Great Britain Cycling Team’s Charlotte Green hopes that the experience of training full-time at Manchester’s indoor BMX track will help her reach the finals at the UCI BMX Supercross.
Green joined the British Cycling Olympic Academy Programme in 2013, moving north to Manchester from her home in Cornwall to live the life of a full-time athlete and benefit from intensive coaching and training at Manchester’s state-of-the-art indoor facility.
With the first UCI BMX Supercross round at her ‘home’ venue just a week away, 19-year-old Green revealed high hopes for the competition.
“Moving up here has been a great opportunity for me,” said Green. “The benefits of riding this track, day-in, day-out have been really good and I've progressively got quicker and quicker so hopefully the final will be there in my sights by the end of the weekend."
Green, who has ridden BMX since the age of four, was already had some promising results at international level, reaching the semi-final stage in two rounds of the UCI BMX Supercross, Manchester and Papendal, in 2013. However, the rider hopes to go a stage further this year.
“The first world cup I raced I didn't really have much pressure,” she said. “I just wanted to go out and do my own thing and just do the best I could do.
"And now - it's still the same - I've just got to go out and do my best but there's a bit more pressure there and I really want to make the final.”
Green’s recent showing at the first round of the British BMX Series was promising, the round including a UCI-ranked open supercross event, which attracted a host of international talent keen to compete at Manchester prior to the 2014 season opener.
Green reached the final against an experienced field, finishing fourth and would have done better had she not been forced to back off to avoid a start straight collision.
This recent success, coupled with her intuitive knowledge of Manchester’s track, has given her confidence ahead of the international clash. “Being able to train full-time on this track and being able to know all the ins-and-outs and the quick parts and where to do what is really good,” she said.
"I've been able to learn so much more from being here."
Despite Manchester now being her new home, the woman from Truro can count on family support when the gate drops on 18 April.
“My mum and dad are coming up and they're definitely looking forward to seeing me race,” she said.
“I daresay my mum will be hiding behind some sort of mask because she'll be dead scared of me racing but at the end of the day she's there to support me and so is my dad, so it's going to be good to see them here."
