It was felt Ryan Mullen's 10 Mile TT marker would stand for some time, but a certain 17-year-old clearly had other ideas.
Ryan Mullen’s junior record for the fastest 10 Mile TT time ever recorded on British roads has been beaten by a considerable margin.
British 17-year-old Adam Hartley has set a new time of 18mins 44secs, lowering the time set by Mullen in 2012 by 17 seconds.
When Mullen - who grew up in the UK - set his time in his second year as a junior his 19:01 marker was regarded as world class time that would be very hard to beat.
The Irish international, who has since won silver in the U23 TT at the World Road Championships and is now riding in his first season for WorldTour team Cannondale, beat the time of Alex Dowsett when setting his record in 2012.
Advertisement
The now Movistar pro had set a time of 19:13 when he was a junior back in 2005.
When Mullen was aged 15 years and still riding in the youth category, he set a time of 19:14, just one second off Dowsett's junior record.
Related News
And when he then went on to clock 19:01 as a junior in 2012, Mullen told stickybottle at the time he had time his effort at 18:57 and despite what the official time said, he believed that sub 19-minute marker was his actual time.
The fact Mullen had bested a record set by someone of Dowsett’s calibre and which had stood for eight years were seen as strong indications Mullen’s record would stand for some time.
However, Hartley clearly had other ideas and has now set a truly eye watering time riding for his VCUK PHMAS Junior Race Team.
He broke the British competition record on Tuesday night at the Hull City Road Club V718 Open event and clocked a time of just 32 miles per hour.
Mullen's time was never ratified as the Irish junior national record because he was not restricted to junior gears when he set his time in 2012.
The Irish junior 10 Mile TT record is held by Mark Downey, the former European Junior Track Championships sliver medal winner.
Clearly it meant a lot to Hartley to not only break the record but to have bested the time of Mullen, whose rapid progress to WorldTour level the new record holder will look to emulate.
Topics
