Stamford cyclist Ed Lowe wins a gold medal in the Team Sprint competition at the Great Britain National Track Championships

Stamford born cyclist Ed Lowe has struck gold at the Great Britain National Track Championships.

Lowe was part of the 'Team Inspired' side which he led to glory in the Team Sprint competition.

The Team Sprint event took place over three races and, although it was close throughout, Lowe managed to produce a world class personal best time of 17.490 for his 'man one' lap-effort.

It was more than 0.5 seconds faster than any other rider and this enabled a team best overall time of 44.060 to be recorded which is also a world class time.

Lowe currently holds five national records and two world-best times at youth and junior levels, along with a Junior European Championship title.

However, this win is Lowe's first major success at the senior level of over 18-years-old.

He is now hoping to be selected to ride for Great Britain in the UCI Nations Cup in Canada in April and also for the Under 23 European Championship in Portugal in July.

Lowe, who has lived in Stamford since birth, is currently a full-time professional athlete in the senior academy of the Great British Cycling Team (GBCT).

He started cycling early at the age of six and, shortly after this, he joined Fenland Clarion Cycling Club, where he competed in local 'Go Ride' and cyclo-cross races. Later he rode in endurance races regionally and nationally for Bourne Wheelers.

It was only in 2018 that Lowe made the transition to the velodrome and found his niche as a track sprinter.

He was selected to the GBCT apprenticeship scheme at 15 and, two years later, he was enrolled into the GBCT junior programme.

Lowe has been a part of the GBCT senior track cycling sprint team for 15 months and is following in the footsteps of past riders Sir Chris Hoy and Sir Jason Kenny.

This result also makes it more likely that Lowe will be asked to move up to the GBCT podium team.