Abergavenny Festival of Cycling’s Bill Owen has been honoured for the second consecutive year by British Cycling with an Organiser of the Year award.

Owen was presented with the trophy at a glittering ceremony in Birmingham on Saturday evening where he was accompanied by his wife Brenda and their family.

Owen is already hard at work putting together this year’s Festival of Cycling which takes place between July 15-17, but he said the 2015 event, which saw hundreds of riders competing in top competition and entering the Iron Mountain Sportif mass participation ride was another great success.

Owen explained, "We had some great racing over the course of the weekend and during the week at the Chepstow Grand Prix town centre races.

"To win Organiser of the Year for the 2014 National Road Race Championships weekend was a great honour but to win it twice in two years is beyond my dreams.

"This award is, though, a tribute to all the hard work of our volunteers, the police, council officials and the fans themselves.

"Over the years we have built up a team of local guys and companies who build the infrastructure and erect and dismantle the 1000 crowd control barriers three times over the weekend.

“With this team and also a team from Monmouthshire County Council’s Highways department to close roads and assist along with the traffic management, the event is run safely.

"Running these high profile races and the infrastructure in place allows us to organise grassroots events, with something like 150 children taking part in a safe environment, something they are rarely able to do at present.

"This also gives us the opportunity to run a disability race in the town centre, again something that can only happen in a few cases in the UK. These races are well supported including armed service veterans who have suffered disabilities in defence of our country."

The Festival of Cycling is now a firm fixture on the Abergavenny calendar and Owen’s contribution to the town and the county of Monmouthshire has been recognised by dignitaries in the district.

Abergavenny Mayor Maureen Powell said, “It is well deserved. Bill and his team have run these events in Abergavenny for a number of years and the Town Council has been pleased to support them. We live in a beautiful area which adds to the success of the events. Long may they continue!”

Monmouthshire County Council’s head of sport, leisure and culture, Ian Saunders, added, "Bill has cycling in his blood and, as somebody who is highly respected in the sport, not just in Wales but in the United Kingdom, he is the obvious person to talk to and advise us on any matters relating to cycling and our activity strategies for sport in the county.

"Without Bill Owen, cycling in Wales would be much the poorer. We look forward to working with him on this year’s Abergavenny Festival of Cycling.”