GB FACE EURO U19 TEST

THREE of Great Britain’s top youngsters are in Pila, Poland this weekend for the European Under-19 Pairs Final.

The event takes place on Saturday with Oxford’s Ashton Boughen (pictured), Luke Harrison of Scunthorpe and Freddy Hodder (Berwick and Bele Vue Colts) representing GB against six other nations.

GB Youth boss Neil Vatcher said: “This will be great experience for our team to go to a place like Pila against six strong nations at junior level.

“We have said this year already with the age category competitions such as the U21s and U19s Great Britian are in a period of transition, and no more so than this U19 event where the majority of the other riders will be 18 and 19 years old, and at this age group the two and three years of experience is invaluable.

“Plenty has been spoken about Ashton, and we know what a huge talent he will be, but I must say Luke is also going to be a big star and is having a great season currently with Scunthorpe in Championship, although I feel he has gone under the radar a bit.

“We spoke with the group of our Under-19 riders at the start of the season and explained we want to give as many of them as much experience as we can, so it will also be a great occasion for Freddy to be involved in, and along with Ashton and Luke we also have Ben Trigger and Luke Killeen competing in U19 events later in the season.”