Abergavenny star bids for Olympic glory (From Free Press Series)

Abergavenny star bids for Olympic glory

ABERGAVENNY Olympic hopeful Julian Winn has promised the town he'll be doing his best to bring back a medal from Athens this weekend.

Winn flew out to Greece at the beginning of the week ahead of this weekend's 140-mile road race where he'll be hoping to clinch the biggest prize in sport.

Speaking from Gatwick he said: "I hope I can do everyone proud and help the town enjoy the Olympics that little bit more. I just want to put on a good show for everyone in Abergavenny."

Winn is the first Welsh cyclist to compete at the Olympics since Barcelona in 1992 and Abergavenny's first-ever Olympian.

He's already enjoyed a blazing year in the saddle winning the Welsh Cyclo Cross Championship and finishing fifth in the UAE International Emirates Post Tour.

His Olympic dream was nearly shattered in April though when the former British Road Race champion broke a finger competing at the National Criteria.

Since then Winn's preparations have been unmarred and he now looks at his competitive best. "Training has gone well. I've felt good on the bike and there's been no hiccups.

My final preparation has been racing in the Tour of the Pyrennees. I was riding with lots of different strategies rather than pushing myself hard. I wasn't there looking for a result, it was just as chance to put three days of racing in.

"The closer the games get, the more daunting things are. I'm feeling really excited now and really want to enjoy the whole experience and perform to the level I know I can," said the 31-year-old.

The 27th Olympic Games open this Friday when over 10,000 athletes from around the world wave their countries flags in the games' showpiece stadium - all that is except Winn who'll have to watch the ceremony with the rest of the British cycling team from the athletes village.

"It's likely that I'm not going to be at the opening ceremony because its the day before my race. It's not ideal a day before competing in a 140-mile road race to be in 40-plus degrees so I'll probably be in my room watching it on TV.

"We've been told by the British team to get as much water on board as we can. There's been a lot of work by the team on hydration and cooling down. We're probably one of the most advance teams in the games in that field.

"It's good to get on with it, but it might have been nicer if we had been say ten days into the games before the race so we could get into the Athens spirit.

"It could work to our advantage though because the Olympic experience can be very draining and intense."