Exmouth cyclist Finlay Webb is taking his immense talent on to the European stage after winning the British Championships and the National Series in his classification.
Finlay was born at 27, so his motor skills and sensory skills are different to you and I. He started out riding a tricycle as the doctors didn’t think he would cope with a two-wheel machine.
In 2012, his dad took him to watch the tour of Britain when it visited Dartmouth. Massively enthused by the experience, Finlay started his competitive journey ten years ago and loved every minute, even competing for the Exeter Aces club in the national youth team cup.
Focus slowly moved towards road cycling and he has competed for the Exeter Wheelers Cycling Club. Finlay’s promise and drive to succeed in races with his peers continued to grow and he made contact with the GB Para Team in Manchester.
In 2022, a Para and disability series started. Finlay competed in this and won the open classification for those awaiting an official classification. This involved a time trial against the clock. This is the same event as Bradley Wiggins won his gold medal in at the London Olympics.
As the season finished, he got the chance to attend a talent id and classification day up at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester. There he was put through a vast array of tests to decide if he was able to be classified and then if his attributes were enough to join the pathway programme, which ultimately reaches the Paralympic games for those lucky enough to travel the whole journey. Finlay was classified as a C5 rider and was also lucky enough to be invited onto the GB Paralympic National Academy.
Having had a year to measure himself against those in this country Finlay has set his sights further afield. As such later this month he will be competing in Belgium at the “Para” version of the Tour of Flanders - Ronde in Vlaanderen. After this he will move onto a UCI World Cup being held in Ostende.
If you would like to be part of his journey and help support him, please get in touch via e-mail at FinlayWebbParacycling@gmail.com or on Instagram at @finlay_webb_cycling
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