Pendleton back in the groove at National Championships

VICTORIA Pendleton made a blistering start to the track season with an emphatic time trial victory at the National Championships in Manchester.

 GOLDEN GIRL: Victoria Pendleton surprises even herself with storming victory at National Championships

The Olympic and world sprint champion romped home in 34.262 seconds, defeating Jess Varnish by almost a second, while world junior champion Becky James took bronze.

And Pendleton, who will fly the flag for Great Britain at the first UCI World Cup of the season in Manchester at the end of the month, was over the moon to hit the boards running after so long out of the saddle.

"I'm really pleased with today - this is the third or fourth best time I've ever done, and it's by far the fastest time I've put in at this stage in the year so I'm pleasantly surprised," she said.

"Training for the World Cup starts today, so preparation is going OK! It's much better than I expected - I was expecting to do a mid to high 34.

"It's great to see Jess and Becky coming through and putting in good times tonight too - having these girls with me in training as they push me to train harder.

"It's also good that I can help and hopefully inspire them to achieve their dreams and aspirations."

Earlier, Sarah Storey set a new British para-cycling record, finishing eighth in 38.074 secs.

In the other event of the night, Olympic bronze medallist Stephen Burke took gold ahead of Ed Clancy and David Daniell.

"I really didn't expect a win tonight, I thought I'd come in third so I'm really shocked to win!" said Burke.

"I got everything out in the ride tonight - my preparation has gone really well and the work we've put in for the Team Pursuit has really helped me today."