Cycling: Croall stages brave defence

Capital cyclist Bruce Croall produced a gutsy effort in defence of the kilometre time trial title at the British Track Championships in Manchester last night.

A time of one minute 5.382 seconds was good enough to give the city draughtsman fourth place behind three riders who are full timers.

Great Britain junior international Matt Rotherham clinched the gold medal after the clock at 1:03.671, with Olympic team pursuit gold medallist Steven Burke in second spot and Sam Harrison taking bronze.

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The high standard was illustrated by the fact that ten of the 21 riders dipped below one minute 10 seconds, among them Croall’s City of Edinburgh team mate Ken Ayre, who was seventh in 1:07.334.

Ayre lines up tonight in the Keirin, an event which arguably boasts the strongest field in the championship. He will be joined by his colleague Callum Skinner, but the focus is on Sir Chris Hoy, who launches his bid for a treble. Lining up alongside the 35-year-old are fellow Scot Ross Edgar – the defending champion – and double Olympic medallist Jason Kenny.