Torquay cyclist Harrison Wood signs two-year pro contract

Eight years after he was 'dropped' within a few miles of Mid-Devon CC training rides, Torquay's Harrison Wood has clinched a two-year professional contract with French WorldTour team Cofidis.

Wood, 22, celebrated by leading the peloton in Sunday's Tour de Vendee for almost 100 miles, earning a rave review from Cofidis leader Bryan Coquard after he had won in a spectacular sprint finish.

The former Torquay Boys' Grammar School student is due to round off an eventful season by flying to the Far East for the prestigious Japan Cup later this month, if he recovers from an untimely bout of Covid-19 which struck him this week.

Wood took his first pedal-strokes with the MDCC when he was only eight with the 'Abbrook Aces', but it wasn't until he was 14 that he started taking the sport seriously.

"Harrison would come out with us on Tuesday evening 'chain gang' rides from Kingsteignton," club chairman Mike Gratton recalled.

"He was off the back by Chudleigh Knighton to begin with, but every week he'd hang on a bit further up the Teign Valley.

"Within a few years Harrison was at the front - and he was dropping us!

"He always had that guts and determination, and he's obviously got the class.

"His contract is amazing news, for him of course, but for the whole club - it's a great inspiration to the next generation of young riders we've got coming through."

Wood moved abroad at 18 to ride for clubs in Belgium, then France and Holland.

His best-ever 2022 season, including two victories and several podium places with the AVC Aix-en-Provence team, was halted by a crash in the Czech Republic which left him unconscious for more than four hours with a fractured cheekbone and collarbone.

But Cofidis had spotted his talent, kept faith with him during his recovery and recently offered him a 'stagiaire' traineeship. That's now turned into a two-year deal.

Wood, whose grandfather died earlier this year, said: "Becoming a pro with a WorldTour team has always been my dream, and I wish my grandad was still here to see it - he was my inspiration.

"I'm really excited by what lies ahead, but I hope this is the end of one chapter and the start of another."