World Cup Countdown – The Brits: Ben Sumner

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Leader of the Under 23 National Trophy Ben Sumner will be racing in Great Britain colours this Saturday at the Milton Keynes World Cup

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World Cup Countdown – The Brits: Ben Sumner

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Third at Durham in the National Trophy there, Ben Sumner explained after coming off the podium that he was happy with his ride there. “It was a good performance and I’m slowly progressing” Ben explained.

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Will this be the view in Milton Keynes on Saturday with Ben Sumner racing in GB colours and a big crowd as a background?

“In December, I’ll put in a training block in as I have to lose four kilos and then focus on January and February for my main goals” he told VeloUK. Ben has already competed in World Cups, as an under 23 rider, and says “I’m still learning a lot but at Valkenberg I had quite a solid performance and hopefully I can now get inside the top 20. I have had a few top 20s in Belgium so the progression is good”.

“This World Cup will be a learning curve as there’ll be the best guys in the world there and I’ll be out of my age category (Under 23). It would be nice to up there though.”

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Photo: Graham Robins.

Talking about the British course for the World Cup, Ben says “that makes it a hell of a lot easier. When you go to Koksjide, it’s like you have never ridden a bike before. My first ever race with GB was the European Champs and I was not that far off the leaders so when it’s on a course you are familiar with, we have a realistic chance”.

“To represent your country at home is pretty cool as well. With there never having been a World Cup in the country before, I think there’ll be a big home crowd”.

Leading up to the World Cup, Ben says that his training consists of a lot of road work. “The technical side of racing is probably my weak spot being fairly new to it so I’ll have a day when I mess around and take some food out and just ride the trails on the cross bike and learn”.

“Riding a national trophy you may learn one or two things but in a World Cup, you’ll learn maybe twenty so technically, they help you improve massively. Because I’m riding out of category, there is no pressure and I’ll go there to enjoy it.”

Good luck to Ben in Milton Keynes!

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