MOUNTAIN bike racing makes its debut at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, and Malvern ace Liam Killeen will be representing England.

The 20-year-old, fresh from victory in the National Championships at Ludlow last Sunday, will be lining up against some of the world's best racers as he chases a medal in Monday's cross-country race.

Killeen has already won at the Commonwealth Games course at Rivington during qualifying and has high hopes of finishing on the podium.

"I'm hopeful for a medal but the top 10 racers will be there so it is going to be difficult," said the former Chase High School pupil.

Killeen was selected for the Games after topping qualifying over three national races and two world cup events and will be competing against a 40 strong field.

This number is substantially less than he races against in world cup events where numbers can reach 180.

Competitors will do six laps of the four-mile Rivington course which they will complete in roughly two hours.

The prospect of taking part in Britain's biggest ever sporting competition is one that Killeen is relishing. "I will be taking it very seriously and I'm looking forward to being involved," he said.

Since taking up the sport seven years ago, Killeen has raced around the world including America, Canada and Spain.

As soon as he finishes in Manchester he will be jetting off to Zurich for the European Championships.

After failing to win a gold medal at the last Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, England's cycling team is determined to make amends and looks to have the firepower to do so.

England cycling team manager Doug Dailey believes his team has real medal winning potential.

He said: "Cycling has benefited hugely from lottery funding in recent years, and we now have a settled squad of full-time athletes with experience of competing at the highest level.

"We will be looking to perform significantly better than we did in Kuala Lumpur.

England's cyclists picked up four silver medals and two bronzes at Kuala Lumpur.