Mein pulls on British stripes for first time

Brit looking forward to racing in the jersey in Europe next season

- Snowdon Sports/Ben Goddard

Thomas Mein finally realised his dream of winning the British cyclo-cross champion’s jersey at the South of England Showground near Crawley on Sunday.

The 22-year-old from Gateshead thought his season was over after suffering an illness in November but has bounced back in style after a month-long break from racing.

With reigning champion Tom Pidcock choosing to attend a training camp in preparation for the CX World Championships instead of defending his title, there was always going to be a new champion last weekend.

Riding for the Belgium-based TormansCircus Team, Mein charged clear of Cameron Mason on the last lap to take the men’s national crown.

“This has been a dream all my cycling career, so it’s special,” said Mein. “It’s been a rough year; I had some health problems in November and didn’t think I’d get back to this level this year.

“That is not normally my kind of course so I was just riding within myself and not getting too carried away.