Future star – Amira Mellor

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Last weekend saw junior rider Amira Mellor compete in the historic Milton Keynes World Cup where she showed she is a future star of the sport

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Future star – Amira Mellor

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First year college student, Amira Mellor has been up there in the National Trophy Series for women, winning in Durham and on the podium in others but the World Cup really confirmed that this young lady has some talent for riding a bike fast.

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Amira is still a junior and so to ride against experienced and older riders in a World Cup race was a big jump up from her normal races. The young lady was the first of the British based female cyclo-cross riders in 26th place, just ahead of Adela Carter in 28th.

Racing in Great Britain colours, Amira said of the event, “it was absolutely incredible. The crowd were insane and even when you felt tired, they were lifting you; it was great. I was pleased with how I performed. I started well and slowly dropped back a bit and I am hopping once I get some more endurance, I’ll be able to hold my position.”

“I didn’t go into the race with any expectations because I didn’t want to put pressure on myself but I was pleased to be first GB girl and I think that was probably where I wanted to be.”

Asked what did she learn from the experience of racing the top women cyclo-cross riders in the world, Amira replied, “that you can never back off! I backed off and three riders came past me and I fell off and that had never happened to me in a British round. ”

Yesterday, Helen Wyman made an impassioned plea to British riders not to discount a career in cyclo-cross just as she has very successfully and Amira said before that was published, “I think this is definitely where I want to be now; racing cyclo-cross”.

Amira added “I’d like to ride more World Cups this season and maybe the World Championships but that may be hard to get picked for the Elite womens race as a junior.”

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Sunday – Best Brit in Trophy Race
The day after the World Cup came another race on the same course and with international competitors such as the rider who was second in a photo finish the day before, Katherine Compton, it was going to be a tough race.

So it was with Compton going off up the grassy track to open up a gap of over a minute on her nearest rival from Luxembourg with a Belgian in third. Unlike other trophy rounds where the racing has seen a group of the top British women mixing it at the front, this round saw the British riders all chasing the front of the race on their own and trying to close the gap to the rider in front of them.

The leading Brit was again Amira Mellor who was twenty or so seconds ahead of Annie Simpson. Amira was a minute or so from the girls in front, one of whom she had beaten the day before and explained her race saying “I have never ridden a trophy race this year on my own as normally there is a group of us.”

“I could see them at the end but I just didn’t have the legs to close the gap. I was feeling tired after yesterday but to be honest, I thought I was going to be feeling worse. I think my performances though shows I have the potential to be up there one day”.

Amira says of the course on day 2, “It was a lot more slippery and the mud stickier. I did half lap bike changes today and that was good. There wasn’t as much running which was good for me. I think I preferred it. I got a good start but didn’t want to push it at the beginning because I normally die in the middle section of the race. I eventually came back at the riders in front of me and attacked them when I caught them.”

Amira finished 4th and in dpoing so strengthened her lead in the national Trophy Series which she now leads by 28 points.

Good luck to Amira for the rest of the season and thanks for the chats

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