HEMINGFIELD cyclist Jenson Young is not going to be spending much time at home over the coming months.
The 23-year-old has been signed by the pioneering British team Ribble Outliers for the forthcoming gravel racing season.
It will see him travel the world to race in places like Italy, Spain, Sweden, Iceland and Switzerland as well as monster races in Kansas and California, USA.
The season’s curtain-raiser is on Sunday in Turnhout, Belgium.
It is an exciting prospect for Young who has been putting in the hard miles around South Yorkshire but also on a training camp in Tenerife in preparation.
He said: “I am ready to get stuck in.
“It’s been a while coming now and I am really looking forward to it.
“It’s the best shape I’ve been in.
“One of the races, in Kansas, is 200 miles long.
“The one I’m looking forward to the most, from watching footage of last year, is the one in Iceland.
“That is going to be cool.”
Young has raced on the road and in cyclo-cross before but it was an impressive first ride on gravel that secured this spot.
He was only behind the likes of the Swift cousins, Ben and Connor, both signed with leading team Ineos Grenadiers, in last year’s national championships.
That fifth-placed finish flagged up his potential and has seen him signed to a six-person Ribble Outliers team which includes fellow Yorkshireman Harry Tanfield. He knows he will be learning on the job in the incredibly demanding endurance races.
He added: “I’ve got to adapt because there are different types of gravel.
“There’s not many courses in the UK. It’s fine gravel in Italy, in Belgium there’s more cobbles and it’s rough in other places.
“The national championships was the first one I did and I obviously did well.
“I’ve got a local company, Garden Shed UK sponsoring my helmet too, so I’ve got a lot of support.”
Young will face tough competition throughout the season but is hopeful of pulling off some surprise results.
“Mathieu van der Poel is the world champion and he could be in some of the races.
“A lot of the top road riders dip into the series where they can.
“It’s not something I am worried about. They’re the riders I want to try to beat.
“There’s no specific race I am targeting.
“Winning one of the British races would be great.
“I would love to get on the podium at one of the UCI races.
“There is so much that can go wrong in gravel racing.
“You could be having the best day of your life in your legs and then a puncture can ruin it.
“But it’s going to be an adventure.”
Sean Hastings, Ribble CEO, added: “With the Ribble Outliers, we’re bringing together an exciting group of riders from the UK scene to compete together on the global stage. It’s a squad we know will do us proud in some of the most demanding races on the planet.”
