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ELITE cyclist Savannah Morgan has returned to Belgium where she will be based for a second season racing across Europe.

And the 20-year-old from Eccleston has plenty of motivation having spent the off-season juggling training with weekly 52-hour shifts to fund herself during the racing season.

A member of the elite Isorex No Aqua Ladies team, she is ready to make that hard work tell and take it up notch.

Savannah said: “This will be my second season racing over here and after last year I feel I’m ready to improve in my cycling and hopefully step up to a higher level.

“I race at Belgium domestic level and UCI level which is the highest level you can compete at as a female cyclist.

“I’ll take part in anything between 40-50 races this season in Belgium, France, Holland and possibly the Czech Republic alongside my training, which is anything between 15-20 hours per week.”

No stranger to competitive sport, Savannah began her journey to the elite circuits of cycling after finding her talent when taking part in triathlons.

She has risen from novice to elite athlete in the short span of her teenage years.

In 2016, she began to race for Team 22wrt, which at the time was the only elite cycling team based in the UK.

Competing internationally, across Europe in national and elite road races, it was a start to a promising career – but not without a few bumps in the road.

In 2018, after a season cut short due to appendicitis, Savannah was then hit with the folding of the only team on offer for her at home and her funding disappeared.

“This left me really with one option,” Savannah recalls, “to keep on cycling and make a name for myself on the elite circuit.

“I had to go and compete for a team based in Belgium, the home of elite road racing.”

Uprooting herself aged just 18, she took the risk of living away for seven months of the year to compete whilst financially supporting this pursuit in the off season.

Whilst an unfamiliar sport for many, competitive road cycling is one to be admired.

Most races have around 150 riders, the distance covered being anywhere in between 90 to 140 kilometres.

Covering hilly and dangerous terrain, they are a feat for only the most talented of riders.

Not only is such a distance incomprehensible for most in just one outing, for elite athletes such as Savannah, these races take place around 40 times in one single competitive season, culminating in a schedule which would rival any professional sports person in their own discipline.

“I train for approximately 12 to 15 hours in the gym a week during the season whilst these races are happening, as I can often be racing twice a week in varying conditions, so recovery is key,” Savannah explains.

“However, in the off season, my training intensifies to about 25 hours a week, bringing in a mixture of both cycling in British winter conditions and long sessions in the gym.”

As road cycling races in the National and elite circuits are some of the toughest to endure, world class competitors and Olympians travel to take part in them, Savannah being at the forefront of the up and coming talent they are racing against.

Savannah is often in among the top riders in these races, with podium finishes under her belt and a path to world championships carved out, she seems set to continue to thrive in the world of competitive cycling.

The path to the elite levels of road racing, though, is not so simple due to lack of funding available to Savannah in order to compete.

For the past few years, she has worked long hours in her off season, whilst also having to fit in up to 25 hours a week training.

That is why she is grateful to her main sponsor Haydock-based forklift company Global for their backing.

“Without the support from Global I would struggle massively to do this.

“It allows me to be able to fund my living, racing and training costs whilst I’m away which I’m truly grateful for especially from a business so close to home,” she said.

Additionally, she has received backing from Slater Electrical and Alumasc Roofing Systems which again will help towards living costs and equipment.

Paying upwards of £300 for a helmet and £3,000 for a bike, her kit often takes chunks out of the wages she has earned.

Savannah explained: “It is a common problem for elite women within my sport to have to find alternative means to support themselves, whether that be through sponsorship or bursaries from businesses or others in their local community.

“It is really the only option we have to be able to make it to something such as the world championships.”