BMX world champion Liam Phillips started his season with victory at the NCC Winter Series in Manchester.
Phillips, who won the rainbow jersey in Auckland last year, finished ahead of double Olympic champion Maris Strombergs of Latvia in the final at the National Cycling Centre as a strong field of international riders competed at round four.
“Really fun race & superb atmosphere at the indoor yesterday. Great to get my season started at long last,” Phillips tweeted after the win.
Strombergs and his Latvian teammates have been training at the world-class indoor national BMX centre, which houses the Great Britain Cycling Team and will host the opening round of the 2014 UCI BMX Supercross on 18-19 April.
Academy rider Charlotte Green won the 15+ female series with a convincing performance in the final, fellow Britons Valerie Zebrakova and Abbie Taylor fourth and fifth respectively. Kyle Evans completed a hat-trick for Great Britain by winning the men’s pro-am series.
Great Britain’s BMX athletes will compete again at the National Cycling Centre in the British Supercross Open and first round of the British BMX Series on 15-16 March.
Pro-am results
1. Liam Phillips (Great Britain)
2. Maris Strombergs (Latvia)
3. Edzus Treimanis (Latvia)
4. Damien Godet (France)
5. Lilian Goux (France)
6. Tore Navrestad (Norway)
7. Jacob Roberts (Great Britain)
8. Filip Gustafsson (Sweden)
15+ female results
1. Charlotte Green (Great Britain)
2. Simone Christensen (Denmark)
3. Eva Ailloud (France)
4. Valerie Zebrakova (Great Britain)
5. Abbie Taylor (Great Britain)
6. Romana Labounkova (Czech Republic)
7. Pauline Corlobe (France)
8. Lauren Stack (Great Britain)
