Youth mountain biker Cian Howard enjoyed a successful first off-island event last weekend.

The RL360 rider was competing over the 2012 London Olympics MTB cross-country course where he was gridded on the second of four rows of 10 riders as a result of not competing before.

When the race got underway, there was a long straight past the start/finish area before the first corner and Cian managed to pass several riders as he moved up to fifth and featured in the lead group over the opening few laps.

The local lads started fast and set a very high pace for the first lap, with Cian riding on the back of them as he didn’t know what to expect on what was a very fast, steep and technical bone-dry course.

The 11-year-old looked strong and comfortable and, midway through his second lap on the longest climb of the course, he attacked and kept going hard through the technical part between the trees, pulling 15 seconds clear.

He continued to ride faultlessly and was able to gain a further few seconds per lap ahead of his rivals before wheelying over the finish line to claim a handsome win.

While on the podium after the race, it was announced that Cian was the first debutant winner of the under-12s class since 2016.