TROWBRIDGE athlete Chris Roxburgh believes there is definitely more to come this year after he recorded an eighth-place finish at the Powerman Classic Pro duathlon race in Mallorca last month.

The 34-year-old finished the race in an impressive time of 2:48:37 and was the second fastest British male to complete the 80km course, which was made up of a 10km run followed by a 60km cycle followed by a further 10km run.

Roxburgh, who races for Team Protocol, used to compete in duathlons in 2016 before he chose to stop upon hearing news that he and his wife were due a baby son.

And after only beginning training again in November 2018, Roxburgh was delighted with a successful return to competition.

He said: “I am really happy with my result – it was a massive achievement and it shows how far I’ve come since I last did it.

“I got an elite start and I was really happy with how that went.

“I ran the first 10km in a comfortable 33:15 because I didn’t want to go flat out and be completely shattered for the rest.

“I felt comfortable doing it, which was good, and it was nice to get that finish, so it acted as a real confidence booster.”

Roxburgh, who is a full-time paramedic, raced for Great Britain elite team in 2016 and has his sights set on returning to the elite levels of duathlon competition in the coming months.

With the European and World Championships still to come in 2019, Roxburgh says he would love to chase a medal in either competition, but the Trowbridge athlete knows a great deal of hard work will be needed if he is to be selected for them.

Roxburgh said: “It was a good start to the year, especially considering I have only started training properly for it again in November.

“I’ve still got a lot to work on – my bike is not up to scratch, but it will come, I’m sure. There’s definitely more to come.

“The next race is the European Championships, so I’m hoping to get a selection for the elite team for that. After that, it’s hopefully onto the World Championships.”