THE continentals call the time trial, the race of truth - an unforgiving discipline pitting the rider alone against the course and the elements.

A strong time trialist must be mentally tough and possess the ability to relax and measure their effort. In a time trial you need to hold your heart rate as close as you can to what is known as the red zone, the point where your body is producing more muscle searing lactic acid than it can rid itself of, without blowing.

The sun came out at the weekend, but the temperatures were still close to zero and a chilly wind whipped up as the region's time trialists brought out their new bikes and stretched their legs in the first early-season competitions.

Winchester's Danny Axford, pictured above, team leader of the Artic-Shorter-Rochford squad, showed why the team have put their faith in him as he returned to the Andover Wheelers hilly time trial on Saturday. At just over ten miles it was a good one to test a rider's form.

As defending champion, Axford was keen to come home with the spoils of victory and it was clear from the start that Axford was going to be a force to be reckoned with. The organisers cruelly positioned a hill prize at the top of Conholt hill. In a time trial every second counts and it was the Artic rider who crossed the prime prize point in 4 min 47 seconds and it looked like the race would be his.

But lurking just eight seconds back, however, was Richard Pettinger of the strangely named Sri Chinmou Racing Team.

As the race returned from the turn point Pettinger started to eat into Axford's lead, and as they blazed across the line, it was clear that Pettinger had done just enough to overhaul the defending champion, breaking the course record and pushing Axford into second place 11 seconds behind.

It was all credit to both riders as they both beat the old record which was set by former national road race champion Dave Rand back in 1999.

l Over in the New Forest and also in bright sunshine, Sotonia CC's Mick St Leger trounced the opposition to win his club's latest time trial. On a tough, rolling Lyndhurst course, St Leger powered his way to an almost minute and a half beating of Adam Curtis of Primera Bournemouth.

l In the final round of the UCI track World Cup in Sydney Australia, Fareham's Jaqui Marshall caught the eye of Commonwealth Games selectors.

Quite clearly being developed as Great Britain's bunch race rider, Marshall went up against the best in the world and came away with a credible seventh in the points race.