While Bishop Auckland's world championship rider Stuart Wearmouth struggles to find form, his brother Gary is proving unbeatable in local cyclo-cross events.

After his solo win in the opening round of the North East League a week earlier, Gary was unstoppable in Cleveland Wheelers' event at Guisborough. He led a 51-strong field virtually from the gun over a 14-mile course in the grounds of Lawrence Jackson School, crossing the line 1 minutes clear at the end of ten laps of a testing circuit.

Matthew Kipling, the former national junior championship silver medallist, was second ahead of the promoting club's own rider Alan Nixon, who clinched the Wheelers' club cyclo-cross title with his third place.

James Anderson (Ferryhill Wheelers) was fourth ahead of the promoting club's Vince Potter, who had been forced to ride for a lap on a buckled rear wheel. James Hall (Caygill Frames RT) took the junior award, and Cleveland's Pete Wilkin was the leading over-40 veteran in eighth position overall.

But the promoting club was denied a victory in the women's category when Kendra White, leading until the last lap, snapped her chain halfway round the course and was overtaken within 200 metres of the line by Ferryhill's Lisa Anderson.

After his eighth place in the opening round at Cheltenham, Stuart Wearmouth decided against riding the second leg of the National Trophy series at Matlock.

"I've been struggling lately,'' he admitted. "I think I might have been overdoing it, and trying too hard. On top of that I've got a new job and I'm in the process of buying a house. Every time I go out training I am finding it really hard.

"I'm entered for the whole series, but I'm seriously thinking of having a bit of a rest and cutting my losses for this season.''

Gary has entered the third round at Ipswich on November 2 and, on recent form, could carry the main North-East hopes.

Ironically, before heading back north for the Guisborough event, Gary had finished fourth in the Velozette Trophy cyclo-cross on the same Matlock course used for the following day's National Trophy event.

After being disqualified from the opening leg at Cheltenham a fortnight earlier, Jody Crawforth made his point with a hard-fought victory in the national event.

Crawforth, the South of England champion two seasons ago, attacked his breakaway companion Dave Collins - a member of Stuart Wearmouth's Science in Sport.com team - with 2 laps remaining in the nine-lap race, crossing the line six seconds ahead.

Stephen Roach consolidated his overall lead in the under-23 classification when he claimed third place on the day, a further 25 seconds back.

Crawforth was eliminated from the result of the opening round for an illegal change of machine outside the pits area after puncturing his front tyre when he fell at a hurdle.

Barrie Clarke, the defending Trophy champion and effectively the leader after the opening round in the absence of Belgium-based rider Matt Ellis and his team-mate Camiel Van Den Bergh, was suffering from a rib injury and could manage only sixth place.

Overall, Collins, from Loughborough, has edged into a one-point lead over Roach, with Clarke a firther two points adrift.

Jim Henderson emerged as favourite to regain his national hill climb title next Sunday during a busy final weekend of preparation in the North. The Southport CC rider from Formby, Merseyside, proved unbeatable in two outings.