PETE Kibble cannot wait to rub shoulders with some of cycling’s most famous faces again when he makes his Commonwealth Games debut in April.

The 19-year-old former Royal Wootton Bassett Academy pupil will head to the Gold Coast as the youngest member of Team Wales’ endurance squad, having already represented his country at youth and junior level.

And news of his selection yesterday continued a proud family legacy, with father Phil – now a successful cycling and triathlon coach – having done likewise in the triathlon at the Auckland Games of 1990.

“I’m happy, it’s really good news,” said Kibble, speaking to the Gazette and Herald from Girona, Spain, where he is busy preparing for the new season.

“I had quite a tough 2017 but this shows that the work has paid off. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m getting some good miles in at the moment in Spain and will stay here until the middle of next month. After that I’ll come home and then go out to Australia at the end of March.

“It’s 35C over there at the moment and while it’ll have cooled down a bit by the time the Commonwealths come around, it will still be pretty hot.”

He might hail from a place called New Zealand – the hamlet near Calne, rather than the country – but Kibble’s debut trip to the Games will see him venture Down Under for the first time.

He is one of six riders in the men’s road race line-up, with Wales seeking a second successive title in the gruelling discipline following Geraint Thomas’ triumph in Glasgow four years ago. Joining him will be Team Sky’s Luke Rowe, who is on the road to recovery after breaking his tibia and fibula on a whitewater rafting accident last summer.

“As I’m one of the youngest riders and will be there in a support role to Luke Rowe,” said Kibble. “It’ll be one of his first races back since breaking his leg and he’s up for it.

“While the road race an individual event it is very much a team effort too, although I think Australia will be the ones to watch out for this time.”

One of the highlights of a 2017 season of “hard knocks” racing in the colours of the Zappi Racing Team on the continent saw Kibble come up against big names such as Mark Cavendish, Pete Kennaugh and Adam Blythe at the National Championships on the Isle of Man. It was confirmed at the start of the month that the legendary Cavendish will lead the Manx road team at the Commonwealths.

“It was pretty cool to be in a field with Cavendish,” said Kibble. “He’s somebody I watched winning stages at the Tour de France as a kid and then, as a 19-year-old, I’m shoulder-to-shoulder with him and he’s trying to push you out of the way to get into the bunch. It takes some getting used to.”