WEYMOUTH duo Shane Flowers and Kane Francis continued to light up the strongman world by claiming first and third respectively at Gloucester in the Strongman Champions League.

In the English leg of the competition, World’s Strongest Man athlete Flowers was competing for the first time in months after injury and becoming a father.

Francis headed to Gloucester knowing a good performance would secure the leader’s jersey ahead of the next round in Finland.

He promptly opened up a lead on his rivals after three of the five events, claiming first in the press medley, third in the deadlift medley and second in the Viking walk.

READ MORE: Shane Flowers called up for World's Strongest Man

Flowers negotiated a tricky first two rounds before finding his feet in the next three.

He strengthened his results from third to second and then first across the Viking walk, bag toss and the infamous Atlas stones.

Flowers and Francis, both from Weymouth, flew the flag superbly for Dorset in the Atlas stones as the good friends lined up against each other.

Flowers whistled through to lift all five weights in 18.49 seconds, winning overall in style.

He was there to cheer on and bear hug Francis when he completed the discipline in 11.15 seconds later to lock up third on the podium.

Speaking after a phenomenal return to action, Flowers, a former England’s Strongest Man, played down his result.

He told Echosport: “It went all right. I haven’t competed since Europe’s Strongest Man, back in April.

“It isn’t a great deal of time ago but between then and now we’ve had a baby so it’s been a massive shift in my routine.

“We used this weekend to blow the rust off. If you don’t compete for a while you just get ring-rusty.

“People had me down as favourite. SCL’s Kane’s wheelhouse, this was my first time whereas he’s been in that league for over a year now. We used this as a tune-up.

“I’ve got England’s Strongest Man, alongside Kane, on the first of October and they’re dubbing me as one of the favourites alongside a guy called Luke Richardson.

“It’s almost a three-horse race between me, Luke and Kane for the podium.”

And Flowers relished performing in front of the English fans.

He said: “It’s one thing to do it in training but another in competition. It was quite a relaxed atmosphere because we were the home boys.

“Giants Live is more like a pressure cooker with 10,000 fans but this felt more relaxed in general. After that, I settled in.”

Meanwhile, Francis is expected to continue on the SCL circuit despite feeling the gruelling effect of back-to-back competitions.

READ MORE: Kane Francis finishes third in 2022 Strongman Champions League

Assessing his display, he said: “It was good, it’s the first England one I’ve done as a home show.

“Last year, I was loading the bar for the other athletes and this year I had the leader’s shirt on, so it’s a nice little turnaround.

“It’s my third competition in a row, the weekend before I was in Portugal and the weekend before that I was in Finland.

“(Today) I leave to go back to Finland and the week after I’m in Poland, so I’m doing five back-to-back, I’m pretty knackered at the moment.

“This was my third podium in a row.”

And the occasion was made extra special for Francis, with his mother attending one of his competitions for the first time ever.

Francis added: “Apart from what she sees on Facebook, she’s never seen me lift weights. She’s been excited for this one all year.

“It meant the world to her to be able to come and watch me. For her to come to her first show and see me with the leader’s jersey on, that’s quite a nice feeling.”