HALESOWEN Academy rider Kinga Ingram got the road campaign off to a perfect start by winning the first round of the National under-16 Circuit series over 2 days in Pembrey, South Wales. Kinga, from Kidderminster, won the opening day prologue (a relatively short distance high intensity race against the clock) and then used her experience on the second day to nullify any attacks and maintain her overall lead by finishing on the same time as the winner in the bunch sprint.
Kinga will be competing in the Tour of Scotland from Friday, April 5 as part of the West Midlands Team.
Elsewhere, former Halesowen academy rider Charles Walker took a solid fifth place in the circuit race at Darley Moor in the men's elite category cementing his place at the top of British Cycling's rankings so far this season.
The campaign to build a velodrome in the Midlands gathers momentum with now over 6,000 people supporting the initiative. As Kate Archibald, multiple world champion highlighted recently a velodrome is crucial in developing young athletes.
It is no coincidence that Olympians Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny, Kate Archibald, and Tour de France winners Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins all spent their formative years being able to train at local velodromes.
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