Oxford's Emma-Kate Lidbury continued her winning ways with a victory at the Duston Triathlon near Northampton.

Lidbury completed the 400m swim, 20km bike, 5km run sprint distance triathlon in a time of 58.01 for a convincing win in the women's race - and was only beaten by four men to place fifth overall in a 400-strong field.

A former swimmer, she posted a five-minute 400m time in the water, before recording a 34 minute 20km bike split and an 18-minute 5km run.

She said: "The race went well and I was pleased with the result. It's a nice confidence booster ahead of the season's big races which are approaching fast."

The 28-year-old, who is sponsored by Wiggle.co.uk, is due to compete at the European Championships in Lisbon, Portugal, next weekend.

Four weeks later, she will be in action in Vancouver, Canada, for the World Champ- ionships.

A number of other Oxford triathletes took part in the Northamptonshire race, including Jane Bell, whose time of 1.10.57 earned her second place in the women's 50-54 age group.

Mark Rickinson placed 22nd overall in a time of 1.01.03 while Ian Smith was 53rd in 1.04.37. Heather Grimes and John Galuszka also had good races, posting times of 1.14.25 and 1.10.38 respectively. Sarah Grylls won the women's 55-59 age group in 1.17.27.