CYCLING: Two firemen are hoping to blaze a trail against the best in the service at the Firefighter World Cycling Championships.

Warren King, 36, and Phil Blacker, 32, are in the Great Britain squad competing in Valdi Fiemme, Italy, from September 17.

The duo, who ride for Wyre Forest Cycle Racing Club and work in Bromsgrove, face four days of intense Tour de France-style competition.

The event is Blacker's ninth world championship and King's third.

King, of Kidderminster, is returning from knee reconstruction surgery last September after cruciate ligament damage.

He said: "The last two years have been about gaining experience. This is the year.

"There's a healthy friendly competition between Phil and myself. Each of us will be riding for each other."

Blacker, of Bromsgrove, bagged a silver medal in the world firefighters' event in 1996, his first year, and he has also taken a gold in the European competition in Paris.