Kirree Quayle and Sacha Horsthuis clinched a gold medal in the women’s mountain bike criterium at the NatWest Island Games on Tuesday afternoon.
The duo tackled a brutal course through Delancey Park near the east coast of the channel island and dug deep to produce excellent results.
Quayle remained near the front for the majority of the race until Menorca’s Nuris Bosch Pico broke clear to clinch gold.
The Manxwoman enjoyed a good battle with former Ramsey Grammar School student Emily Bridson - now riding for Jersey - before edging away to claim an excellent bronze medal behind Western Isles’ Kerry MacPhee in second.
Behind her, Horsthuis - having watched her husband Mark finish 15th in the men’s cycling time trial the previous day - used the early stages to suss out the course before working her way through the field to claim a fine eighth place at the end of a rough race.
Those results were enough to ensure the Manx duo clinched the team gold medal ahead of Guernsey in silver to continue the Isle of Man’s superb record of cycling success at Island Games level.
It was then the turn of the Manx men’s MTB contingent to take on the gruelling leg-sapping course, including Island Games legend Elliott Baxter who won gold at the same venue 20 years ago in the 2003 Games also in Guernsey.
This time, Manx eyes were on Alex Rockwell and Ross Thorley to see if they could trouble the podium positions but, despite an excellent performance by both, a leading group of three riders - including two from Guernsey - broke clear early on and worked well together to set a relentless pace and pull clear of the chasers.
With the podium positions all but sealed, the battled commenced to see who could seal the team medals and Thorley spearheaded the Manx group in sixth place ahead of Rocky in 10th to put them in contention.
Baxter and Eric Kelly then crossed the line in 12th and 13th while youngster Owen Collins was 22nd, all of which helped the Manxmen claim the final position on the team podium with a hard-fought bronze medal.