Second feels like a win for Reed

Now in the final three weeks of a 90-day spell racing in France, the 18-year-old cyclist – an aspiring professional – finished a superb second at Sunday’s Tour du Morbihan Junior National.

Although he has previously won in France, finishing that highly in a race with so much television and newspaper coverage clearly meant a lot to him.

‘It’s amazing, really,’ he said.

‘In my eyes I see it as a win, just because it was such a high level.’

Reed, who rides for the regional CC Plancoet outfit, was runner-up to Maximilian Cushway – a British cyclist racing for Veloce Vannetais – over roughly 107km.

The first 80km consisted of an out and back route, with Reed and several other riders bridging from the peloton to the front group two-thirds of the way through.

The course then fed onto five laps of a finishing circuit – and heading into this was where Reed and Cushway attacked.

They used a climb to pull ahead and soon gap the front group, though two more riders bridged across.

After three laps of working together, the riders in the breakaway were caught, but Reed attacked again on the final circuit and managed to get away.

That was until Cushway came back at him and, after working with the Sarnian for most of the final 3km, attacked to win by 12sec. OC Locmine’s Basile Delalande took third.

‘I was in the race-winning move, but towards the end I just ran out of energy,’ Reed said.

Ahead of his final two races in France, which include another junior national, he added: ‘Big thanks to everyone back home for all the support and encouragement.

‘It has been really nice to have that as well.’