Chris McNamra, of the promoting vc Etoile club, has confirmed his recent good form with third place in the Giles Ree Memorial Road Race.

Gary Dodd, from the Kingston-based Festival RC, was the winner and former British 12-hour champion, Colin Roshier (Team Quest) was second.

Sussex road champion, Jon Sharples (Eastbourne Rovers), was fourth Former county champion, Steve Dennis (East Grinstead CC) and East Hampshire visitor, Chris Birch (VC St Raphael Waite Contracts), filled the next two places and all six were credited with the same time of 2hr.55min for the 72 miles.

Good weather, coupled with a well balanced field of 60 competitors, meant all but one of many attempts to establish a break were countered.

Six riders finally succeeded in forming a decisive attack, on the last lap of the second circuit around the Handcross area, but with their pursuers still in sight, they had no time to wait for each other to lead out the sprint once in the finishing straight.

Craig Peters (VC Meudon) denied Dodd's clubmate, Barry Elcombe, the consolation of winning the bunch sprint for seventh place. The winner also went home with the "King of the Mountains" prize decided on the leading riders at eight intermediate locations round the hilly course.

With the start of the Tour de France now only two days away the presence of the Sussex ace, Sean Yates, for the second of two mid-summer ten-mile time trials being organised by Bognor Regis CC at Fontwell tonight, will rekindle memories of his record-breaking ride in "Le Tour" 12 years ago.

He will be the last of 90 entrants to come under starter's orders at 8.30pm and is expected to beat the two-week old course record of 19min.50sec set by Birch's clubmate, Paul Rogers, his principal rival this evening.

Another course record holder, Mike Marchant (Bognor Regis CC), returns to the scene of his succes six years ago this Sunday but has no thoughts of improving on his time.

The event is the Sussex CA 100-mile Cham-

pionship, based this year in Yapton in West Sussex.

The leading contenders in a field of 35 are Dave Shepeherd (Rother Valley CC) and Andy Payne (GS Stella), the gold and silver medallists in the national 24-hour Championship held in the county almost exactly a year ago.