Bell 'nearing his best' ahead of National Championship defence

Tom Bell wraps up preparations for Hill-Climbo Nationals with victory in Derbyshire

- Snowdon Sports/James Ayles

Having claimed victory at the 2021 Championships on Winnats Pass, Bell has bounced back from a disrupted start to his 2022 season to put himself in a strong position to retain his title in the face of competition from close rival Andrew Feather.

A time of 3:23.3 helped the High North Performance rider to a dominant win on the Riber in Derbyshire last weekend, 27.8 seconds ahead of Matthew Denis in in 3:51.1, while Team PB Performance’s Jude Taylor was a second further back in third.

Climbing back from Covid

With only the title race on the Old Horseshoe Pass to come on Sunday, Bell is confident he is nearing his best again after a season that has seen him win four of the six races he’s entered.

“This was a good victory for me,” said Bell, who had Covid-19 at the start of the hill-climb season. “It has been a challenging couple of months, although my results don’t really reflect it as they’ve been OK.

“I don’t think I’ve quite found my form from last year yet but I’m feeling fairly confident going into the Nationals and I feel like my form is coming together at the last minute.