Mark Christian (right) and Simon Yates riding for GB on their way to the national title (Photo: Guy Swarbrik http://trackcycling.me.uk/)
The An Post-Sean Kelly team’s winter signings appear to have been wise ones, with young British rider Mark Christian taking a GB national elite track title today just weeks after the team’s new sprinter Scott Law took the Australian U23 criterium title.
Christian this afternoon won the GB National Madison Title with partner Simon Yates in a masterful display at the National Cycling Centre velodrome in Manchester.
Riding for GB, they saw off the challenge of Team Sky’s Alex Dowsett and Tom Murray of Sigma Sport Specialized.
Christian, a 20-year-old from the Isle of Man, said he was now looking forward to the road season based in Belgium with An Post-Sean Kelly following a productive track season capped today with a national elite title.
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“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 (GB) Academy then I'm going to be based in Belgium with An Post-Sean Kelly.”
He joked that his victory today was yet another for the Isle of Man at national level: “Nice to keep it in the family," he 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.”
The win for the new An Post-Sean Kelly rider comes just a couple of weeks after one of the team’s other winter signings Scott Law took the U23 National Criterium Championships in Australia.
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While both of those national titles have come in events far removed from the challenges of the European road season ahead, the management team of Sean Kelly and Kurt Bogaerts will nonetheless be delighted to see their young charges riding so strongly.
Christian and Yates set their stall out today by winning the first two sprints. And even when the experienced duo of Dowsett and Murray gained a lap, the others managed to peg them back and then ride with some style to take the very next sprint.
George Atkins and Owain Doull took the bronze.
Even before today’s win, Christian had already marked himself out as a rider with no shortage of power and speed.
He was a bronze medallist at the 2010 Commonwealth games in the 40km scratch race.
He first signed for the GB Olympic development programme in 2007 and won the Junior Rundfahrt in Germany the following year as well as medalling at the Junior European Track Championships.
In 2009 he first won the British madison title in Manchester, alongside fellow Manxman Peter Kennaugh, who now rides for Team Sky. The same year Christian also won silver in the U23 team pursuit and bronze in the U23 points race at the European Track Championships in Belarus.
Christian (left) and Yates in their champions’ jerseys
