Marathon gold for Killeen
22nd June 2005England mountain bike ace Liam Killeen continued his build-up to the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games in impressive style by winning the marathon World Cup event in Canada.
The 23-year-old from Malvern in Worcestershire usually competes in cross-country events but entered the gruelling 101km marathon at Mont-Saint-Anne as an additional training run.
But he won it in a time of four hours, 35 minutes and 30 seconds - almost three minutes ahead of silver medallist Massimi de Bertolis, Italy's reigning world champion marathon rider.
Liam currently stands in eighth place after four of the eight rounds of the cross-country World Cup and returns to action in that discipline in Canada on Saturday.
Liam won a bronze medal in Team England colours in the cross-country event at the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games - his first senior medal at international level.
He believes his extra experience since then, including a fifth place finish at the Athens 2004 Olympics, will help him achieve another podium place at Melbourne 2006.