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Medals make it all worthwhile for Lizzie
The uninitiated would not class women's cycling as a dangerous sport, but viewers of last weekend's Track World Championships would certainly beg to differ.
Fortunately, Otley's bruised world champion, Lizzie Armitstead, takes the sport's rough and tumble in her stride.
The 20-year-old is coming back down to earth after a sensational championships in Pruszkw, Poland, that saw her claim a clean sweep of gold, silver and bronze medals.
Gold in the women's team pursuit alongside Wendy Houvenaghel and Joanna Rowsell last Thursday was relatively straightforward, but Armitstead's bronze came in an x-rated points race on Sunday which featured a mid-race pile-up that was difficult to watch, let alone race in!
The Yorkshire ace managed to avoid the melee, but there was no escaping in the women's scratch race two days earlier when a nasty fall looked to have ended Armitstead's hopes only for the battler to pick herself up off the floor and claim a remarkable silver.
She only started competitive cycling at the age of 16, but the world is very much her oyster as the sport enjoys a popularity boom following the British team's golden haul at the Beijing Olympics and with the London 2012 Games on the horizon.
The perils of her weekend's Polish performance prove the starlet will lack nothing in bravery, but Armitstead, typically, feels all the fuss is much ado about nothing!
"My main priority was just to get back on my bike really," said Armitstead of her women's scratch race fall. "I was a little bit sore going into the last few laps because of the crash, but I just got on with it – it's happened before.
"You can have some pretty bad crashes, but I've been lucky – touch wood – with mine.
"I've got a few funny fingers from my crash, but nothing too serious!
"In the points race there were a couple of bad smashes and I was lucky to avoid them, but I think actually they are a lot worse than they look and you come back okay.
"I just got on with it. My legs were in a lot more pain than anything else! I didn't really think about anything because of the adrenaline really."
Nonetheless, the local racer, who is 21 in December, claimed her third medal last weekend while heavily bandaged and admitted at the time that she had lost the feeling in some of her fingers.
Thankfully, Armitstead will soon be back to the peak of her powers and nothing eased her wounds more than waking up on her first morning back in Otley this week as the scale of her achievements finally sank in.
"When I got up on Tuesday morning I realised what I'd done," admitted Armitstead, who was denied consideration for Beijing after suffering a spinal stress fracture.
"I feel really happy and I've been able to put it into perspective since I've been back and getting three medals was a great achievement.
"I've seen all my friends and family since coming back and they are all chuffed for me as well so I'm really pleased.
"It's been really nice coming back and I had an award to collect in Otley for being a role model for young people in Otley and it's just fun to see all my friends and family as well.
"Because it was on TV everyone else could sort of take part in it as well – that wouldn't have happened a couple of years ago without the success of the guys at the Olympics. That has really put cycling on the map.
"I'll go out into Leeds for a night out with my friends probably and I will just spend lots of time with my family and eat lots of nice food!
"I'm feeling pretty tired. I've had to do quite a lot since I've been back, so I'm looking forward to a bit of a relax."
However, after she has enjoyed her culinary feast and a celebratory night out she will be jetting off to Belgium on Sunday – reverting to road racing and spending the summer there with her new Lotto-Belisol team.
She will remain on the Continent until October and taking in events like the under-23 European road race – held in Belgium – five-foot-six Armitstead will then return home to Yorkshire before moving to Manchester where she stays during the winter, track season, months.
Plethora
She may be one of Team GB's brightest prospects but, amazingly, she did not take up the sport seriously until she was spotted in her school days at Otley's Prince Henry's Grammar.
She began racing in 2005, quickly chalking up an impressive second in the Junior Worlds in Vienna, and a plethora of junior and under-23 successes followed over the next three years. But Armitstead burst onto the world scene with her performances at last winter's World Track Cup in Manchester.
Her rise through the ranks has been remarkable, but the Yorkshire cycling prodigy insistes she has merely been blessed with good fortune.
"I first got into it through like a talent identification programme that came to my school," said Armitstead, whose next race comes in the Drentse 8 van Dwingeloo in Holland in two weekend's time.
"I think I've just been extremely lucky with the opportunities that I've been given. Everything else has been taken care of by the programme and all I really have had to do is just try my best on the bike."
And boy does she try her heart out!– Armitstead gave her all for her country at last weekend's worlds and she was absolutely thrilled with the rewards – a hat-trick of medals – including a gold.
"It's just the best feeling!" she beamed. "It's far better than getting any of the deals or the sponsorship or stuff like that – important things that you get afterwards that help you compete professionally.
"It's all about getting a gold medal and it's something you will never forget."
Armitstead is currently on cloud nine after this week's civic homecoming and the deserved fanfare to celebrate her brilliant World Championship achievements.
The secret may be out as regards her burgeoning cycling talent but the local girl says she is highly relaxed about her competitive future and that includes the big one – London in three years' time.
Until then, she is simply hoping to maintain her upward curve, principally at both the road and track world championships that come along every year – this year's Road Race World Championships taking place in Mendrisio, Switzerland in September.
"There is no pressure at all, just excitement really," added Armitstead. "I've got a good opportunity and I just want to try and grab it with both hands really.
"Obviously, London is the big aim but you have got to try and think about the goals that come before that and focus on them first.
"I want to hit certain goals at the worlds and I just want to continue developing really as well as I can."
With a laid back and level-headed attitude like that, Yorkshire's new sporting sensation seems destined to stay right on track.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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