Steve Dennis has added the Sussex 25-mile championship to his impressive honours list.

The East Grinstead ace has won so many races he has lost count and is nicknamed Dennis The Menace by his rivals.

The 40-year-old is eligible to compete in veteran events but shows no signs of slowing down.

He covered the West Sussex course, starting in Steyning, in 55min.14sec to finish clear of his younger rivals James Dear and Jon Sharples.

Dear (In Gear) took the silver medal in 56min.33sec, just two seconds ahead of his team-mate Sharples, the defending champion.

Dear said: "Dennis is really flying at the moment and nobody is surprised he won."

Sharples was not too disappointed with third place.

He said: "I had a really tough season last year and I have done less training this season.

"I'm pleased to have won a medal and I will be back in earnest next year."

Dennis wanted to add the Sussex 25-mile title to his collection of Sussex and East Sussex titles.

His previous championship wins have included the East Sussex 25, 50 and 100-miles and the Sussex 50-miles, hill-climb and road race championships.

In recent weeks his open wins have included the Southborough 25 and Norwood Paragon 50.

Lloyd Grayston (Eastbourne Rovers) finished fourth in 57min.19sec, Mark Jones (GS Stella) was fifth in 57min.22sec and his clubmate Steve Geran was sixth in 57min.32sec. Mike Coyle (Etoile) one of the seeded riders, was a non-starter due to a cold.

The team championship resulted in a close win for GS Stella (Jones, Geran, Steve Woodbridge and Mark Tickner) whose aggregate time was 3hr.53min.29sec. In Gear were second in 3hr.53min.51sec and Eastbourne Rovers third in 3hr.58min.24sec.

Niki Treacy (GS Stella) won the women's championship in 1hr.8min.31sec but recent crash victim Harry Featherstone (Eastbourne Rovers) failed to recover in time to defend his title in the veteran's championship. Winner John Awcock (Central Sussex), 62, clocked 1hr.6min.38sec to beat his target time by 11min.7sec.

The Southern Counties 25 on Sunday starts from Broadbridge Heath at 7am.