Ben Miller - Cycling Selection

Talented Miller benefits from Highland Institute of Sport selection

Ben Miller, the cross country mountain biker from Duror near Appin who won a British series race last year in his first real season in the sport, is being supported by the Highland Institute of Sport from this month.

Fifteen year old Miller has had a less than conventional route through the sport. He had been a promising junior footballer before switching his commitment to mountain biking.

“I got involved in cycling by training to get fit for football and it just took over from there,” he said.

“I used to play for a pro youth football team in Dumbarton but I stopped completely about a year ago to concentrate on mountain biking. It was a hard decision to make but I knew I had to do it to be a good cyclist.”

Miller has been involved in the mountain bike racing scene for little more than a year but his progress has been rapid. “I didn’t realise I was good at cycling but adults I was racing against locally said I should go and do some Scottish races,” he said. “So I started racing further afield.”

Finding he could consistently finish second place in Scottish races he travelled further still and found he could do just as well. Last season he was third in July’s British Championships at Innerleithen and then won the Plymouth leg of the British Mountain Biking Series in August.

Those results helped secure his selection to the Great Britain Cycling’s Olympic Talent Team in October and, more recently, to the Highland Institute of Sport, part of sportscotland’s area institute network which focuses on preparing Scotland’s best athletes to perform on the world stage by providing high performance expertise.

“Ben is fairly new to the sport but since he joined our programme he has come on leaps and bounds,” said Olympic Talent Coach, Matt Winston.

“The aim of the programme is to win Olympic medals, looking forward to 2016 and beyond, so the 30 athletes from across the UK on the programme are our medal hopes for the future.

“You have to show real potential to get on the programme and Ben has shown great commitment to the sport and has to do a fair bit of travel to race all over the UK. “

The wilds of Argyll, with the World Cup venue of Fort William close by, provide unlimited access to outdoor training yet, if there is a downside, it is the remoteness from the coaching and training facilities enjoyed by many of Miller’s contemporaries.

His selection by the Highland Institute of Sport is a welcome addition to both athlete and coach.

“It’s great to have this support,” said Winston. “For a mountain biker he’s in the ideal location and being remote he can get support close to home through the institute which will help him in every area.”

Miller, who will race in Belgium next week with the Olympic Talent Team is delighted with his progress.

“It’s great to be on the Olympic Talent Team and have the help close by from the Highland Institute,” he added.

“Long term I’d like to compete at the Olympics. From the Talent Team you can move through the age groups on the development programme and into the British Academy. Cycling is pretty much your job after that, which is what I’m aiming for when I’m the right age.”
 

Story by Rob Eyton-Jones