GB TEAM NEWS

| GB TEAM HOME PAGE | GB RESULTS AND NEWS |

Oli Beckingsale gave the GB Mountain Bike team a great boost today with a fine win in the opening stage of the Afexentia MTB stage race in Cyprus. The opening stage was a 10km hill climb ridden as a time trial and the rangy Scott rider put in an excellent display of climbing to power in with a time of 19 minutes, 29 seconds, just over 7 seconds clear of Slovakia's Juri Golcer, with Michael Weiss of Austria third a further 7 seconds back.

Oli left some big names in his wake, including world numbers two and three respectively Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) and Roel Paulissen (Aut) and the GB team in general were well placed in the first half of an impressive 85 rider field drawn from many of the leading MTB nations.

The climb took riders up approximately 450m of largely fire road climbs with a finishing altitude of almost 1800m, where conditions were reportedly pretty chilly.

Team Manager Simon Burney paid tribute to Beckingsale's form and preparation - "he's had a very solid winter and he's been very consistent. He had a poor winter last year and has made a conscious decision to put that right this year."

The remaining two stages are a 45km point to point (1 lap) race on Saturday over a route which features a couple of tough 5km climbs. Sunday's final stage is a more traditional five laps of a 7.3km course.

Results

 1. Oli Beckingsale (GB) 19m 29s
 2. Juri Golcer (Slo) 19.36
 3. Michael Weiss (Aut) 19.43

other selected
 8. Roel Paulissen (Aut) 20.18
20. Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) 21.16
24. Nick Craig (GB) 21.32
25. Phil Spenser (GB) 21.38
28. Zak Toogood (GB) 21.45
30. Phil Dixon (GB) 21.59
38. Simon Richardson (GB) 22.19

� British Cycling 2002/2003