A LOOSE shoe cost Sophie Thackray the chance of moving up the podium at York Cyclesport.

The CAMS-Basso rider from Eldwick suffered her mishap early on and finished third in the women’s race at the North of England Cyclo-Cross Championships.

While she may not have been able to keep up with four-time British Cyclo-Cross Championship medallist Annie Last, who won in 45min 30sec, Thackray could have finished second ahead of Rebecca Preece instead of being two minutes behind her.

Thackray explained: “I lost my shoe straight after a long section where everyone came together and we were running and bikes were hitting each other, so I had to stop, get it back on and start weaving my way through.

“It probably cost me 10 or 15 seconds but I expected to be further behind than I was (20th) and when I came through next time around I was about 10th.

“I made up quite a lot quite quickly and finished fourth overall (Glusburn’s Cat Ferguson was third overall but was in the junior female category).”

There was plenty of bike pushing and bike carrying due to the thick mud, but you won’t find Thackray complaining.

She said: “The mud was perfect - there wasn’t too much running and there were technical aspects, which with the mud made it more interesting, and this is one of my favourite courses so far this winter.”