Mansfield's Harper is crowned cyclo-cross league champion again

Harper, who rides for Mansfield Road Club, was confirmed the champion after the last of 12 rounds at Broxtowe. He had already amassed more than enough points during the course of the season to give him an unassailable lead.

The league is the longest running of its kind in the country and is among the most prestigious season-long events to win in the world of cyclo-cross.

Riders take part from all over the Midlands and beyond, and there are more than 100 competitors at most of the rounds.

Harper collected the maximum 200 points, or 199 or 198, in 11 of the 12 rounds in which he competed. His final tally was 2,593, which put him more than 200 points clear of second-placed Lee Shunburne, of Fossa Racing. Another Fossa Racing rider, Andrew Naylor, finished third overall, while fourth spot went to Alex Whiting, of Bolsover and District Cycling Club.

In 22nd place was Ashfield Road Club’s Lewis Tarnai-Wilson, while the next Mansfield RC rider was Stacey Wilkinson in 29th.

Mansfield Road Club was founded in the mid-1980os and boasts about 60 members. It combines competitive cycling with recreational riding.