the largest number of competitors for the event when it has not been a national championships.

Competition began at noon and took place for two hours.

The overall winner was Joseph Clark of Sheffield whose time of 2:17:02 was just three seconds outside the all-time course record.

Second was Richard Handley of the One Pro Cycling team and second female was Welsh national hill climb champion Jessica Roberts.

There were 21 juniors taking part and the Lancashire Road Club had more than a dozen riders competing.

LRC member Huddart won the junior title with a time of 2:53:04.

The challenging course started at the library in the town centre and took competitors up towards Lumb Carr Road near to the Shoulder of Mutton pub.