the track, defying gravity by clinging to a wooden wall at 42.5 degrees. As a relatively inexperienced cyclist and accident-prone individual, the sight of the confident pros made me feel like a candidate on much missed Channel 4 show 'Faking It'.A short

specialist Gareth Cole, I've been putting in three to four sessions a week.Experiencing the great outdoors has been a little trickier. I spent a long weekend ripping up the tracks on the glorious Exe Trail on a hired bike (and refuelling with clotted cream

, unfailingly articulate and looking more like Britain's Next Top Model contestants than athletes used to hard work and sweat, these six are the next generation of British sporting talent. Their achievements - on and off the track - are thanks in no small part