At the recent Tour of Britain cycle race, the organisers of the event extended a very warm welcome to Cycle Club Abergavenny/Owen Associates’ Bill Owen MBE to the winner's podium.

At the finish of stage 5 on The Tumble on Saturday September 6, Bill, who has done much over the years to promote and organise top class cycling events in the Abergavenny area, was delighted to present an award to the race's competitors.

Owen, renowned for his competitive career, is a winner of several events including the National Road and Time Trial Championships and the Grand Prix of Wales.

Bill is also a former Welsh Cycling and British Cycling board member and has been instrumental behind the scenes in the successful transformation of the two organisations and the success of their cyclists. Closer to home, he was also the founder of the Abergaveny Festival of Cycling and was instrumental in bringing the Women’s World Cup to Wales.

The Tour of Britain riders had completed a gruelling 86 miles long stage starting in Pontypool, with the route taking in many of the roads previously used by Bill over the years as part of his successful and high-profile race promotions, including nearby Blaenavon, Govilon and Usk.

The race finished after the second accent of The Tumble. Bill was honoured with the task of presenting the award of white jersey for the Best Young Rider to France's Romain Grégoire from the UCI World Team Groupama FDJ.

Romain Grégoire was the eventual winner of the race finishing in Cardiff the following day and paying homage to Geraint Thomas, the double Olympian and 2018 Tour de France winner, who retired from the sport in a professional capacity as the tour finished in his home town.