SHE may only be 16, but East Bradford Cycling Club’s Amy Loftus is already a national champion.

The teenager won the National Youth Championship Time Trial final at Mallory Park last weekend, beating her nearest rival by an astonishing 21 seconds, smashing her personal best by around a minute and a half in the process.

The delighted youngster said: “It’s the biggest achievement yet in my cycling career. I’ve won awards at the cycling club like most improved and quickest up a hill, but nothing like this.

“To get a PB too, nearly a minute and a half quicker than my old best time, was a shock.

“When I saw my time (24 minutes and 11 seconds) on the scoreboard I couldn’t believe it, and I was stunned that it was 20-odd seconds back to second place.

“You’re talking seconds being the difference in races like this 10-mile time trial, not minutes, so to win by that margin was amazing.”

Mallory Park is one of the most reputable tracks around, with Loftus saying: “It’s a big circuit, about a mile long, and it’s so open, so it can get very windy.

“Fortunately conditions were fine on that day, and that helped me go round in the time that I did.”

Loftus’ win comes just weeks after the Olympic Games in Tokyo of course.

Asked if she was inspired by the likes of multiple gold winner Laura Kenny, she said: “When I’m watching the likes of Laura Kenny, you can see how much it means to her and the others to win gold.

“That’s what I want to aim for. I want to work in the cycling world at least, but the best achievement would be to be an Olympic cyclist.

“It’s very tough to get to that level though, so I’ll have to work hard.”

After the highs of national glory, it is back to the daily grind for Loftus now.

She said: “The next few months, with us going into winter, the races have basically stopped now, so it’s just one big training block.

“Next year I’m moving up to junior level, which is the one above what I’m at now, so that’s going to mean bigger and longer races for me all across the country.”

There is a wider West Yorkshire feel to this story, with Loftus actually hailing from Huddersfield and East Bradford’s current training taking place in Elland.

The teen said: “We don’t have a base exactly, but we train at Hammerstones Cycle Circuit in Elland.

“But that’s because at the moment we’re building a new track in Wyke.

“It’s brilliant at East Bradford, and I want to thank Mandy Parker, who is the main coach there.

“But I also want to thank Martin Turner, who’s not at East Bradford, but he’s another coach who’s pushed me to do the races I have.

“I also want to thank my dad, who’s been very supportive of me over the past two years.”