Past member Izzy Stone wins Dave Rayner funding to race in Belgium
We were delighted to hear this week that past member Izzy Stone has continued her success as a cycling athlete by gaining funding to race in Belgium. In honour of this we have posted a new banner image of Izzy racing in Belgium last summer. Other than Izzy’s own family, there is a small prize for PPYCC members, or those in the household of a member, who can name the church in the background.
Izzy told us a little bit about her time at PPYCC, and her racing since she moved up from the club.
Starting off one Wednesday evening I popped down to track league to find out more and get involved, from then on PPYCC gave me everything i could have ever wished for to develop my cycling from Weekly club rides, sharing knowledge and equipment I didn’t have when I first started. Throughout the time I was a youth I received so much support and positivity from everyone at Preston Park, moving on into being a Junior i started traveling out to Belgium more regularly and getting a taste for racing with fields of 50-80 riders. As a second year Junior I was asked to ride for a Belgian Clubteam called Isorex, I was then able to ride some of the major international UCI junior women’s races like Gent Wevelgem and Omloop van Borsele.
This last year, I have had to balance training and racing with school, which I must admit was hard but I was able to juggle both by backing off the racing and trips to Belgium during my exams as I had all summer to focus on racing.
After all my hard work I am very fortunate to receive funding from the amazing Dave Rayner Fund, which supports U23 cyclists that wish to pursue a career in cycling. I am now able to race full time in Belgium for the 2018 season, a very exciting time and I look forward to seeing what this year has to bring.