CYCLIST James Lowsley-Williams will whizz past his former school later today, Wednesday, when he takes part in the Friends Life Tour of Britain.

James is part of the NFTO Pro Cycling team and will cycle past the Acorn School in Nailsworth which is on the stage four route between The Hive in Worcestershire and The Downs in Bristol.

The route also passes near to his family home, Chavenage House.

James, 22, who has been cycling professionally since 2008, joined NFTO in February and was recently selected as a member of the six-man team chosen to compete in the prestigious Tour of Britain race, which began on Sunday.

“I was actually on a training ride when I got a call from my team manager who told me that I was going to be riding the Tour of Britain,” said James, who is sponsored by Savills, the global real estate agent.

“I was absolutely over the moon.

“The Tour of Britain is the biggest cycle race in the UK. It is the one race that every British pro wants to ride and with only six spaces available in the team it is always very competitive.

“For a British rider riding in front of a home crowed is something quite special.

“At the beginning of the season I wasn’t that confident, as I was a new member to the NFTO Pro Cycling squad that was littered with big names but as my performance improved during the year I began to hope and dream.

“But I had to keep my head down and focus on training and on every race.

“Performing at the recent Ride London Surrey Classic gave me the belief I might get selected.”

NFTO stands for Not For The Ordinary, and is an outdoor clothing brand developed in Hereford.

The cycling team was formed three years ago with the vision of developing young talent in the area, and gained professional status for the 2014 season after securing a string of racing victories in 2013.

“It has definitely been a steep learning curve as I came into the sport relatively late. But one of the big wins we had, as a team was the Tour of Ireland when I was riding for Team UK Youth,” said James.

“The one that tops that has to be winning the Ride London Surrey Classic with Adam Blythe this year beating some of the biggest names in the sport.

“Riding alongside Sir Bradley Wiggins was pretty special and finishing on the Mall in London was something I will never forget.”

James took originally took up cycling as part of the training he was undertaking for mountaineering, but enjoyed cycling so much that he began training at the Newport Velodrome and on British cycling road races around the country.

“It was always the vision to head into the army after school. To build a CV that stood up against all the other applicants I decided to get into mountaineering. To train for that I bought a road bike and ended up loving it,” he says.

“After tour of Britain I will sit down with my coaches to look at goals for 2015 and beyond.

“The 2016 Olympics will definitely be on the list.”

James’ family and pupils from the Acorn School will be out cheering him on today.