ROB SMART lived up to his top billing as he posted the fastest time at last night’s Pleinmont hillclimb. At round three of the Savills Private Finance 2006 Mountain Bike Tour of Guernsey, the Commonwealth Games star went up the steep 1km course in 3min. 03sec.

‘It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be,’ said the 28-year-old. ‘Coming out of the off-road section I thought I could keep going on the road but the legs were gone by then. I could have gone a couple of seconds quicker but it was difficult to gauge.’

Jack Sunderland and Josh Gosselin both crossed the finishing line in 3-08. They jointly took second place behind Smart in the expert class. Third spot went Pole Adam Woytkiewciz from Jersey with a time of 3-09. The 31-year-old bike mechanic is staying in Guernsey all week to compete in the tour.

Sunderland leads the class after three rounds.

The quickest veteran was Graham Le Maitre, while Chris Carter took the single speed contest with a time of 3-44.

Samuel Lewis took gold in the sport section when he posted 3-30, Ryan Langlois took silver while Alex Clark had the bronze. Langlois kept his hands on the top place in the overall standings.

Helena Robertson won women’s race and James McLaughlin was the main rider in the under-16s. Tour leader Nathan Baudains came home second in 3-20.

‘It was hard on the lungs but it was all right,’ said the 15-year-old apprentice mechanic.

‘I’ve got a bit of competition this year but it’s nice to have some competition.’