FLYFORD Flavell sensation Tom Ward may not have tasted victory at the inaugural Six Day London but he insists it was an experience he will never forget.

The 21-year-old Team Echelon-Rotor and Loughborough Students CC rider rubbed shoulders with some of the best track cyclists in the world, including Mark Cavendish, at the showcase event at Lee Valley VeloPark, London.

Alongside partner Will Perrett, Ward crept into the top 10 on the final day of the Under-23 Talent Cup to finish 12th overall in the standings.

Ward admits he has caught the bug and learnt a lot from Team GB under-23 riders Mark Stewart and Germain Burton.

“It’s incredible. There was a DJ blasting out music so it was a totally different atmosphere to anything I’ve experienced on the track before,” he said.

“Normally, races are super serious and everyone’s got their game faces on but its great to see everyone’s joking around, especially the sprinters. I had a good laugh with those guys.

“It’s an amazing experience and I never thought I’d do a Six Day like this, nor that I’d be seeing the likes of Iljo Keisse and Niki Terpstra racing at the same event as I am.

“You hear about these names and see them on TV, then we’ve been sitting and eating meals with them.

“We don’t get to see the GB academy boys that much but we’ve been having breakfast with them and having a chat about how things have been going.

“Mark and Germain are really sound guys and they were shocked that we hadn’t really done the Madison before as they do it so often.

“Germain told us he had a crash last week doing it, so it’s showing us we need to keep on going with it and improving.”

Ward has to balance his training with full-time education as he studies for a mechanical engineering degree at Loughborough University in Leicestershire. But he said: “It’s different for me compared to some of the other lads out here.

“They do this kind of racing all the time and I’ve been told some of them are European champions but I don’t even know their names as I’m not competing at the same level yet.

“But to see we are sticking in with them is really encouraging and we’ve been getting good track time in up at Derby so I feel I’m definitely improving my skills all the time.”