George (70) races to British silver medal.
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A veteran cyclist from Forres won a silver medal at a national event.
Forres Cycling Club (FCC) secretary George Grant (70) raced to glory at the British Masters Track Championships in the Newport Velodrome, South Wales.
“It’s a fantastic achievement,” said FCC chairman Peter Robertson. “George is having one of his best seasons, on the track especially!
“The medal is just reward for all his hard work but we’d like to thank our coach Peter Ettles too!”
Grant trains in and around Forres five days-a-week and also makes monthly visits to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome to practice.
The local loon started cycling competitively aged 15 and has been with FCC for a total of 25 years, broken up by a spell with Elgin Cycling Club when he lived there for a time.
Over the last seven, Grant has competed in a number of track championship disciplines at British and World Masters level but this is the first time he has won a medal.
He rode a number of different events finishing 5th in the Individual Pursuit and 4th in the Scratch race despite performing well and, with three other riders, lapping the field.
His moment of triumph came late in the competition when he took part in the Points race, a multi-lap bunch race where riders have to sprint every 10 laps to win pionts.
This was run with three different age groups, including former professional and Olympian riders, combined into the one event, which made the race faster and more competitive.
George had the best race of his life and collected enough points in the sprints to finish in 2nd, winning the coveted silver medal in his 55th year of competition.
“George is an unbelievable guy,” said Mr Robertson. “His next move will be the Worlds Masters Track Championships at the Manchester Velodrome in October.
“Watch this space!”
