Colchester Rovers’ Graeme Knott won bronze at this year’s Eastern District Cycling Association Hill Climb Championship.

He recorded a fantastic time of 53.0 seconds to bag third place at the event, which was hosted by CC Sudbury on a closed road course at Semer in Suffolk.

Despite spending a week on antibiotics due to a bout of tonsillitis, Knott exceeded expectations to lead home the Rovers contingent.

Greg Andrews finished 11th place in 56.0s, with Jim Clayton 17th in 59.4s and Mike Smith 19th in one minute four seconds.

The event attracted the strongest field in years, with more than 50 riders taking part.

There were numerous superb performances particularly from the Ipswich Bicycle Club, with Graham Collins claiming the win in 51.2s.

He finished just ahead of 2012 champion Daniel Zagni, who had recently broken his wrist but persevered to post a fantastic time of 52.4s.

Ipswich’s Patrick Cook was fourth in 53.6s, as the Suffolk club walked away with the team competition.

Although relatively short, Watson’s Hill provides a stern test for riders pushing themselves to the limit to record the fastest possible times to the top.

Always popular with spectators, the support for this year’s event reached unprecedented levels and the wall of noise they generated helped all the riders battle through the strong gusting headwinds.