RISING star Dan Maslin claimed a highly encouraging third place in the three-day Tour of North West England at the weekend.

Racing against 50 of the best U14 riders from the UK and Ireland, the Hillingdon Slipstreamer was ninth on day one, riding against the clock in a time trial around a short, technical course in Southport where mere seconds separated the leading riders.

However, the next day in the 30km race in Preston the 13-year-old really came into his own.

He made several attempts to jump away from the group before getting himself into the decisive break with I Team rider Jonathan Dibben and although Dibben got away to claim the win, Maslin took an excellent second place - a fine result considering many of his rivals are a year older than him.

Driving rain greeted the field for the final event, a 20km race on a difficult narrow course in Liverpool, and Maslin grabbed seventh place in a bunch sprint to finish third overall.

He returns to the region next month to compete in the National U14 Championship in Preston.

* WEST Drayton Mountain Bike Club landed a one-two in the youth race at the Summit Mountain Bike event in Hyde Heath.

Rachael Denman led clubmate Rebecca Pressner from the start as she tried to stay with the boys over the 7.5 mile course and she went on to take the girls title, fourth overall, with Pressner second in the girls standings.

Gill Sene won her first ever race for the the Specialized sponsored club as she stormed around the first lap in the fun event and although she paid for the fast start she had done enough to hold off teammate Frances Pressner.

Other riders to feature highly for the club included Theo Pressner, fifth in the veterans race, and Peter Manley, who grabbed fourth spot in the fun men's event.

On the road front youth rider Mark Baxter took a number of senior scalps with an impressive sprint finish as he claimed ninth place in the Tuesday night series held at the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit in Hayes, comfortably winning his category.

* DAVE Devine gave the Bath Road Club something to cheer with third place in their evening 9.2 mile time trial series but Weshman Mark Rosser (Quest RT) was still the man to beat as he recorded his fifth win of the series.

Rosser clocked 22mins 49secs and was pushed all the way by veteran teammate Bob Garlinge, who was only nine seconds behind, while Devine recorded 23.58 as favourable conditions produced a string of season's best times.

Other Bath club members taking part included Nick Mann (25.28), Gyula Varsanyi (26.52) and Colin Mann (27.51).