BBC CWR, Presenter
BBCA professional cyclist has completed this year’s Tour de France for the first time.
Jake Stewart, 25, from Coventry, took on the three-week and 3,500km (2,175 miles) race with the Israel-Premier Tech team. He crossed the finish line on the Champs Elysee in Paris on Sunday.
He made his debut at cycling’s showpiece stage race a year ago but did not complete it.
Known as The Coventry Comet, he has now set his sights on September’s Tour of Britain. Stage five starts in Atherstone and finishes at Burton Dassett Hills Country Park.
Stewart attributed his success in the sport (he got a World Tour race win at the Criterium du Dauphine) to his upbringing in the West Midlands.
“Cycling is a very inaccessible sport, it’s becoming more and more expensive for less privileged families to be able to provide for their kids.
“Growing up in Coventry, it keeps you humble when you make it on the big stage.”
Parents Ester and Paul Stewart watched their son cross the finish line in Paris.
“He’s got no ego, he just goes out there and he just wants to find his place in the peloton and be the best rider he can be,” Mr Stewart said.