FRESH from clinching gold in the Great Britain Team Pursuit, Colne's Steven Burke is on track for further cycling success.

And he is hoping his pedal power can drive him on to glory at the 2012 Olympics in London.

The 19-year-old was pitched in for the final of the UCI Track World Cup in Copenhagen earlier this week alongside experience World Champions Ed Clancy, Thomas Gerraint and Paul Manning The quartet were fastest in all the split times, averaging 37.145 mph, which was more than enough to take gold ahead of Demark, and Australia completed the podium with bronze.

And it was just reward for Burke, who had previously placed fourth in the World Cup in Los Angeles and third last year in Manchester.

The East Lancashire flier, who is one of the hottest young prospects in the sport, said: "It was surprising really to be selected because of my age, but I thought I'd just go for it.

"I was nervous the night before the race, but on the day, once I got into the Veledrome, I calmed down and got on with things.

"I was riding with three world champions, which was a great experience, and to win the gold was amazing.

"I was just glad I was able to make the step up."

GB team manager Shane Sutton added: "Steven held up really well, we're really pleased to see these young guys coming through.

"He was sitting there all morning watching them set the times, and then rose to the challenge."

Following in the tyre tracks of his mum Sharon who was a cyclist, Steven swapped his football aspirations for a career on the track and has enjoyed a rapid rise to fame, with success in the European Championships and Under-23 Championships as well as national and multi-national events.

Next up for the former Park High pupil is the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester, where he is hoping to be part of the individual, team or omnium (similar to the heptathlon in athletics, which involves a 200m sprint, 1km time trial, individual pursuit, points race and scratch race) events.

He added: "There are a couple of professionals coming back from the World Championships but I'm a good all-rounder on the track so hopefully I can be a part of the team."