Sport is a multi-billion pound industry designed to achieve a pile of things that don’t actually need doing

Hutch signs on at a time trial.

To celebrate 10 years since I last rode the National 10-Mile Time Trial Championships, I entered the National 10-Mile Time Trial Championships. Quite a lot of people, some of them quite close to me, have asked me, “Why?” and asked in a tone that I don’t find altogether flattering.

But I can understand the question. Unlike, say, the 24-hour championships I did in July, I have a track record in things like 10-mile time trialling. I used to be quite good at it. Clearly there is a certain amount of face that can be lost here.