Cyclist fights back from heart ops to earn international podium place

Harrison Wood isn’t the only Mid-Devon Cycling Club rider who is making his mark in Europe - Ewan Warren, who has overcome daunting odds over the last few years, has just pulled off the best result of his young career.

While WorldTour pro Wood (Cofidis) is tackling this week’s Tour of Switzerland after a spirited completion of the Giro d’Italia, Warren has just finished third overall in one of Spain’s most important amateur stage races.

Warren, 20, produced a consistent series of battling rides to move onto the Overall podium on the fourth and final stage of the Volta a Castellon, based in Valencia.

He was up against many of the best young riders from Spain and France.

Warren, who rides for the Brocar-Ale team, lost almost his entire Junior career to two heart operations.

Having re-established himself in the UK and then earned a first deal with Brocar-Ale, he was out for another year after sustaining a career-threatening leg injury

But Exeter-based Warren has kept bouncing back, and his latest success could be the springboard to even better things.

Wood, 23, from Torquay, proved that he’s recovered well from his first-ever Grand Tour ride (66th) in the Giro.

Last Friday he finished a strong 23rd, only 13 seconds behind the winner, in the Grand Prix Canton Aargau (174K), a curtain raiser to the Tour de Suisse.

MDCC’s Lauren (U14) Fox brushed off a crash to finish second in the latest round of the National Mountain Bike Cross-Country Series at Cannock Chase.

Other results: U14 – Matt Holmes 17th, James Allen 19th; U16 – Lara Dix 7th, Henry Cadwallader 24th. Castle Coombe Circuit Series: U16 – Bayley Woodger 2nd, Meryn Kitching 4th.