Bingley cyclo-cross ace Rob Jebb was best British finisher at the World Championships in Italy as he tussled with leading professional racers from across the world.

Amateur Jebb held his own in a tough 20km race at Treviso and, despite starting on the back row of the grid, he worked his way through the field to cross the line 51st from a field of 65 riders.

He finished 37th the previous year but nevertheless was pleased with his 2008 performance. In 2007 he crossed the line more than seven minutes behind the winner, while this time he was just 4min 45sec adrift of champion Lars Boom from the Netherlands.

Jebb said: "My race went okay. It's unbelievable how fast the top guys go. It is the World Championships and these lads are all as good as each other.

"It was a tough course but really good. I can't believe how hard it was. There was just no time to have a little rest or a breather or anything like that but I was really pleased to be here and giving it a go."

Also riding for GB, in the under-23s category, was Mark Thwaites of Burley in Wharfedale, who finished 48th after being baulked by an early crash.

He said: "That was really difficult. There was a bit of a crash on the start line and a few people touched and I was stopped dead at one point, so I lost about 20 metres quite early on in the race.

"Unfortunately with that crash I missed a group and spent most of the race on my own, so that made it even harder. I was going as fast as them but as I was on my own I was going nowhere really.

"It was so hard, so fast, they were kicking out of every corner and as we were starting on the back we were doing double efforts to try and keep up."

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