MALVERN’S Liam Killeen stormed his way onto the podium at the British Cycling National Cyclo-Cross Championship in Abergavenny.

The 32-year-old was the biggest threat to in-form National Trophy winner Ian Field in the lead-up to the race.

The Specialized UK rider cranked up the pace with two laps to go, grabbing the silver medal after the chasing bunch folded to Killeen’s relentless pace.

He said: “I came here to win but, under the circumstances, I’m happy with second.

“I would have liked it to be Ian and me for a few laps but he got a bit of a gap early on and I was a bit tied up with a couple of riders.

“He got a few seconds on me so I had to limit my losses.”

Field (Hargroves Cycles) won his fourth title.

Earlier, Malvern Cycle Sport’s Harriet Harnden chased Nottinghamshire’s Poppy Wildman in the under 14s event.

Wildman established an early lead and won, but Harnden’s winter training paid off, with a well-deserved second place.

It was an impressive ride in only her fourth cyclo-cross contest of the season.

In the youth race, under 16s competitor Ross Harnden worked hard in wet, slippy conditions to secure 17th place out of 50 riders.

The junior race saw Joshua Brooks finish 27th and Stanley Pritchard 24th.

Both worked hard and used the event as part of their winter mountain bike off-season training programme.

In the women’s elite race, Malvern were represented by T-Mo Racing’s Tracy Moseley and 17-year-old Evie Richards.

They faced a number of professional cyclists returning from the continent solely for the championships.

Current World Enduro champion Moseley set the pace during the early laps alongside Annabel Simpson (Hope Factory Racing) and eventual winner Helen Wyman (Kona-FSA Factory Team).

But junior rider Richards started to push up though the field and tussled with Alice Barnes (T-Mo Racing).

Last year’s junior champion Ffion James (Abergavenny RC) was kept at bay, as Richards secured a third silver medal for Malvern Cycle Sport behind Amira Mellor (Paul Milnes Cycles).

Richards finished seventh in the elite women’s race and Moseley 11th as they outperformed specialist cyclo-cross racers.

James Richards maintained the Malvern bikes at a well-organised competition in South Wales.