by powering to victory in his debut race on Sunday.

The Englishman was first in the field of 36 to cross the finishing line in the opening race of the season at Southside, St David's.

Millington blasted down the inside in a thrilling sprint finish with McInnis Looby and Mike Lee on his back wheel.

Greg Hopkins placed fourth and Peter Eccles fifth, and the top five were all credited with the same time of 57 minutes, 51 seconds in a contest over 55 minutes plus one lap of the one-mile loop.

The riders had to compete with the elements as well as each other in strong winds which took their toll on even the strongest competitors and split the field apart after just 10 minutes of racing.

Impressive youngster Jonathon Herring, racing over 40 minutes plus a lap in the 15-16 age group, was the early aggressor, trading strong surges with Looby, Hopkins, Millington and Whayman Butterfield. Lee and Eccles joined those five to form a leading pack.

When Herring completed an emphatic victory in the junior section, he still looked like he could have gone on to trouble his senior counterparts.

With none of the six remaining leaders able to forge a clear lead, it was clearly going to be decided by a sprint finish on the only section of the course with a tail wind.

Butterfield dropped off the pace with mechanical problems with two laps to go and Millington, who arrived on the Island only a few months ago, found the acceleration to snatch victory.

Darren Dowling came first in the Category Three race, winning a sprint finish against William Wharton, in his second year of racing, in 59:36.

Five seconds further back in third place was Melanie Claude, who is competing in the men's category in 1999, to try and improve her racing.

In the veteran's category, Vic Ball took the honours in another sprint finish over Paul Medeiros and Steve Petty, all timed at 57:27.

Laurie Orchard dominated the 40-minute women's race, finishing in 44:40 after lapping second-placed Julia Hawley, with Heather Brand coming in third.

In the novice category, Jay Simons was a clear winner in 44:40 over Jahdal Williams and Alex Dowling in 47:23 and 47:41 respectively.

Herring lapped second-placed Brian Steinhoff and third-placed Chris Conway to romp home to victory in the 15-16 boys, in a time of 43:55.

Herring's brother Matthew had an equally successful time, winning the 13-14 boys 25-minute event in 27:55, ahead of Roy-Allen Burch and Adam Petty, both clocked at 29:34.

Matthew Jones won the 11-12 boys event and Ricky Sousa took the honours in the 10 and under category, with Alexander McManus second.