Storey is a former Paralympic gold medal-winning swimmer

Paralympic champion Sarah Storey defended her individual pursuit title at the national championships - open to able-bodied athletes - in Manchester.

Mancunian Storey, 31, clocked a time of three minutes 40.244 seconds to beat Hannah Mayho in the final.

Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton claimed her second win in two days in the 500m time-trial, defeating Jessica Varnish in a best-of-three final.

Defending champion Chris Newton won the men's 20km scratch race.

Olympic medallists Rebecca Romero and Wendy Houvenaghel, along with team pursuiters Lizzie Armitstead and Joanna Rowsell, were all late withdrawals from the event, which is expected to be dropped from the programme for 2012.

Storey, who was born with a deformed left hand, appeared at four Paralympic Games as a swimmer under her maiden name Bailey.

She made the switch to cycling before the Beijing Games and returned with golds in the individual pursuit and road time trial.

Pendleton can add a third title to her haul in Saturday's keirin, her final event before the World Cup Series, which begins on October 30 in Manchester.

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"It's probably the fastest I've been going at this time of year, I've never gone into a World Cup with this much speed," said the 29-year-old.

"It's very reassuring that my training has paid off - it bodes well for next week.

"I'm still fairly fatigued from training, so given a couple more days' rest I should find another tenth of a second or so. Fingers crossed."

Four-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy is in action on Thursday in the men's sprint, alongside Beijing silver medallist Jason Kenny.

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