Great Britain's Cameron Mason put in one of the strongest performances in Sunday's Cyclocross European Championships on Sunday. However, walking away with a sixth place finish, he expressed his disappointment following an eventful battle behind the front of the race.

In a technical Zeddam course, which featured multiple sections of narrow track offering little chance to gain ground in terms of position, the Scottish rider suffered a major setback from the outset.

In a high-octane opening lap, Mason found himself out of position, dropping as far back as 27th place as Belgium and the Netherlands made the pace high from the outset.

In the subsequent laps, Mason rallied as he worked his way through the field. Eventually reaching the main chase groups in the final laps - he set the fastest lap time of the day in the seventh of nine repetitions of the circuit. His 6:19 effort saw him better eventual winner Thibau Nys's finale surge to victory.

It was exactly that remarkable comeback that leaves a particular taste of disappointment for the 26-year-old as the dust settled. With one lap to go, he had bridged across to the main chase group behind Nys and silver medal Joran Wyseure.

With a bronze medal on the table, a sixth place was the final result for Mason as Niels Vandeputte took bronze, Joris Nieuwenhuis came in fourth and Kevin Kuhn took fifth place. Reflecting on the race, Mason believes he 'threw it all away' in an honest assessment of his day's work.

"That’s why today hurts so much"

"I didn’t stop believing, until one lap to go, when I threw it all away. Even after the shocking position I put myself in on the first part of the race, I wasn’t raised to be a quitter," Mason said in a post-race statement on social media.

"Today, like with the rest of life, I realised no one is going to do it for you. There will be many wonderful people who will help, guide and believe in you. But when it really matters, it’s all on you."

After his 2023 silver medal in the European Championships, Mason's quest for a marquee major championships victory goes on. In a promising start to the season, he hasn't been outside the top ten in seven starts.

He added: "That’s why today hurts so much. To show just how much I wanted it, but to fall short of a result on paper.

"But what a privilege it is to put my heart and soul into doing hard things. I will be back."