Schoolboy Dylan George wins Australian junior road title for Team BridgeLane
Until the weekend this teenager had never won a major cycling title. Now he has a special jersey on his back and is looking ahead to a career on the roads of Australia and Europe.
Manly
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Young northern beaches cycling talent Dylan George has discovered there’s little that motivates more than a close call.
Cramping and sapped of energy, the 17-year-old, who did schoolwork inbetween races to calm his nerves, dug deep to a place he’s never been before to find the surge needed to deliver him win his first Australian cycling crown.
The win in the testing 104km junior men’s road race at the Australian titles in Ballarat followed on from a second in the time trial - and a mishap which provided him with the extra drive for his road race victory.
“In the national time trial I was happy but I was 20 seconds off the win and had a flat tyre with 1km to go,’’ said George, whose splits at the time indicated he was potentially on track for victory.
“To come that close was a bummer.
“That close call in the time trial really spurred me on. It was a long sprint (to the line) and I was cramping and exhausted.
“But I had that extra mental motivation not to get second.’’
George, from the Manly Warringah Cycle Club, was introduced to mountain biking by his father before moving across into road cycling. when 14.
In more recent times he caught the attention of Team BridgeLane manager Tom Petty who added the youngster to the Australian UCI Continental road cycling team.
George, a student at Manly Selective, said he was inspired to reward his teams faith in him with a big performance at the Australian championships.
“It’s a weird feeling to describe. I was super stoked at first and then it eased,’’ George said.
“Now its just getting better.’’
George said his eventual goal is to be racing on a professional team in races such as the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.
“That would be the dream but it's a big step,’’ he said.
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