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A brief history about me
DOB: 24th September 1980
Height: 165cm
Weight: 62kg
I started cycling about the same time as I started to walk, as a result of my Father being a keen cyclist. I used to go on youth hostelling trips with my family from the age of six onwards. I started grass track racing with my twin brother Alex at the age of nine, as a hobby in the summer months. I apparently started to show potential at thirteen years old. Grass track cycling is a fading tradition, however it does help to develop bike handling skills and stamina.
I was talent spotted at the age of sixteen, by the assistant national track team coach at the time, Marshall Thomas. However despite his efforts to encourage me to train, I decided to concentrate on my education for the time being. While I was studying at University, I started to train more constructively for track sprinting. I was hugely inspired by the Olympic gold medal success of Jason Queally, at the Sydney Olympic Games. In 2001 and 2002 I competed at the European Championships and later that season at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. I was very lucky to be sent to the UCI (Union du Cyclisme Internationale) World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland for two seasons in the lead up to the Athens Olympics. I was trained by Frederic Magné, a seven times World Champion for France. I currently live and train in Manchester with the rest of the elite Great Britain Track Team. I won my first World Championship title in 2005 in LA.
Education
St Mary’s Primary School in Stotfold.
Etonbury Middle School in Stotfold.
Fearnhill School in Letchworth, left aged 18 with A-levels in Chemistry, Biology and Geography
University of Northumbria, graduated in 2002 with a 2.1 Bsc (hons) in Sports and Exercise Science.
In 2008 the University of Northumbria awarded a Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law (CDL)
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