Schoolboy champion Joe a rider to watch

Caistor Grammar School pupil Joe Laverick has been hailed as a leading light in the development of a fledgling county cycling team.
Joe Laverick in time trial mode EMN-161114-151137002Joe Laverick in time trial mode EMN-161114-151137002
Joe Laverick in time trial mode EMN-161114-151137002

Laverick, who represents the NEL Lindsey Go-Ride marked himself out as a rider to watch when he won the Schoolboys National Time Trial Championships earlier this year.

In doing so he joined an illustrious list of riders to have claimed the title, including Tour de France stage winner and British Olympic team rider Steve Cummings, two-time senior national time trial champion Alex Dowsett and Team Sky’s Ian Stannard.

The 15-year-old first joined NEL Lindsey Go-Ride when the club first began in 2014 and quickly developed his skills and recently graduated to join the Flex-Tech Ettridge Cycles racing team.

Laverick continues to race around his school schedule and is still very involved in the Go-Ride club as a dedicated riders’ representative on its committee.

He is also keen to put something back into the sport, and last month organised the inaugural Cleethorpes Cycle Fest aimed at both adults and children to take up cycling.

NEL Lindsey Go-Ride was set up a little more than two years ago for young riders aged four to 15 and has now grown to 55 members.

The club encourages children and teenagers to get on their bikes and try fun, non-competitive racing with many of its riders going on to join other teams as they progress and get older.

Other riders to have unearthed a big natural talent since joining NEL Lindsey Go-Ride are sisters Lucy and Holly Cresswell.

Both riders joined the club when it was first established and are having huge success on the velodrome.

Lucy (12) took part in the Scunthorpe Track League youth category this season and won the girls’ category, finishing fourth overall.

Younger sibling Holly (9) started her track season late after a crash in June and opted for the open youth omnium as her main event, competing with 14 riders from across the East Midlands and Yorkshire.

Holly finished third overall and finished first out of the female riders, beating both sister Lucy and the rest of the older riders in both the handicap and team pursuit races.

The club meets twice a month, every second and fourth Saturday, at Oasis Academy Wintringham, in Grimsby.

* For more details, visit the NEL Lindsey Go-Ride Club Facebook page.

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