In what he described as one of the best races of his career, Wiggle sponsored mountain biker Matt Page successfully defended his UK 24 hour Solo Championship title this weekend at the 24 Hours of Exposure race in Newcastleton. The race – which has been his sole focus for the first part of his season – also incorporated the European Championships, so Matt’s victory earned him the European crown too.

He said: “To retain the title and take the European win at the same time is simply fantastic, although I don’t think it has really sunk in yet. The race itself was pretty epic, with arduous weather conditions to contend with. I felt good from the start, took up the pace early on but suffered a puncture on lap two. I fought back and overcame that and stayed strong throughout the whole race and for the first time ever in a 24 hour solo race I didn’t go through a bad patch. During the night I gained a lead and kept extending it through to the finish.”

The race began at noon on Saturday and saw competitors go head to head around a 12 mile off-road loop which featured 300m of climbing. Matt completed 20 laps – one lap more than any other rider – to secure his victory.

He said: “I am lucky to have such fantastic support from Wiggle and a brilliant pit crew – Wiggle mechanic Ben, my fiancée Nia and my mum. They kept me rolling through some really filthy conditions, so I owe them a huge amount.”

Keeping his energy levels up during the race was vital and Matt was well fuelled by Torq Energy Drink, High5 4:1, High5 Xtreme as well as Torq gels, Clif Bars and Clif Shot Blocks. After the race he began refuelling with Torq’s recovery drink – and also treated himself to his first alcoholic beverage of 2011!

Throughout the race, his pit team updated his Twitter account so that followers could get live updates and find out how he was progressing. He switched between his two Rocky Mountain Element RSLs, both with identical specifications, to ensure he remained as fast as possible.

Martin Talbot, Wiggle’s director of marketing, said: “Huge congratulations to Matt on his brilliant victory this weekend. We are only too proud to support Matt and we are delighted to see him successfully defend his title.”