Great Britain's double world track champion Rob Hayles of ReCycling.co.uk prepared for his ride in the Tour of Britain with third place in the Glasgow warm-up criterium.

A criterium is a race run around a short town centre circuit. The races are run off at relentless high speeds and they are the type of events that track racers such as Hayles can excel at.

It was ReCyclings' Dean Downing who made most of the racing in front of a huge Scottish crowd, breaking away with Polish former World Champion Peter Mazur of the American Navigators team.

Downing and Mazur opened a huge gap over the field and as they came close to lapping the bunch, Hayles took off on his own. With Mazur and Downing playing cat and mouse Hayles closed, powering his way around a circuit that he took fourth place on two years ago.

Into the last lap and safe in the knowledge that the main field were not going to catch him, but that Mazur and Downing were just too far in the lead, Hayles zig-zagged down the finish straight, playing to the crowd before skidding his back wheel across the line, speedway style for a huge roar from the spectators.

Part of the national circuit race series the Glasgow race has set up a great finale at next Sunday's Grand Prix of Westminster.

City centre racing returns to the heart of London for a full programme of racing with the amateurs flexing their muscles in front of what is expected to be a crowd of 10,000 plus, before the professionals finish of the tour in grand style.

Hayles, from Cowplain, will be looking for a stage victory in the six-day race to go with the one he bagged in 1999 when the event was known as the PruTour.

Another rider who has the pressure of expectation on his shoulders is youngster Keiran Page, whose tender 21 years belies his talent and experience. Page is very much a protected rider in the Great Britain team.

He put in such fantastic performance last season and the Isle of Wight youngster is fired up after missing out on a 'stagiare' place with the Cofidis professional team.

Stagiare spots on teams are highly sought after as they amount to trial periods with top professional outfits that can ultimately lead to a pro contract. Page had been earmarked for the Cofidis spot with three other riders but was overlooked. He is now looking to showcase his talent in the British Tour and up-coming World Road Race Championships.