The Isle of Man’s mountain bike team picked up a second successive bronze medal in the Island Games’ Mountain Bike Criterium on Tuesday afternoon.

The Manx squad consisting of Eric Kelly, all-rounder Callum Salisbury, Owen Collins, Ross Thorley and Mark Horsthuis, finished third behind traditional rivals Jersey and Guernsey,

The quintet tackled a short, technical circuit around a riding club paddock on the outskirts of the Orkney capital Kirkwall for 40 minutes plus one lap.

Like most of the week, conditions were warm and sunny, but with the club’s grounds situated in quite an exposed place there was also a strong wind to contend with.

Menorca’s Jaume Bosch Pico showed his class to claim a comfortable win from Shetland’s 2016 GB Olympian Grant Ferguson.

Jersey’s James Dilks completed the top three, just ahead of Guernsey’s Mark Le Page and team-mate Jay Cracknall.

Kelly was first home of the Isle of Man riders in sixth place with Salisbury, who finished in 10th in the road time trial on Monday, next in seventh.

Collins and Thorley, who along with Kelly were part of the team in Guernsey two years ago, were 14th and 16th respectively.

Horsthuis was 19th of the 30 finishers.

Speaking after the race, Kelly admitted it had been a gruelling afternoon’s work. He said: ‘It was really tough going.

‘These crits are always flat out - there's no respite on them.

‘It was a really tough course, with no rest at all on it and obviously the weather didn't help.

‘There was a strong wind, which you really felt when you were on the bike, plus it's still hot as well.

‘You just had to try and get a lot of water on board and make sure you got your gels and stuff in you.

‘You had to manage your race and not go out too hard, too early, but you're still trying to give it everything that you can. But everyone's in the same situation.’

Kelly circulated with Salisbury for the majority of the race, but admitted that hadn’t been the plan pre-race: ‘It's just how it panned out really.

‘We noticed there was three of us for a bit. Obviously it's a bonus when you've got two from the same team there.

‘I had a little stint at the front of our grop. Callum had a little stint at the front, but then the Jersey lad [Cracknall] obviously managed to get away from us in the end.

‘It's always good if you've got somebody on your team nearby as you can help each other out.’

Talking about the standard of the opposition, Kelly added: ‘It doesn't get any easier.

‘The level of competition is hard, and so you've just got to try and keep improving.’

The quintet are back in action on Thursday in the mountain bike cross-country event.

Organisers have said the course at Binscarth Farm will showcase the best of Orkney's countryside with steep climbs, open fields and dense woodland.

Kelly said the team will be aiming for more medals: ‘You're always trying to push yourself as high as you can individually, but we've got a strong team, so I think we'll have another chance for a medal again.

‘It looks like it's gonna be a tough course and obviously, you can just do what you can do, but we are hopeful of another medal.’