FFOSYFFIN’S Finlay Tarling suffered disappointment in the under-23 Lloyds National Time Trial Championship in and around Aberaeron on Thursday.

The Israel-Premier Tech Academy rider suffered gearing issues and had to change bikes which ruined his race.

The route started 100m from the 18-year-old former Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron pupil’s home.

A disappointed Tarling said: “It didn’t go as planned with the problem with the gears and had to change bikes.

“I lost a lot of time there but it is what it is.

“The support was really good around the course and it was really nice to be on home roads.”

Fin will be hoping for better luck when he takes on the Crit in Aberystwyth this evening when some of the strongest names in the British road scene battle in a high intensity route through the town.

Riders will start and finish on the iconic seafront before taking to the town centre streets in an exciting 1.6km lap.

50 minutes and five laps of racing will decide both the elite women and open championships, and it will also provide numerous opportunities for spectators to cheer on the riders as they pass by.

Fans and spectators don’t have to worry about missing work, as the circuit race gets underway in the evening with the women’s race starting at 18:15, while the Open will begin at 20:00.

And then it’s on to the Open Road Championships on Sunday where Finlay will be racing along very familiar roads.

After a presentation start on the seafront, the road races will head out of town towards Y Gors as far as Trawsgoed on a picturesque yet testing 23.4km anti-clockwise loop, heading back towards Aberystwyth passing Abermad.

With a maximum gradient of 9.1% at the beginning of each lap, the peloton will be thinned out as the action moves onto the finishing circuit after three laps for the women's race and five laps in the men’s race.

The finishing circuits of 12.4km - four for the women’s and five for the men’s race - use the start and finish point on the seafront as its central focus, running along almost the entirety of the promenade, past the old college and the castle grounds, before a technical section through the old harbour before looping out over Trefechan bridge.

Such is the testing nature of the course, there is a maximum gradient of 8.7% through Southgate to be tackled each lap.

The narrow technical 13.8% descent from Moriah back to the main A44 will be a test of bike handling skills as the riders reach the final few kilometres of each championship.

From there, the race heads back into the town before concluding on the seafront promenade after 128km for the women and 187km for the men.

Event start times -

Another local rider, Lowri Richards, will be taking on the road race after finishing the time trial on Thursday in an impressive time of 33.02.

The 20-year-old Wales Racing Academy rider from Ciliau Aeron said: “It was incredible to have a race like that in the area.

“It was hard to believe it when we heard it was coming to Aberaeron.

“The support out on the course today was absolutely amazing.”