MALCOLM Rose, of Oxonian, finished third in the opening Oxfordshire Time Trial League meeting at Brill.

Rose confirmed his fine form by recording 43 mins 31secs as he passed the timekeeper at the top of Brill Hill.

This was nearly five minutes behind the winner Dan Bigham (Beeline Cycles), who sped home in 38.35.

Oxonian’s Greg Fitzek finished in eighth place with 46.26, while clubmate Martin Prior was one place behind in 47.37.

The fastest juvenile was Oxonian’s Matthew Thornton in 58.22.

Philip Fowler (Oxonian) discovered that he went faster by removing his pannier rack and finished a creditable 14th in 50.58.