Prudential RideLondon 2017: top young BMX riders blaze an Olympic trail to launch capital’s festival of cycling

Some of the country’s top young BMX riders are to race on the former London 2012 Olympic track to launch a major festival of cycling.

Tomorrow’s BMX Grand Prix at the Lee Valley VeloPark, part of Prudential RideLondon, will feature 200 riders aged between eight and 16.

There will also be “come and try it” training sessions to introduce young novices to the sport.

The Standard was given an introduction to the BMX training session by head coach Lee Alexander. He began riding as a child and his 13-year-old daughter Harriet is the top BMX rider in East Anglia.

Mr Alexander, who is coach to the Royston Rockets squad in north Hertfordshire, showed the basics of body position and how to “push off” and then acted as guide to the 30-plus bumps, jumps and turns on the 470-metre Olympic course. Mr Alexander said BMX was a “great, social sport” that anyone could take up at any age.

He continued: “I get at least a couple of emails a week from people saying, ‘I am in my forties can I give it a go?’ or ‘Can my son or daughter give it a try?’ The answer is yes, of course. That is what this Friday is all about — getting more people, and in particular young people — into the sport.”

He added there was no feeling like racing around a BMX track. “For me it is about the adrenaline and how much fun it is,” Mr Alexander said. “Even now, I still get a rush going around the track. [Harriet] loves it, she loves the travel and meeting new people and the fact she beats the boys.” Harriet added: “There are quite a few girls at my age but as you get older, there are fewer and fewer. But that is what Friday is all about — getting more people to give it a go. It will be really fun.”

The Grand Prix, which starts at 11am, is free to watch. There will also be a stunt show, a penny-farthing race, a static bike race plus music and other entertainment. This weekend’s Prudential RideLondon festival will see 100,000 people get involved in various events.

As well as the professional women’s and men’s road race with some of the top riders in the world, there is the eight-mile FreeCycle in central London and the 100-mile or 46-mile challenge for amateur cyclists.

For more information go to prudentialridelondon.co.uk.