Zach Smith, who made history last year in becoming the first Channel Islander to join British Cycling’s National School of Racing Foundation programme, has already applied for the next step – the Olympic Development Squad.
The 16-year-old has ticked a key box in placing fifth Youth in the British National Mountain Bike Cross-Country Series, which bodes well ahead of the Championships at Scotland’s AE Forest this weekend.
He then competes at the European Youth Championships in Romania from Wednesday 22 to Sunday 26 July and, should he achieve a top 25, is in great stead for ODS selection.
‘You need to be top five nationally, which I’ve achieved, and you need a certain set of skills, which I’ve already done because of the NSR,’ he said about the challenging path to the ODS.
‘People on the NSR get a higher chance because it’s the stepping stone from it.
‘It gives you opportunities like the Junior World Series and other European events, and it’s just the gateway to the next level really.’
GCSEs and illness had ultimately prevented Smith from achieving an even greater result in the National Series.
He achieved top-three finishes in the first two rounds, but he missed the third and then settled for 10th and eighth in the last two.
‘Overall, pretty pleased, aside from the last two races,’ he added.
‘The first two and the second short-track – I came third, third and third – were really good. The first two courses [at Newnham Park then Cannock Chase] were insane.’
Amid that, he finished first Brit and 16th overall at the UCI Nations Cup, having fought his way up from a mere 46th on the grid.
‘I was pretty proud, pretty amazed.
‘It’s not everyday you get an opportunity to ride in the GB colours and then finish top of the pack.’
Smith is hungry to excel against Britain’s best Youth riders at this weekend’s National Cross-Country Championships.
However, he is skipping Friday afternoon’s short-track to focus on Saturday’s main race.
‘To win would be lovely, but I’ve set my sights on a top five, just to be in good form for the Europeans.’
Smith has an itinerary of four events lined up for Romania, starting with the Wednesday’s time-trial on a 1km circuit.
Getting in the top 45 qualifies him for the short-track.
He is also representing GB A in the team relay, his individual lap in which combines with the time-trial to determine his gridding for the main cross-country race on the Sunday.
‘You need to be on it all week.
‘It’s just quite a long week of racing.
‘I want to race as well as I can. Getting some good results would be nice, but obviously racing the top 150 in Europe is quite the challenge.
‘I want to go and enjoy it with the team and see what happens.’
You need to be logged in to comment.