SOUTHEND AC’s Adam Hickey defended his Cardiff Cross Challenge title in style to continue his impressive form this winter.

The 26-year-old produced a perfectly judged race to pull away from home favourite Dewi Griffiths and win by an emphatic margin of 10 seconds.

It puts him on top of the four-round Cross-Challenge rankings with the next big race coming at Milton Keynes on February 7 before the series is rounded off at the UK Intercounties Championships in Birmingham in March.

And Hickey is hoping to continue his good form for both those races and top the rankings by the end of the season.

He said: “I’m really happy to win again here in Cardiff. Liverpool (the first round of the series when Hickey was eighth) wasn’t great for me so it is good to get the win here in the Cross Challenge and I’m looking forward to Milton Keynes now.

“I was looking to make it an honest race and I did that.”