Christian takes third British title

Manxman Mark Christian is British Madison champion for a third time.

He teamed up with Simon Yates to take the 2012 title at the Manchester Cycling Centre on Saturday.

They controlled the threats from Alex Dowsett/Tom Murray and George Atkins/Owain Doull from start to finish to win the National Madison Championship in commanding fashion.

Christian, who had already won the title with fellow Manxie Peter Kennaugh in 2009 and with Luke Rowe in 2010, said: ‘It was a good race and we won a national title so I'm really happy with that.

‘We knew from the start it would be a tactical race and with just a few teams riding it was a hard 200 laps and we had to work hard to win that.

‘We've been putting a lot of track work in during the winter with the academy and it’s obviously paid off today. It’s a nice way to finish off the track season because we are in a transition period at the moment crossing over to road work.

‘I've got a training camp coming up in Majorca shortly with the Academy then I'm going to be based in Belgium with AN Post who I'm riding for.

‘Another win for the Isle of Man, nice to keep it in the family.’