There were gold medals for the North-East Veteran Cycling team and bronze for the juniors at the Inter-Area Cyclco-Cross Championships at Queens Park, Bolton in Lancashire.

Cold and muddy conditions made for difficult and demanding racing.

Well beaten into second place by Yorkshire in last year's event, the same four North-East veterans turned the tables on their Yorkshire rivals to win gold by a single point.

Peter Wilkin of Cleveland Wheelers led the team home in third place, new North East over-50s champion Cliff Featherstone came in sixth after falling on the first lap and fellow Derwentside CC rider Paul Cook completed the scoring in 11th place.

With Andy Cosgrove of Teesdale CRC in 12th and leading B-team rider Ian Kipling of MTS finishing 13th, the North East reinforced their win with a remarkable five riders in the first 13 finishers.

While the veterans were expected to win a medal, the North-East under-16s surprised everyone by snatching third place in their event. Simon Whitfield (Stockton Wheelers CC) sprinted past three riders on the final climb to take a crucial 12th place. The team was led in by Darren Tiffen (Cestria CC) in third position, followed by Jamie Sharpe (Shipmates) in eighth place.

Luke Willis (Bishop Auckland CC) was the fourth member of the team in 26th.

The North-East again struggled in the senior race. Deprived of any of the region's sponsored riders, the team battled hard with Alan Nixon (22), Neil Withington (30), Vince Potter (35) and Steve Potter (43) making their mark.