Matt Bostock surged to victory on the opening stage of the Manx Telecom International stage race on home soil on Friday.

Sporting the British National Circuit Championship jersey he won in Scotland last month, the 25-year-old delighted the local crowd at the Isle of Man Business Park.

The WiV SunGod star was prominent throughout, livening up the race almost immediately with an early attack before spending the majority of the 40-lapper at the head of affairs.

Commonwealth Games-bound Bocky then launched off the front with little over one lap remaining and rode clear to claim an impressive win and take over the leader’s jersey.

Fellow Manxie Leon Mazzone, riding for Saint Piran, was not far behind in the main bunch and crossed the line in eighth place, while CC Etupes’ Tyler Hannay - who won last week’s Gran Fondo time trial - was 30th having been in the wars and ending with cuts and bruises.

Cycling Club Isle of Man’s Mark Horsthuis was 64th, with team-mates Jamie Fletcher 69th, Sebastian Tremlett 73rd, Corrin Leeming 75th and James Harrison 77th, with the latter suffering from illness.

In the women’s race over 30 laps of the 1.1km circuit, unfortunately the Isle of Man’s Becky Storrie was a non-starter for CAMS-Basso but Jessie Carridge flew the Manx flag and completed the opening stage in 43rd place riding for Brother UK-Orientation Marketing.

The Manx International continues with a double header in Jurby on Saturday before culminating with the Queen stage over the iconic TT Course on Sunday.

Reports, results and photos in next week’s Isle of Man Examiner and Manx Independent.