SOPHIE Thackray (CAMS-Basso) has won her second title in this season’s Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross Association Points Series.

The 23-year-old from Eldwick was an emphatic victor in the seventh round of the series at a frosty Parkwood Outdoor Centre in Bradford’s Tong Village.

Leading at the end of the first lap of a short course that featured two meadows separated by a tricky forest section, Thackray went on to dominate the women’s race.

She finished an impressive 67 seconds ahead of second-placed Libby Greatorex (www.cyclocrossrider.com), with Barnoldswick’s Vicky Peel (Hope Factory Racing) a further 27 seconds back in third.

Thackray admitted: “I had the opportunity to overtake Libby in the first corner but I chose to sit behind her and see what happened.

“There was no wind, so I knew that that would not make a difference, and I overtook her on the field section as I wanted to get into the woodlands first, where I had some fast lines.

“Libby kept closing the gap on the fields but I stretched it out on the woodlands and tried to stay calm and focus on the lines that I wanted.

“The woodlands had some short, sharp climbs so that kept you focused.”

Thackray only came back to the sport in the autumn after a bout of Long Covid, and she admitted: “I am not quite back to where I was before that.

“But I am definitely getting there, as I showed by being out in front here, which is where I was two seasons ago before Covid.”

This coming weekend, Thackray is competing in the local round of the National Trophy Series at Barnoldswick, and admitted: “I would like a top-10 finish but it depends on the day.

“I am expecting it to be muddy, technical and not as cold as it was here at Tong Village.”

Apperley Bridge’s Elena McFadden (East Bradford Cycling Club) was third in the under-16 girls’ race and said: “I didn’t have the best of starts as I ended up crashing early on, where the bends were quite tight.

“I ended up with bent bars, so I had to fix them, which cost me about 30 seconds, and I was then working my way back through the field.”

Immanuel School pupil McFadden, who has been suffering with winter colds, is hoping for a top-20 finish at Barnoldswick.