Great Sampford's William Gilbank had plenty to cheer during the Easter holidays.
He travelled with the British Cycling Eastern Region team to Perthshire in Scotland for the prestigious Youth Tour of Scotland, held over three days.
The racing saw 90 of the best under-16s from Great Britain and Ireland start in Forteviet and Gilbank took fifth in the one-mile Prologue, two seconds behind the leader.
The Eastern team raced exceptionally well in the 40-mile road race, delivering Gilbank to the line where he finished off a scintillating bunch sprint for the win, bonus seconds and yellow jersey, as well as the green jersey as best sprinter.
Day two moved the race to St David’s where the team of four rode hard on a five-mile course to finish second on the stage only two seconds behind Wales, keeping Gilbank in yellow and green.
But the weather turned on stage four's 40-mile road race, as the rain came down and a mistake by a Welsh rider brought the Peloton down.
Gilbank picked himself up and unscathed he made chase but due to the crash, he lost time and the yellow jersey.
The final stage took riders on a short circuit of the Strathallan School campus and Gilbank, although aching slightly from the crash, kept at the front of the race for a respectable 14th place.
He said: "The experience of riding what was essentially a professional stage race was amazing. We had closed roads, motorbike outriders, podiums and teams to ride with. This as well as wearing my first yellow jersey was just brilliant and has left me supermotivated for the future."
The team returned from Scotland and after a rest day, Gilbank went back to training before travelling to Belgium to recon his first international ride.
He started the Zondervoorde Zonnebeke 40-mile race with 90 of Belgium’s best under-17 riders, again on closed roads, that was fast from the start.
Gilbank attacked on lap three of 12, moving away with a local rider, and between them they took first and second on each lap to gaining 10 and five euros respectively each time.
They soon had six minutes on the rest of the peloton, before Gilbank launched his sprint from 200 metres out and raised his arms in celebration for the second time in a week, albeit 600 miles apart.
"It was amazing to win in Flanders, this is the true heartland of cycling, and it was just fantastic," added Gilbank.
"I felt in great condition after the Youth Tour but I was also motivated after visiting the war graves in the town in which we raced, some graves had young men only two years older than me. Somehow this made me ride harder."
William is kindly supported by Matts Auto Repair Services, Saffron Walden Round Table, TLC Live, Pedal Potential and Fosters Schoolwear. For more information on William or how to support the budding Olympian and GB rider please visit gilbankracing.com or email: gilbankracing@gmail.com.
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