Teenage cyclist Luke Grivell-Mellor competes in the National Cyclo Cross Championships this weekend still buzzing after making his international debut for Great Britain in front of a crowd of more than 30,000 in the Czech Republic last Saturday.
The Shrewsbury Sixth Form College student enjoyed every minute of his chance to shine in a cosmopolitan field at the Cyclo Cross World Championships in the town of Tabor, south of Prague.
With Great Britain not sending any competitors to World Cup events, it meant the 16-year-old local lad, having not had the chance to collect any ranking points, was 64th on the starting grid for the junior race.
But Grivell-Mellor, from Belle Vue, then showed real determination to impressively climb no less than 14 places to 50th after the 40-minute race, which was staged amid snow and ice and eventually won by young Tomas Paprstka from the host nation.
“Luke said he wasn’t nervous despite there being such a big crowd and he loved it,” reflected his proud dad Dave. “It was great, fantastic to see him competing at that level, and you stand back and think what a great experience for him and how well he’s done to get there.
“He did really well to move up 14 places in such a strong field having started right at the back and it was a great effort when you compare it to the winner moving up seven places to finish first.”
Grivell-Mellor, delighted to have got the chance to wear the Union Jack colours for the first time, now has another big event much closer to home to look forward to this weekend when he goes for glory in the rearranged National Championships at Birmingham’s Sutton Park.
“Hopefully he can get a top six spot – that would be cracking,” added dad Dave.
The talented teenager will then enjoy a two-week rest to recharge his batteries before beginning his quest to make an impact on the road racing scene now that he’s old enough to take part in the discipline.
By Stuart Dunn
