It’s a temperamental evening along the Redcar esplanade when a rider soloes his way to victory at the national road race championships.

Arriving at Redcar after I finish work, I miss most of the women’s race, making it only in time to see Megan Barker, of Team Inspired, sprint for the line and win the coveted red, white and blue jersey.

The town is heaving; for some teams, there is a whole fleet of support vehicles parked up by the beach, for others, it’s a fairly low-key affair, with parents and partners chipping in to carry rain jackets and spare wheels down from the car park.

I watch a cyclist heading down to the beach on his bike, with a giant set of bike rollers under his arm. Like all the athletes in the town, he is warming up for Britain’s National circuit, criterium, or crit race, consisting of several laps of a short, closed circuit.

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An hour before Ollie Wood crosses the line and claims the title, hundreds of spectators – fans, cyclists, family, broadcasters - line up along the 1.4 km route to watch the 65 cyclists set off.

Before we know it they’re off – one neutralised lap first, and then aggressive racing is underway.

Josh Tarling, a 19-year-old Welshman who showed his strength on Wednesday when he took the national championships time trialling jersey, leads the group, and despite the rapid race, looks like he’s just out on a casual Sunday spin.

Last year’s champion, Matt Bostock of the Black Spoke team, attacks early, and the group of riders fairly quickly becomes strung out around the course.

If enthusiasm could will the rain clouds away then Redcar would have been bone dry, but that’s not how meteorology works, and the course quickly becomes slippery with rain.

A rider goes down not far up the road from my vantage point, and though he picks himself up, he ducks into the pit stop on the next lap, blood dripping onto his sock and frustrated tears in his eyes. It’s a gory and gutting sport.

As the cyclists zip past me to the thunder of hands slapping the barriers, sweat flies off them, and nauseatingly, into my face.  

Ollie Wood, a privateer cyclist, takes the lead. Unable to reel him back in, the peloton lets Ollie slip away further and further up the road over the next few laps. By the time a competent effort to chase him down has organised itself, he has a 20-second lead.

Despite an effort to close the gap between the group and Wood, riders Tarling, Bostock, Sam Watson (Groupama-FDJ) and Joe Holt (TEKKERZ CC) are left to scrabble for the minor places as the race’s conclusion comes into view.

Wood continues to time-trial his way to the champion’s jersey, crossing the line with his arms aloft. A bunch sprint for the remaining podium places sees Bostock take second and Tim Shoreman (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) third.

Despite the support of a very vocal crowd, local favourite Harry Tanfield, from Great Ayton, agonisingly missed out on the podium, coming fourth. 

Read more: British cycling time trial championship in Croft in pictures

The town is littered with the big names of British cycling; camping out in a chip shop after the race concludes, I spot Fred Wright, a top rider for Bahrain Victorious, who’s well known for his breakthrough performance at the grand Tours in the summer of 2022.

A legion of young boys follows Tarling, of Ineos Grenadiers, after he gets off the circuit. They are all clutching freebie bidons and marker pens. The signed water bottles will doubtless be pride of place in childhood bedrooms for years to come.

As we make our way back to the car, suitably satiated by chips, gravy, and a good bike race, the freshly inaugurated champion Ollie Wood cycles past us, new jersey on his back, red, white and blue winner’s flowers on his handlebars; off to wrestle his bike into his car.