Mark Cavendish wins British National Cycling Championships road race title in Castle Douglas

The Manx Missile flew to glory in Castle Douglas on Sunday.

Tour de France legend Mark Cavendish was the winner as the British National Cycling Championships came to town.

The competitions took place across four days with races in Dumfries, Kirkcudbright and Castle Douglas.

And it was Manxman Cavendish who won the men’s road race which started and finished in Castle Douglas on Sunday.

He saw off Sam Watson – who lifted the under-23 title – and Alexander Richardson.

The women’s title also proved exciting with Alice Towers winning both the overall and under-23. Pfeiffer Georgi was second and Anna Henderson was third.

And a noteworthy finisher in a race that saw more than half the riders fail to finish was Crossmichael’s Rebecca Saunderson. She was 46th riding for Studio Velo.

The day provided fun for the whole community with Muckmedden bringing their cycling pump track to Market Hill. It was a similar story in Kirkcudbright on Friday ahead of the circuit racing with a bike clinic, family races and stunt bikes among the fun on offer.

And the racing also proved exciting as riders battled it out for more than an hour over a challenging 1km course.

There was an thrilling end to the women’s event with Josie Nelson winning by just a fraction from Emma Jeffers. Flora Perkins was third.

Matt Bostock was the men’s champion ahead of Sam Watson with Josh Tarling third.