CYCLING stalwart Keith Lawton has been handed the CA Rhodes Memorial Award for services to time trialling in Yorkshire.

The court of trustees made the award in recognition of Sherburn-in-Elmet-based Lawton’s “massive contribution to the administration of the sport of time trialling in the county of Yorkshire and nationally”.

The memorial was started in 1961 as a tribute to the memory of Charles Arthur Rhodes (1895 to 1961), doyen of the Yorkshire Road Club, co-founder in 1932 of the Yorkshire Cycling Federation and a nationally-recognised timekeeper and administrator.

The award is regarded as the greatest distinction Yorkshire cycling can bestow and will be presented at the annual Yorkshire VTTA luncheon on Sunday, January 27.

A lifelong cyclist, Lawton entered the sport as a 14-year-old in 1973. As a member of Leeds Wellington Cycling Club he was an enthusiastic all-rounder, participating in club runs and longer tours, grass track and road racing but most importantly time trialling, in which he progressed to some outstanding performances at all distances.

Now a member of Elmet Cycle Racing Club, he sat on the Road Time Trials Council (RTTC) Yorkshire district committee from 1981 to 2001, serving as treasurer, secretary and chairman.

He was elected to the RTTC national committee in 1996 and became national competitions secretary in 2000. Lawton then became RTTC assistant secretary in 2001 and has been joint national secretary since 2009.

In both these roles, Lawton has had special responsibility for competitions and development. He was also instrumental in the transformation of RTTC into Cycling Time Trials Ltd in 2002, which has provided a firm foundation for the sport of time trialling in the 21st century.

Also a timekeeper and course measurer, Lawton has organised many open time trials over a period of 30 years.

A spokesman said: “He continues to promote the sport within Yorkshire despite his national administrative duties.

“The trustees acknowledge the unstinting hard work of Keith Lawton in furtherance of the sport of time trialling in Yorkshire.

“He is justly worthy of the award.”