Abergavenny: The Home of the World Champions

Abergavenny may not be well known outside of Wales and if it is it is only for the yearly food festival! However, the Monmouthshire town is the home to one of cycling’s great families; the James’. The best known of these will be Becky James who broke records in 2013 by winning two gold’s and two bronzes at the world championships in Minsk. Becky James is an outstanding track cyclist who is likely to be included in the British Olympic squad in 2016.

Becky James is currently in a relationship with Welsh wing George North, just another world class athlete to add to this families sporting successes.

As if one world champion wasn’t enough the James’ now have another to their name. Rachel James has is a double para-cycling world champion and a world record holder. Rachel James was the able bodied member of the duo as she partnered Sophie Thornhill. Thornhill suffers with albinism, which affects both the skin and eyesight. It is the first year that the pair have ridden together and they have already delivered two gold medals and a world record. In an event which requires the utmost trust in your partner they can surely only get better as they ride together more in the future.

Earlier this year the younger members of the James family showed that they also had the potential to go on to great things in cycling. Ffion and Megan, 16 and 13 respectively are both proving that they are great athletes in their own right. Ffion recently won the national cyclo-cross championships in Derby. This in itself is a great result, the even better result was that she stepped up to the elite women category later in the day and finished third. At just sixteen Ffion James had a bronze medal in the elite women category at the national championships.

The youngest of the family, Megan James also won that day, becoming a national winner in the under-14 category. This result simply proves that there is a dynasty being made in Abergavenny and it is being created by one family’s hard work and talent. At this rate it is well within the bounds of possibility that we see four James’ on the international stage at the same time.

As the Tour of Britain comes back to Abergavenny this year for its famous climb up ‘The Tumble’, it is time to pay tribute to Abergavenny as a cycling hotspot. After all, the mountains surrounding Abergavenny are where all the James’ trained and learnt their craft. Their dynasty is certainly beginning to make waves in the cycling world. Should Ffion or Megan make the step up to the international level it would be impossible to deny them being one of the world’s great cycling families.