ENGLAND cyclist Liam Killeen followed up his victory in the World Cup's marathon event with a fifth place in the cross-country race.

Killeen, 23, won a bronze medal in the cross-country competition at the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games and intends to do even better in Melbourne next year.

The Malvern man continued his build-up for Melbourne by securing fifth in the fifth round of the World Cup cross-country series in Canada.

Killeen clocked a time of one hour 59 minutes 55 seconds, less than two minutes behind the event winner and reigning World Champion Christoph Sauser, of Canada.

Canadian national champion Geoff Kabush was the highest placed Commonwealth finisher, ending up third.

Killeen's fifth place was his highest World Cup cross-country finish of the season.

It was enough to push him up one place in the overall rankings to seventh with five of eight races completed.

He had won the Canadian round of the marathon World Cup after entering the gruelling 101km event as a training run. That performance put Killeen sixth overall after three rounds of the discipline.

n South Yorkshire's Russell Downing won the British Road Race Championship with a well-timed surge to edge out Olympic silver-medallist Steve Cummings.

Commonwealth champion Nicole Cooke won the ladies' event.