MALVERN’S Liam Killeen won the 2015-16 British Cycling National Trophy Cyclo-cross Series’ final round.

The new national champion triumphed in Milton Keynes in the elite men’s race after battling with professional French Raleigh GAC rider Matthieu Buolo.

This winter, the Great Britain Olympian mountain biker has focused on cyclo-cross and started to break the stranglehold past champion Ian Field held over the sport.

After beating Field to win the National Championships, the Specialized Racing rider, 33, sent out another statement of intent. Buolo was second and Dave Fletcher of Sherwood Pines third after a hard-fought race.

With the race settling, Killeen moved to the front and set the tone with Boulo. The pits played their part, with Killeen and Boulo choosing not to take clean bikes and putting more time between themselves and the chasers.

At halfway, the lead changed, with Killeen and Boulo having to run sections when they could not heave their bikes through the mud.

Into the penultimate lap, Boulo got a gap on Killeen but the national champion counter-attacked on the slippery off-camber bank and dug deep to win by 46 seconds.

Killeen said: “It was tough, the conditions made it really hard. You could sense it was the national championship the previous weekend as there was a lack of motivation among the guys.

“But it was a good race, they put on a good event. I realised I should have worn knee warmers on the starting straight of the first lap but it was too late by then.

“I wasn’t aware who the Raleigh rider was. I thought it was Stephen Roach but I could hear people cheering for Matthieu, so I knew it was Boulo.

“He was putting me under pressure on the running sections. But, like last week, I felt strong once I was back to peddling.

“The lead changed quite a bit between us but on the last two laps I just tried to press on and pick the smooth line. Luckily, I got a feel for it.

“The long descent was quite treacherous and on one lap I had a little slide at the bottom.

“It was quite a lottery to get down there. I’m going to the World Championships to give it my best on the day.”