World Cross fifth-place finisher Timothy Toroitich improved on his third-place finish in last year’s race to secure his second win on Spanish soil in as many weekends over 9.25km at the Cross Internacional de la Constitucion held in Alcobendas on Sunday (30).

The last IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting of 2013 will again be the traditional finale to the year in this discipline, the Iris Lotto Crosscup in Brussels, and the focus of attention on Sunday (22) will be Belgium’s newly crowned European under-23 cross-country champion Pieter-Jan Hannes.

France’s Sophie Duarte had finished sixth at the past two editions of the European Cross Country Championships but on Sunday (8) in Belgrade the 32-year-old struck gold in the senior women’s race.