“It has motivated me for the last eight years..”

At 16 years old, Luke Tuckwell is a powerhouse cyclist. At five years old he fell in love with the, then amateur activity, soon enough, his love turned to the sport he now hopes will take him all over the world.

“I watched the Tour De France as a young kid and I said to Dad one day, ‘Dad I want to ride in the Champs-Élysées one day,’” recalled Luke. “I’ve actually been there and witnessed it, and once I’d been there in Paris, it’s motivated me for the last eight years and will keep motivating me until I get to that point.”

Having raced competitively for eight years, Luke has just recently smashed a personal goal of his as he competed in the Junior Road National Championships in Ballarat, Victoria. It was his first year in the under 19’s category and boy did he impress.

“I came tenth in the time trial and came eight in the road race,” Luke explained. “I was super, super happy with that. My goal was to see how I went in the time trial and I’ve been really training for the road race, I came in with a goal of making the top 10, and I got in the top 10 so I was very happy.”

Just listening to Luke’s training schedule was a big feat. With Mondays off, Luke trains six days a week, cycling (give or take) 400kms a week, with 14-15 hours of riding.

“I’m really just trying to become a better rider, and after all of the training etc. I’m still loving it, so that’s a plus,” Luke laughed.

After this weekend, Luke will take a break as the cycling calendar gets quiet. He is then back on track at the State Championships in August. “The goal is really training for nationals in 11 months’ time, back in Ballarat. So, it’s a pretty busy next 12 months,” said Luke.

In the next 12 months Luke hopes to progress to a point to impress overseas scouts and overseas teams.