Birkenshaw’s Billy Harding is branching out after winning the National Cyclo-Cross junior men’s title in Bradford last Sunday.
The 16-year-old, whose triumph in Peel Park at the weekend was his last as a Paul Milnes-Bradford Olympic RC rider, has signed a two-year contract with cross-country mountain bike outfit Orange Monkey Pro Team.
The Heckmondwike Grammar Schol pupil is the youngest of the five riders on the British-based team, which includes fellow countrymen David Fletcher, 23, and Ben Roff, 20.
The rest of the squad are South African Rourke Croeser, 21, and Serbian Jovana Crnogorac, 20.
The team have an global 2013 schedule that includes races in South Africa, Cyprus, Israel, Switzerland, Romania, Holland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, Slovenia, Andorra, Canada, Norway and Malaysia.
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