NAME: Red Walters

BIRTHPLACE: Wandsworth, London

AGE: 22

FIRST CYCLING CLUB: Sotonia CC

CURRENT TEAM: CC Plancoet / Black Cyclists Network

CURRENT HOME TOWN(S): Eastleigh, Hampshire

FIRST BIKE: Ribble Gran Fondo, or if we're talking first first, then a tiny red Raleigh from when I was three

CURRENT BIKE: Specialized Venge with Prime wheels and bars

CAR: I drive my mum's Mazda 3 currently

FAVOURITE CURRENT RIDER: This is such a difficult question, there are so many, but I really like Fernando Gaviria, I hope he starts winning again soon

FAVOURITE PAST RIDER: I used to love watching Marcel Kittel bulldoze the sprints

FIRST BIKE RACE YOU REMEMBER WATCHING: I have a very vague memory of watching the Tour de France long before I started cycling. I didn't understand leadouts, so I was confused when the guy I thought was winning at 500m to go just gave up. The first race I watched properly was the 2015 World Champs. I will never forget the incredible attack from Sagan

YOUR FIRST RACE (AND RESULT IF YOU REMEMBER IT): My first organised race was at the end of 2015. I'd just got my first road bike as a present for doing well in my GCSEs, and a week later was on the start line in a local under-16 race. My rear mech limit screw wasn't long enough to push the chain up to the 16-tooth sprocket, so they were forced to limit my front mech to the little ring. It'll probably come as not too much of a surprise that I was second last after being lapped three times. I didn't race again until the following year, as there weren't any more local races

FIRST WIN: Fast forward to 2016, I'd done two more races, and gained a bunch of experience. Same circuit as my first race, this time as a Junior 4th Cat. I was confident and strong. I stayed near the front the entire race, and coming out of the final hairpin, started sprinting for the line, with only one other guy contesting. Disaster struck as I accidentally unclipped my foot from the pedal. Miraculously though I got it back in on the first try, carried on sprinting, and won by about a quarter of a wheel. The image still haunts me as I thought I'd lost

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT: Probably at London Six-Day for under-21s. My Partner Tom and I were sitting in seventh, on the leading lap, and managed to be the first team to take a lap on the final day. The crowd went crazy and it was the most incredible racing moment I've ever had. We finished second in the end as another team took a lap, whilst having more points. But the atmosphere was so surreal

LEAST FAVOURITE MEMORY: I should say I have bonked more times than I'd care to admit, but one time reigns supreme on the "that was a really bad day on the bike" list. It was the middle of winter, in my second or third year of riding. I was pretty fatigued as it was, and I'd just done a pretty grim chaingang. I was riding home when it started raining on what was already a sub-zero day. I have Raynaud’s so the pain in my hands started to supersede that in my legs. Sobbed my way home for the last half-hour

BEST COUNTRY TO RACE IN: Haven't raced as much abroad yet as I'd have liked, but I really enjoyed the style of racing in Spain

BEST COUNTRY TO VISIT FOR A HOLIDAY: I really love Grenada in the Caribbean, half my Family is from there, and I really love the sun and the food

FAVOURITE FOOD: Probably my mum's sweet and sour chicken or a Caribbean Roti

LEAST FAVOURITE FOOD: Please don't come near me with tinned tuna, I will gag

ANY PRE-RACE RITUALS / SUPERSTITIONS: I haven't done it in a while, but I really like to have a five-minute nap in the car before I start the warm up, helps me relax and focus

FAVOURITE TV SHOWS: There's definitely a lot I like, but I'm a big Rick and Morty fan. Really enjoyed The Queen's Gambit too

FAVOURITE MUSIC: My music taste tends to go in circles every few months. At the moment, I'm really enjoying dance remixes of Sunny by Marvin Gaye and Spooky by Dusty Springfield

BEST FRIEND IN CYCLING: Matthew Downie and Harry Johnson, I do most of my training with those guys, and I've known Matt since nearly the start of my cycling career. So many memorable moments with both of them

FAVOURITE CLIMB: Old Winchester hill, down by me in the Meon valley, and surprisingly not in Winchester. It's a solid seven-minute climb which can be even longer going over the top. I do most of my intervals and power tests there

LEAST FAVOURITE CLIMB: Col de la Croix de Fer. I was lucky enough to get to do the Haute Route with Bike Channel when that was still around. Riding this climb near the end of a seven-hour day for little old junior me was just too much. It took me two hours, and it felt like an eternity

BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON CAREER SO FAR: My parents and coaches have played a huge part, and definitely my competitors too, but I think one of the biggest influences has been my friend Matt. When I was younger he was so much stronger and always made for a great training partner to put me in a box for four hours! We've spent so many days suffering together and being as competitive as we are, push each other constantly

BEST THING ABOUT CYCLING: The complexities of it. I really like how there are so many different aspects and avenues to improve in cycling. It's obviously physical, but there are so many mental elements to bike racing too, it's always such an exciting challenge trying to optimise every race and result

WORST THING ABOUT CYCLING: Cleaning my bike... forever waiting for the bike washing robots to come out

BIGGEST AMBITION: I'd really love to be the first black British rider in the Tour

RACE YOU’D MOST LIKE TO WIN: I've always really wanted to win a national champs. Would love to be able to show off some stripes one day

IF YOU WEREN’T A CYCLIST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’D BE? I'd probably be at the back end of a maths degree right now. [Editor: At school, Red's A-Level grades were A*, A, A and C in Maths, Further Maths, Computer Science and Physics.]

WHO WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO MEET? Lewis Hamilton. He's been an inspiration ever since he joined F1 in 2007. At that time my dream was to follow his footsteps and be the first black rider in MotoGP, but the same sentiment has followed me with cycling