Commonwealth Games call-up for former Bedford Girls' School student

Former Bedford Girls’ School student and cycling sensation Sophie Lewis has been selected to represent Team England at this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Sophie Lewis will be cycling for Team England at the Commonwealth GamesSophie Lewis will be cycling for Team England at the Commonwealth Games
Sophie Lewis will be cycling for Team England at the Commonwealth Games

Sophie, who left the school in 2020, will be part of a star-studded line up which consists of athletes with previous Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games success – including five-time Olympic champion Dame Laura Kenny and double-gold medal winning Paralympic champion Steve Bate MBE.

An established member of the Great British Cycling Team full time programme which is based in Manchester, Sophie is building her reputation as one of Great Britain’s top riders.

At the beginning of April, Sophie won a gold medal at the National Omnium Championships in Derby.

She put in a powerful performance, scoring in six of the eight sprints on offer and finishing with 143 points in total.

This followed on from Sophie’s incredible performance in the Women’s National Madison Championships, where she claimed a silver medal alongside Maddie Leech in a thrilling race, only losing their lead in the final 20 laps to eventual winners Dame Laura Kenny and Neah Evans.

Sophie’s track cycling success continued i n May when she won a bronze medal in the elimination race at the Nations Cup (World Cup) in Milton, Ontario Canada.

Sophie, who is looking forward to the prospect of a home Games, said: “For me, the track cycling is going to be based at the Olympic Velodrome in London which is where I grew up training and racing so it is very much a home track for me.

"And to have the home crowd and my friends and family there supporting would just be so special and I don't know if it would ever happen again."

As reported last week, Bedford cyclist Ethan Vernon will also be representing Team England.

The 21-year-old will be in action on the road and at the velodrome.

Vernon – who won bronze representing Great Britain in the team pursuit at the 2021 World Championships and silver at the 2020 Europeans in the 1km time trial – is now targeting more glory.

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