Dreaming of being champion of world

Jun 20 2008 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

Dreaming of being champion of world

THE stabilizers may have only come off his bike a matter of months ago but a Liverpool youngster is wasting no time in his swift rise to the top.

Up until March, eight-year-old Daniel Gibson had shown a mere passing interest in cycling, yet three months later he is sitting atop the British Cycling National Standings.

His feat is all the more remarkable, given that he is racing against youngsters with plenty of time in the saddle and yet to adjust to standard racing customs, like clip in shoes.

“Daniel’s start has been quite incredible,” said his proud dad Andrew, who along with wife Rebecca and Daniel’s 12-year-old brother Adam are all members of Liverpool Century Cycling Club.

“He took up riding really late, aged seven, and initially showed very little interest in riding. In fact we bought his bike, a £400 Trek Road Bike, for Adam – who showed even less interest – and the bike sat unused in the garage for a couple of years. However, in March, Daniel decided to give racing a go and we took him down to Southport’s Victoria Park circuit to compete in the Southport Youth Criteriums and he managed to win on his debut outing in the under-8s handicap race. Everything’s taken off from there.”

Andrew’s not wrong. From joining Century, Daniel is now heavily involved in a dedicated twice-weekly race cycle which sees him compete at the Preston Arena and the impressive new facilities at Litherland Sports Park. Then at weekends he takes in all-comers in regional and national events.

His passion and fervent support from his parents, has seen Daniel, who lives in Rainhill, travel all over the North West with victories in Lancaster and all over Merseyside resulting in a healthy lead in the British Cycling National Rankings in the E Class Division.

But Daniel is under no illusion as to how tough the road ahead of him is, with two nasty crashes under his belt after last weekend’s international three day time trial stage race organised by the Ribble Valley Juniors.

“Daniel had high expectations going into the event, unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan,” added Andrew. “The first stage at the Southport saw the under-10 riders mixed in with Daniel’s under-8s and he was well placed in the top six with only ten seconds separating first and sixth.

“But the following day’s racing at Preston Arena saw two riders stall on the start line and Daniel crashed into the two bikes sending him flying off and a gashed elbow – which dented any hopes of a top three finish.”

Worse was to come on the final day at Litherland, when Daniel, who was well-placed and making up time fast on the leading pack headed into the fastest part of the track only to career into a hairpin and again come crashing off his bike. Andrew added: “I was attending to the club’s Kim Baptista – another incredibly promising rider – who had fallen off her bike. And when I looked round I saw Daniel sitting by the track side with a bleeding arm and badly grazed knee. I ran over and he told me he was ok, so I urged him to finish the race – and thankfully he got up and completed the event. We were really proud of his efforts, particularly after the nasty fall.”

Next up for the Oakdene Primary School pupil is an inter-club date on June 29 quickly followed by the prestigious British Cycling National Youth Championships in Preston on July 12. Andrew added: “It’s exciting times for all of us, we really enjoy watching him progress and hopefully in the long run, with the help of the dedicated staff at Century, Daniel can aspire to making the British Cycling Development team which helps budding cyclists.

“But that’s a long way off – right now we’re just happy he’s doing well and having a good time!”