Tour of Britain: Schoolboy ‘shocked’ after outpacing professional cyclists mid-race

The 12-year-old was invited to the final stage of the Tour as a VIP after the video of his breakaway reached one million views on social media

A 12-year-old schoolboy has gone viral after outpacing professional cyclists mid-race during the Tour of Britain.

Xander Graham raced alongside the leading riders on the pavement before he briefly pulled away during an uphill climb.

The Dutch rider Pascal Eenkhoorn passed his water bottle to the youngster when his breakaway was eventually reeled in.

The footage of Graham was posted on social media and quickly racked up more than a million views. The aspiring cyclist had his bike as he had already been racing that morning, and took his chance when the tour went past his town of Bonnyrigg, near Edinburgh.

“We already knew they were going to be there because we had seen the route online,” Graham told the BBC.

“They were coming round the corner and people were clapping and that’s when I decided to start riding up beside them.

“It was about one minute and I was just riding as fast as I could - about 25km an hour I think. I was just in shock.”

As well as receiving the water bottle from Eenkhoorn, Graham was invited to attend the final stage of the Tour of Britain as a VIP.

“I was so happy and amazed. I met Mark Cavendish, I met Wout van Aert - lots of people.

“They actually came over to me and were speaking to me, they knew who I was. They were all saying really nice things to me.

“Eenkhorn was really nice, he took me on a tour of the bus and I went on the stage with them. He’s definitely one of my heroes now.”