"Naturally going to be a bit of extra pressure" - Cameron Mason set to defend British Championship title just 10km from his home in Scotland

Cameron Mason has been a real breakthrough of the winter cyclocross campaign these last few months. Next on the agenda of the 23-year-old is defending his British National Championship title.

"It's going to be really cool," Mason has told Cycling Weekly. "I only live about ten kilometres from Falkirk and the course. So actually, it's going to be quite an easy weekend for me. It's usually always so busy with travelling and living abroad, so to come home and do literally a home race for your national champs is a bit of a gift."

The only thing is though, racing in front of such a home crowd can bring extra expectations. “There's naturally going to be a bit of extra pressure,” Mason admits. “But it's for a reason, I can't say it's a bad thing, it's because I've been doing so well and that's awesome. So it's a cool thing, and I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow especially with home crowds as well. Tomorrow, I think I'll just be trying to manage any stress so I can get to the start line in the best place possible and just do what I can do.”

With no Tom Pidcock in action, Mason will likely be the heavy favourite to take victory. He's not getting too far ahead of himself just yet however. "In any hour of cross racing at this time of year if you go too early, there's a chance of blowing up," he concludes. "So I've just got to see what kind of day I'm on and what I can do with my legs, and then I'll probably try and take the race on but if that's after one lap or if that's after five laps, I don't know yet. We'll see."