Hundreds take part in Red Bull Timelaps at Windsor Great Park (+ gallery)

800 cyclists – including Katusha-Alpecin pro and former British time trial champion Alex Dowsett – this weekend took to a closed-road circuit in Windsor Great Park to battle it out at the second edition of the Red Bull Timelaps.

With the race, which functions as a four-rider relay, coinciding with the clocks going back early on Sunday morning, it lays claim to the title of the longest one-day race in the world in terms of time, taking place over 25 hours.

Northamptonshire-based Team VeloElite 25 – who as Wellingborough Cycles won the inaugural edition last year – successfully defended their title with 146 laps of the 6.6-kilometre circuit

Jack Patmore – who was joined in the four-man line-up by James Woodfield, Jordan Peacock and Ollie Bates – said: : “It was definitely tough, absolutely freezing and the wind really picked up throughout the night.

“The weather this year really added in an extra factor to what is an already very hard event.

“This year we had a second Velo Elite team which helped with tactics as we could pair up out on course. With two hours to go, we attacked and left everyone behind ”

The women’s race was won by the Specialized Women’s team, who racked up 118 laps. Team member Rebecca Hair said: “We found we were leading half-way through, we dropped off a little bit but clawed it back. I just did the last lap and I’m in bits. Nat, who is our strongest rider, smashed the Power Hour” – when points count double – “which really helped us.”

The 5th Floor team, comprising Tom Griffiths, Javier Romartinez, Jack Driver and Emma Bentley, won the mixed race.

Dowsett, meanwhile – a Grand Tour time trial stage winner as well as multiple British champion in the discipline – came away with the prize for the fastest lap, which he completed in 8 minutes 42.03 seconds.

He said: “It's the hardest amount of fun you can have on a bike. It was a lot of fun, but really tough at times.

“This is more than just racing, the community, a whole other world of cycling that I don’t get to be a part of that often, so I’ve really enjoyed being down here.”

Full results can be found on the event website.