AN INTREPID trio of cyclists who all met through their love of biking will represent Great Britain at an international competition in the summer.

James Smith, Lewis Baker and Nick Nelson-Piercy, who all live in Marlborough, first formed a friendship when they joined the Pewsey Velo Club a couple of years ago.

Now, the group have been selected to represent GB in their respective age groups at the UCI Amateur Road Race world championships in France in August.

The humble group managed to bag a spot at the prestigious competition after successfully competing at the 130km Tour of Cambridgeshire race earlier this month.

Mr Nelson-Piercy, who teaches Russian at Marlborough College, said despite juggling busy working lives, the trio are hard at work putting in hours of training in anticipation of the race.

“Cycling has grown in popularity nationally and there are cyclists all over the place," the 51-year-old added.

“The Pewsey Velo Club is only two years old and it is attached to the shop in Pewsey so that’s where the name comes from.

“We thought we were did alright during the race but we didn’t know the result until much later.

“We knew we did our absolute best but to find out later in the evening that we had made it, well, we were all chuffed.”

The team, who meet twice a week to go cycling, will be battling it out against hundreds of other cyclists from across the globe when they head for Albi in France on August 27 - something which Mr Smith, who works at Thathcam Research, said they are really looking forward to.

"I was delighted to have qualified and my kids are very proud. I'm feeling a bit nervous and now working out final training for the course in Albi," the 48-year-old added.

"I qualified last year and went to Perth in Australia for the World Championships so have some experience of the event and while I was carrying an injury last year, I'm so looking forward to Albi and being fit."