NEWPORT and Abergavenny clubs, coaches and cycling stars were honoured at the 2015 USN Welsh Cycling Awards in Cardiff on Saturday.

Langstone’s Ciara Horne took home the Outstanding Performance of the Year trophy with Amy Roberts and Elinor Barker for their team pursuit gold medal success at the 2014/2015 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Guadalajara alongside Laura Trott.

Horne said: “We didn’t expect to win this at all.

“It was really good to be able to ride together in Guadalajara and to come back with a gold medal.

“It’s great to be recognised by Welsh Cycling and the support over the years to get us to this level has been amazing, from both British Cycling and Welsh Cycling.”

Coach of the Year was awarded to Garrie Tillett of Newport, who coaches young riders at Wales National Velodrome each week.

Breeze Champions Mary Trenfield and Christine received Volunteer of the Year.

The pair were some of the first women to become Breeze Champions in Wales, and have embraced the role inspiring more women to ride bikes in Newport.

And Richard Hopkins of Cwmcarn Paragon received the award for Race Official of the Year for his role as race judge and timekeeper at many cycling events in Wales, and the development of his own timing system to support at races.

Abergavenny Road Club took home three awards – Club of the Year for the third year in a row, Race Organiser of the Year for the British Cycling National Cyclo Cross Championships and The Colin Thornton Memorial Award for Welsh Junior Performance.

The latter went to Abergavenny RC rider Ffion James, younger sister of double world champions Becky and Rachel.

James Jr has been successful in mountain bike cross country and cyclo cross over the last year, winning national titles and finishing 13th in the UCI World Mountain Bike XC Championships with Great Britain.

Geraint Thomas won Elite Cyclist of the Year after yet another successful year that saw him win E3 Harelbeke, podium at Gent-Wevelgem and play a key part for the team that saw Chris Froome win his second Tour de France.

And the Lifetime Contribution to Cycling in Wales was awarded to John Lloyd MBE of Builth Wells, for his years of commitment to developing and supporting mountain biking in Wales.

Anne Adams-King, chief executive officer at Welsh Cycling, said: “The cycling community in Wales is kept alive by volunteers who dedicate their time and efforts to creating opportunities for more people to enjoy cycling.

“We are privileged in Wales to have such a vibrant group of people supporting cycling, and to have a number of cyclists achieving at an international level who can inspire more people to get involved.

“To see everyone come together and celebrate successes is fantastic, and with Rio 2016 approaching fast I look forward to working with more clubs, coaches and volunteers over the next 12 months to get more people cycling.”