A LANCASTER mountain biker is making in-roads into the fast track world of mountain biking after just 16 months in the saddle.

Gareth Parkinson, 16, a former pupil at Ripley St Thomas, is speeding up the rankings after two brilliant victories in recent competitions. On Sunday he won the youth section of the The Diamondback Competition after spending the previous five days leading the gruelling Manx Tour on the Isle of Man.

Gareth took on fifty competitors to win at the weekend after many people, including himself, thought the best he could hope for was to finish the course.

"I was pretty whacked after the Manx Tour," he said. "It's five races of 20 miles over five days and, although it was great to win, I really felt exhausted at the end. When I turned up for the Diamondback event everyone said that I didn't look so well and I should just try and finish. But when I got going I felt good and eventually ended up winning."

The recent victories are the latest in a long line of great performances and he is expected to top the rankings at the end of the summer series.

"I won the North of England event which should put me in good stead to be up there are there about at the end of the season. All my family are delighted at how well I've done and my friend, Stephen Hankey, has helped me out with race support."

Gareth, who swims and cycles 30 miles a day, is sponsored by Cycle 2000 and gets his strip from Trek and hopes to become a professional mountain biker.

"I've got a race in North Wales this weekend," he adds, bubbling with the enthusiasm of a true champion, "I'm looking forward to it."

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