Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com - 25/06/2023 - Cycling - 2023 British National Road Championships - Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, England - Men’s Road Race - Huw Buck Jones of Wales Racing Academy and George Wood of Cycling Sheffield climbing Saltburn Bank
Nineteen year old Huw, originally from North Wales, has been competing in cycling since he was seven years old and was introduced to the Welsh mountain bike series at the age of eleven. Now a member of Wales Racing Academy – proudly supported by SD – Huw will be representing Wales at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, where he will be competing in the Mountain Bike Cross-Country U23s event.
Ahead of the championships, we had a chance to find out from Huw how he’s preparing and how he got to this point in his career:
Competing in Glasgow among the best cyclists from around the globe is an amazing achievement, how does it feel to be going and what are you most looking forward to?
It feels great, everyone who competes in any sport dreams about qualifying for the Worlds, so being able to take part is mega. I think I’m most excited about being able to compete against the best in the world, with great crowds to give you that little extra push.
How have you been preparing in the run up to the event?
I’ve been doing quite a few road races to get some endurance in the legs and then some harder high intensity sessions in training to tone it in and get the form for cross country.
Can you share the story of your journey that led you to this incredible point in your cycling career? Where and how did you first get into cycling?
I’ve been competing in cycling since I was seven years old, starting with the go race series here in North Wales and got into cyclocross as-well. I was then introduced to Clwb Beicio Dwyfor and started road racing and training. At around the age of eleven I started racing in the Welsh Mountain Bike series and then a year later joined Clwb Beicio Mynydd Dyffryn Conwy.
A couple of years later, I started at the UK National MTB series with some of the national circuit series, and soon after joined the the marsh tracks race team and got podiums. After some time away during the pandemic, I was lucky enough to join the Junior Backstedt Bike Performance team, where I started focusing on road racing but still with some national and international MTB events during the season. In my second year there I represented GB in a handful of races, including the European and World Championships. And then now as a first year u23 going to do the worlds in Scotland!
I just loved cycling from the very beginning, when I first learnt to ride a bike. I used to ride my bike around the street whilst the other kids were playing football, and one day Mam phoned Coed y Brenin asking about sessions and it all started that same week.
Picture by Alex Broadway/SWpix.com - 24/08/2022 - Cycling - UCI MTB World Championships 2022 - Les Gets, France - Huw Buck Jones of Great Britain in action during XCO Training.
Outside of the World Champs, what have been the highlights so far in your cycling career?
I’d say the highlight of my career outside of Worlds is mainly being able to travel to different countries and meeting new people – last year’s Championships in Les Gets was a crazy experience. Also, getting 5th u23 and 16th overall in the recent National Road Race Championships was amazing.
What’s next for you after the Championships? Any big goals for the rest of the year and into 2024?
After the Worlds I’ll just have a couple of days to rest before finishing the season off with some road racing, including Flanders Tomorrow Tour UCI 2.2 in Belgium.
My main goal for next year is to keep on improving as a rider and to still learn the craft of road racing!
THANKS HUW, AND GOOD LUCK NEXT WEEK – WE’RE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!
SD are proud corporate supporters of the Wales Racing Academy. You can keep up to date with all things WRA and more at Welsh Cycling.
